We went to see Brecken before we went to bed last night and had a great nurse. She explained everything to us, kept his blood pressure cuff on his stuffed cow that we brought down for him, and was just really neat.

Brecken had a pretty good day yesterday. They tested him for infection and he didn't have any, so they stopped antibiotics. They were also able to bring his oxygen level that was being given to him down from 38% to 35% when we left. His poor little eyes are super swollen from his nose thing that he has in. It's like the mask that people with sleep apnea have, but it's the tiny baby version. It's really doing a number on his face. But the nurse let me wash his eyes and mouth and change his diaper, so that was super exciting for me. They also put in an OG tube yesterday to let the overflow of oxygen back out of his stomach. He's spending a lot of time laying on his belly to try to get the air bubble out of around his lung.

This morning we went in before breakfast and found he had a pretty good night! His oxygen level being pumped in is now down to 25%!! Hooray! Normal air that we breathe is 21%, so he's almost there! They did another x-ray though and found that the chest tube isn't quite getting all that air out, so they'll either put another tube in this morning, or re-do the one that's already in there. Hopefully if they can get that all cleared up, he'll be on the road to recovery super fast. From the NICU, he'll go to the "Step-down" nursery to see if he can handle everything on his own before coming home. We're very encouraged by the 25% oxygen though, that's great. It's great to know he can keep his breathing pretty good with that little help.

Also today they started a nutrient IV. It will give him vitamins and stuff he needs since he hasn't eaten anything yet in his short little life. He's only been on glucose since he has been born. Hopefully soon my milk will come in and I can get that pumped and they'll feed it to him. They have a nice mommy pumping room for me to use whenever I want and they gave (we'll probably find it in our bill later!) a nice Medela Symphony pump I just hook up to their motors. They are super accomodating here, I really appreciate that! The room Josh and I are staying in is on the 3rd floor. It's just a room with a bed, but that's all we need and it's only $1/day. :) Hopefully soon we can get into the Ronald McDonald house and start staying there for the rest of our duration.

Thanks for your emails, it's nice to hear from people we know and love. It lifts my spirits for sure, as I'm sure it does Josh's as well. Keep them coming and we'll keep this webpage updated as much as possible!!

Love,
Josh, Kara and Brecken