More positive news

We had more good news today--weight gain and we are starting a bottle feeding tonight/tomorrow!! Zach is already up to 4 lb 3 oz!! Man, when they talk about beefing him up, they mean it! He still has a nasty diaper rash, but it looked a little better tonight. They asked "permission" tonight to begin giving Zach a bottle. Like I'm supposed to say no?? One of the 3 major things he has to do is be able to eat on his own (no feeding tube obviously). So, this is the first step toward getting that major thing accomplished. He also nursed like a mad man tonight and was able to entirely skip the feed thru his feeding tube!! I also got my first burp from my little Zach man (first of many, many more to follow if he's like the other men in my life). This is all such great news. Let's see, what else?? He got so warm today they had to take off some blankets, which again, is awesome news. That is another of the 3 major things he has to do to go home--maintain his body temp outside of a bed warmer. No problem at all there!! So we can check that off the list. The last of the 3 major things is to not have any "spells" for a period of time (5 days maybe). A spell means that he has to not drop stats or stop breathing/heartrate, etc. He did have a bit of a problem with that tonight after he ate. The nurse took him out of my arms and played with him for awhile b/c his O2 level dropped pretty low and Zach's complexion turned rather ashy/purplish. It was a little scary, but would have been a lot more scary at home and not in an intensive care unit with tons of nurses/doctors around us. He's in a pretty safe place right now!

Aunt Heidi, Uncle Jeff, and Heidi's mom, Laura, got to visit Zach tonight. I guess you could say Josiah visited, by coming to the hospital, even though he couldn't go back in the unit. It is fun to show him off. They were all finding features that seemed similar to Josiah. It is fun to try to figure out who he looks most like. On the other hand, it is still a little difficult for this mommy since he still has his feeding tube, nasal cannula, and other monitors on him. This mommy wants to take her newborn and look at him, wire-free, and inspect him all over. I couldn't even tell you if he has any birthmarks, b/c it is pretty hard to look at him right now. We are just thrilled to get our few moments of starting into that tiny, adorable face and falling deeper in love with this new little Pankewich.

Emerald announced today that she has "decided" that she officially likes the name Zachary now. She's "not sure we can call him Lobster anymore." When I confirmed that it'd be ok to still call him Lobster at times, she said, "that might be ok, but I still like Zach." So, we have the official approval (2 1/2 weeks later) from Miss Emerald to name our son Zachary!!

I was able to spend some time in the parent room tonight and was chatting with a few other parents. We are so lucky!! Of the 4 of us parents in there tonight, 2 of us delivered at 31 weeks and 2 of them delivered at 24 weeks! One family had twin boys born at 24 weeks, after being on bed rest in the hospital for 8 weeks prior. How do you handle 2 of these little creatures? Another couple was telling their story of how she lost 2 babies, and then delivered her little girl at 24 weeks, 1 lb. 6 oz. If you have a moment, pray for baby Miranda, hoping that she continues to turn into a healthy little girl for her excited parents. Being a part of the 4th floor NICU at Overland Park has really made me appreciate even further the awesomeness of God! How lucky we all are for having healthy family members and children. I am also so thankful for all the nurses, doctors, and staff in our NICU. They are amazing and care so much for our little miracles.

Sappy mommy going to bed now. Thanksgiving prayers for a healthy Skip, Emerald, Calvin, and Zachary. I love each of you more than you can ever realize!!