Roscoe has made some good strides in the past few weeks, but he continues to hit some minor hiccups. For instance, they are still finding blood in his diaper contents (through testing, not visually) so they suspect he has a minor fizzure (ie: cut) somewhere near the end of his lower intestine. Another instance happened this past Sunday when Alisha was holding Roscoe and he choked a little on his feeding, which caused his heart rate to drop to 70 (way too low, normal is ~140). His heart rate stayed down until they suctioned his mouth and throat. Yesterday they increased his breathing support, because his lungs showed too much CO2 (not being expelled and replaced with oxygen). He got his first immunization shots on Sunday, so that may have given his body some extra struggles.
The point is that Roscoe has been making great strides, but he still has a long way to go before coming home. A week or two ago, Alisha talked with a nurse who'd cared for a boy in a very similar situation to Roscoe (born early, just over 1 pound, chronic lung disease) and said that he'd stayed in the NICU for 5-6 months. If Roscoe follows the same timeline, he'll come home some time during March or early April.
Not everything has been problematic, however. Today Roscoe tipped the scales at 5lb 5.4oz, so he's officially out of the 0-5lb weight range for normal preemie clothes and has graduated to "newborn". He is also able to identify our voices, and his back and stomach muscles are developed enough that he can make himself flop backwards or forwards if we're not holding him tight enough.
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