April 30, 2007

"Before I was born the Lord called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name." Isaiah 49:1

Yesterday was another great day for Kyle. He is still on CPAP and doing very well. Where the vent actually "breathed" for Kyle, the CPAP just puts a constant flow of air into Kyle's nostrils. There are two settings on Kyle's CPAP machine that can be manipulated/changed according to how well Kyle is doing. One is the concentration of oxygen in the air Kyle receives. Just like when he was on the vent, our goal is 21% (which is the oxygen level in room air you and I breath). Kyle has consistently been around 30% which is pretty good. The other setting on the CPAP is the pressure of this air blowing into Kyle's nose, which is called his PEEP. The higher the pressure of the air, or PEEP, the more help Kyle is receiving. Kyle started last week on a PEEP of 7, and yesterday it was lowered to 6. Afterwards a blood gas was done to see how well his body tolerated it and it came back perfect. The plan is to slowly lower this PEEP until we hit our goal of 4. Once we hit 4, Kyle will be switched to another breathing machine called a nasal cannula that is even less invasive.

Kyle is 10 weeks old today! His weight is up to 3 pounds 7 ounces, which means he has officially TRIPLED in size!!! His length is 15 inches, so he has added just three inches in length. The biggest area of his growth is definitely how he has filled out. When he was first born, he was so skinny that he looked like a wounded bird to us. Joe swore he would never eat chicken wings again! Now, he looks just like a baby should, only he is a miniature version! He is the most precious gift from God.

Grandma and Grandpa Nash are in town for the week so my Dad was able to meet Kyle for the first time yesterday. Papa Nash (as the grand kids call him) was instantly smitten! He was able to hold Kyle, and Grandma Linda got to change his diaper. Kyle welcomed her to the world of boys by peeing all over his bedding during the diaper change! Grandpa didn't seem to mind a bit, as this meant he could hold Kyle again while the nurse switched out his bedding. I am so glad that my Dad was able to meet Kyle and I just can't wait for Kyle to be moved to Ohio where he can be reunited with the rest of the family. When my mom was in Orlando, Kyle was still in his "wounded bird" stage so she missed out on holding him and the other fun stuff.

Enjoy the pictures of Kyle. I typically would post the straw picture today, as it is Tuesday, however, I think Kyle is getting to big for those. In the beginning, I used this as a measurement so that you could see how small he is, but now I am celebrating his growth. The bottom picture of Kyle is at 5 days, where he is only 1 pound 2 ounces...he has come so far!!!

God keeps amazing us with his faithfulness. We are thankful beyond words.

Much Love,

Jennifer, Joe, Madison and Kyle