Look No Tubes!!!

Today is day 24 of Joshua's life and hospital stay which means we have just 82 days left!

The big news is that Joshua got the tube removed from his nose!! Yay!! He looks so cute without it. He seemed so happy after it was gone. I'm just thrilled for him. But to backup and explain why that happened, I have to tell you that on Friday he had a tube inserted from the stoma up to the stomach which helped open up the intestines enough to allow everything to pass through. This worked very well and he is now having stools from the stoma as he should be. Tomorrow they may change out the tube to a bigger one to dilate even more and then begin feeds. That would be great. So because everything is now going down and out of the stomach, he didn't need to have the stomach contents sucked up and out through the nasal tube anymore and we got rid of it!! I'm calling to have his newborn picture tomorrow now that he doesn't have that in anymore. I just couldn't bring myself to have it taken while it was in.

He is doing just great. He is up to 8 pounds 9 ounces now, so he is officially the heaviest he's ever been!! He is alert and focuses on our faces. He makes the sweetest noises and facial expressions. I spent the night with him on Friday and we had a long night! He wasn't in the mood to really sleep until about 3 and then we had our nurse assessment at 4 and then a feeds change at 6 and then we were up for the day about 8. It wasn't much sleep, but I was glad to be there for him. I think my nights sleep at home is the only thing keeping me sane right now, so I probably wont' be staying there all night very often.

Noah and Abby will be starting lessons back up tomorrow. We're splitting the day up into things to do with Daddy, things to do with Mommy and things they can do alone. For instance, during the day when Daddy is with them he will do Spelling and Science with them. Also during the day when I'm still at the hospital, they can do Handwriting, some Math and Bible Copy Work alone and then when I'm home in the evening we'll do all the others like the rest of Math and Bible, Geography, Music, Art, English, etc.. I'm praying this works because I feel like they need to get back into some structure as they've had the last 3 1/2 weeks doing not much of anything during the day. Now I realize that we worked through the summer in order to have a break when the baby came, but I'd like to save some of that for when he comes home. I'll let you know next weekend how this week went!!

We're again so thankful for the kindness that has been shown to us during this time. The emails and comments, the meals, the driving around of one or many of us, the babysitting, all of it!! It's so nice to have such a support system. We're very humbled by everyones generosity and hope someday to repay all of you for your kindness. Thank you all!!

The photo today was taken with the I-phone, so I apologize for the quality. But it was the cutest picture I got of him all day today!! I took a few with the phone so I could email them to Daddy real quick. He's such a cutie!!

More tomorrow!! Oh and Who-Dey!!!!!!