Testing Continues...and What's For Dinner?

Auntie Laura hold her newborn neice. Grandmother Powell feeding her grandson a bottle for the first time.

Daddy feeding Tom and holding onto his hand tight - he has a firm little grip!

Who knew that once you give birth, you have all the helpers you could ever imagine! I have my incredible husband, that does absolutely anything; my mother-in law, JoAnn, the head chef, gardner and dog walker; my father-in-law, Tom, also the dog walker and lawn boy; my mom, JoAnn, baby nurse and maid; my daddy, Anthony, Mr. Fix It and fulltime babysitter. I am just trying to decide if this help is here to stay or if I need to get pregant again for them to stick around for a bit longer! In addition to family, you guys have been so supportive and encouraging, which we appreciate more than you know! So many of you have offered to bring meals by the house and we will definitely take you up on your kind gesture. Our schedule is still very unpredictable at this time, but would look forward to starting this in the next few weeks. Please contact my sweet friend, Kindrea, if you would like to be notified when we are ready to taste your cooking - her email is kindrea.becker@newellco.com and she will be in touch at a later date.

Wednesday at the hospital, we witnessed Little Tom passing his hearing test - it is amazing all the little things excite us so much! Tom and I spoke to a genetic specialist yesterday and she does not foresee issues with any of his metabolic tests. The additional testing will not prevent Little Tom from leaving the hospital. Good news continues to come as Little Tom is chowing down on those bottles! Just yesterday morning he was moved from the second floor NICU up to the seventh floor NICU. This is yet another step in the right direction, the seventh floor allows multiple visitors simultaneously and also means that the babies are on their way to head home.

While we continue to remain positive, we still realize there are more tests scheduled and more results we await. During delivery, Tom experienced some complications and we hope and pray there will be no long term abnormalities. Unfortunately / fortunately only time will tell. Tom and I have met with more doctors in the past week than I have during the entire pregnancy. Every doctor agrees that Little Tom is responding and acting like a typical newborn, which is extremely positive news. Needless to say the past eleven days have been overwhelming and it is so nice to read your comments and emails, this is a language we definitely understand.

Elizabeth continues to bring us all joy, it is amazing to think she was just in my belly two weeks ago. My mom went out and purchase some preemie baby clothes, since all of her clothes were a bit large. Tom is learning that fashion starts at a very early age, and he is thankful that preemie clothes are cheap!

Prayer requests: Our parents, we appreciate everything they have done for us and continue to do, I only hope we do not burn them out to terribly fast! The NICU doctors and nurses - it is hard to say that once strangers, now friends, have spent more time with our son than we have, but we are so thankful, because they have provided him with the best care we could every imagine. Elizabeth is such an angel and we anxiously await for another clean bill of health next week at the doctor's office. Little Tom continues to amaze us and the doctors, we are realistic and understand he has fought for every breath the past 11 days, but that gives us faith that he is a fighter and will continue to improve.