The module was closed most of the day, so we didn't get in to see Gabe until around 3:00. We took the opportunity to take the boys to the Children's museum. Naturally, they had a great time! When we finally got the word that the module was open, we took the boys back for a nice surprise. They were allowed to sit in a rocker and hold Gabriel! They loved it. I knew they would be excited about it, but figured the novelty would wear off in a matter of minutes. It didn't. Both of them wanted to sit longer, and Gabriel never fussed once. His eyes were wide open and looking around the entire time. I couldn't believe how much his respiration rate had slowed down. It was in the 50s and low 60s the entire time we were in there (which is about normal, by the way!). Yesterday his RR ranged from the 70s to over 100! The spitting up has also gone down quite a bit. He looks so comfortable and, dare I say it, normal that I can hardly get over it.

I got another piece of exciting news. Because his respiration rate is so good, his nurse asked how I felt about letting him try to nurse (right after pumping, so he wouldn't get anything to choke on) a little with his next tube feeding. I believe they refer to that as non-nutritive suckling. Since he really just stopped the spitting up, she may have him "nurse" a little just before the tube feed, or use a smaller syringe so the flow is slower. I told her I was just excited about the opportunity, she could decide what was best. She ran it by Dr. Duffy and he thought it was an excellent idea. The way he was breathing just a day or two ago, I figured this step was at least a week away! This is happening in about 25 minutes, so I have to go now!