Another busy week

This past week Austin had 3 appointments. The first was with his pediatrician, because he was sick. He ended up having a virus with some cold symptoms. So, we had to start him on Xopenex (nebulizer treatments) for his cough, and we did a couple of doses of Lasix. We can do the treatments every 4-6 hours, but so far he has only needed one in the morning and one before bed. Amazingly, he kept his sats up even with the virus and respiratory symptoms. God is so good! Then, we had an appointment with the pulmonologist. He said Austin is doing so well that we could discontinue the oxygen at night too! So Friday night was his first night without his O2 ever, and he did well. The pulmonologist said to look for a change in alarms and issues with feedings (being too tired to eat), and we haven't had any problems. I've checked his sats, and he is keeping them up in the 90's! Austin has even slept longer stretches; he has to be more comfortable without that tubing and tape! Then, the EI and Physical Therapist had an appointment with him this week too. They said overall he is doing well especially with his head control, smiling, and verbalization. However, there are some things we have to work on with him. We have to work on his abdominal strength and getting him to pull to sitting, and holding and interacting with toys. He will swat at us to get our attention, but isn't too interested in toys. He seems to be very personable at only 10 weeks adjusted age! He is still right at 11lbs or so, because he has been sick so much. At least he hasn't lost any weight. Austin is so sweet; he definitely has an attachment to us. He would barely pay the physical therapist any attention, because he was watching me too much. Every time she turned him he turned his head to watch for me- of course I love it, because I wasn't so sure that he would be attached to us after his extended stay in the NICU. Bradley is doing well. He finally seems to be over his ear infection and cold. He has so much energy all the time, but he is so sweet. And, he is constantly answering us "it sure is" at the appropriate times. It cracks us up; it's his new personal phrase. He is saying all sorts of grown up expressions, and he even quotes his favorite shows and movies. He is still being a good big brother; it's just amazing that there seems to be no jealously. I guess Bradley wanted Austin home as much as we did. Bradley's imagination is huge too, and he is such a boy. I heard the front door open earlier; he had run outside to play in the rain! Once we got over how scary that could have been if I hadn't heard him, we laughed at him playing in the rain. We're going to have to change the lock on that door! Saturday evening we had a cookout with our half of the neighborhood right out in front of our house. It was a blast! We had some rain, but we had 3 tents set up which worked out well. The weather was the perfect temp. There was lots of good food and conversation. We're so blessed with wonderful neighbors! Chris has been on call all weekend, but has been home by mid to late afternoon both days. He still has awhile to go before he finishes call at 6am tomorrow morning, but then he'll be home the rest of the day. Pray for a good call night tonight We have a birthday party to go to at Saluda Shoals Splash Park tomorrow evening, so hopefully the weather will hold out!