Due Date has Arrived

Today was Roscoe's due date. Had he gone full term, we would have missed all of the problems and turmoil of these past 3+ months (Alisha entered the hospital on September 17th). However, we also would have missed all of the encouraging messages and getting to see Roscoe grow and develop when most others don't get to see their babies at all. After all, how many people get to have a video record of their baby when she he is just over 1 pound?

Roscoe got some news he didn't like yesterday and this was his reaction:

The news he got was that he'll probably come home in mid- to late-January. The doctors said nothing was certain, but that generally because of his IUGR (small for gestational age) we might estimate 3-4 weeks after his expected delivery date as the time when he'd come home with us. He has been in the NICU for 79 days so far, so if he came home in mid-January that would be a total of ~100 days.

After Alisha and I explained that we'd still come to see Roscoe every day, he calmed down a little and decided to rest.

He is still on the breathing mask (they took it off temporarily for these pictures) and is at 30% oxygen. The doctors put in an order that he shouldn't be moved to the nasal cannula (vapotherm) until he is steadily at 25% oxygen. Our nurse balked at this, because Roscoe has never really been at that level of oxygen and since he frequently gets fussy around feeding time and when the mask bothers him, she doubted whether he'd get there any time soon. The nurse is trying to persuade the doctor to alternate Roscoe between the nasal cannula (for an hour) and his breathing mask (for 5 hours), to see if he's able to maintain. She said that they frequently will swap babies around like that to gradually wean them from one device and onto another.

The baby laundry has started! Thanks to all of the wearable and snuggle-able gifts Roscoe was given through Alisha's baby shower, he now has a closet full of clothing and blankets to keep him warm and looking cute. Alisha has been washing it all to prepare for when he comes home.