June 2, 2013:

Mercy!! It's already another month!! Time is flying by for sure. It's amazing how RJ is rapidly changing now. His facial features are developing more and he's looking older and bigger on a daily basis. I was just staring at him this morning as he was lying in his lil co-sleeper looking up at the ceiling fan. He was waving his arms and kicking his feet and grunting here and there. He's really growing into his features now. Usually after the 5-6am feeding I'm able to get him to fall back asleep w/ me for a hr or 2 more, but not this morning. Thankfully I have my amazing sister Karla here to help out. We brought the lil guy down and gave him some tummy time on his activity mat. He's getting better raising up his lil head. He's getting stronger. I'm waiting for him to do his lil push-ups again. He did them a couple weeks ago at his grad clinic appt and of course saw him doing it in the NICU. Since he's been lying on his back for sleeping, I think his arms have gotten a lil weaker. Anyways, we will get him strengthened back up again.

Well, yesterday at the noon feeding RJ went to down and breastfed for about 50 min!!! What a lil oinker. We've also been trying to feed without the nipple shield. It's hit or miss if he will follow through. If he's sleepy he won't even attempt eating without the nipple shield. I'm slowly trying to break him of it during the day. 

Oh I can't remember if I mentioned or not that we saw RJ's first tear. Robert was holding him on the couch while I was getting RJ's food ready. He was getting impatient as usual and actually shed a tear. It was an exciting moment for us since it was something new, but we also felt bad for the lil guy. 

His 4 month visit at the Peds clinic on Thursday went great. Dr. Ringley is happy w/ his progress. He's hit the 7 lb mark!!! His head circumference is in the 50th %tile, but his weight and length is more like the 5th %tile. At least his brain is growing appropriately!! He has outgrown the preemie clothes and moved into the newborn sizes, even though they all are quite loose on him. He's got a descent size torso, so the onsies fit better than the pants. He's got a tiny waist, so the pants barely stay up. :) Now that he has less tubes and such, it's easier to dress him in clothes other than his zip up nighties. :) He also tolerated his 4 month shots fine. He screamed when they were given, but no reaction after thankfully.

Friday we had his Peds surgery f/u appt. They are happy w/ his pooping every 3-4 days. They said that might just be his routine. Since he's getting the breast milk, he's using most of the nutrients up for body growth and development, so not much is left for waste. That is why he's not pooping as frequently, plus he's a preemie and they have slower working guts. Dr. Draus is certain RJ will grow out of this. We did go up one size on the applicators for dilation. Auntie Karla got to help change a stinky poopy diaper last night. :) 

Friday afternoon our rep from Able Care came by to get a download reading of the apnea monitor. They said the NICU grad clinic called them asking for a download. I thought we were going to get info from Weds to Weds, so we only got about 1/2 that. Maybe Dr. Desai wanted a readout right at the end of the month. I'm hoping we get a call this week saying we can come off the apnea monitor as well!!! It will be a happy/scary day all at once. We will definitely be more concerned whether RJ is breathing or not without the monitor. It's been a nice safety net, but it will be so wonderful to move him from place to place without anything connected to him. Keep your fingers crossed!!

I have some pictures to share to show his growth and tube free face!! Hope you all enjoy!!

Thanks again for all the prayers, support, and love. Keep it coming!!!