May 7, 2006 pm

Silas is phenomenal. His oxygen saturations have been so good that the monitors kept going off to tell the nurses to turn down his oxygen. Imagine, he is breathing normal room air and that happens! They finally got tired of running over to hit the silence button that they removed the sensor altogether. The day shift nurse talked with the doctor and made a bunch of awesome things happen for me while I was at church this morning. First, He can be unattached from ALL monitors when he is in my arms. Second, he is getting a "big boy" crib in the next day or two as soon as one becomes available. Third, I am allowed to start trying to nurse him and have him get some food directly from me. And finally, Albert and I got to spend an entire uninterrupted hour in the family room with our son. The family rooms are tiny rooms with two built-in couch-like beds, a small bathroom, a chair and a breast pump or two (what WOULD one need with more than one breast pump?!?) Anyway, Silas was a little groggy so he spent most of the time snuggled up next to me sleeping. And I get to do this every four hours. It is strange to do things with Silas that are so normal. But it is also soooooooo wonderful. God grants us His grace to endure that which we think we cannot endure and then he grants us his grace to appreciate with exquisite agony, the sweetest simplicities we have never appreciated in the past.

Silas now weighs 9 lbs 15 oz which is up from 9 lbs 9 oz. He poops regularly without the painful assistance of suppositories. He is still throwing up a bit, but it is more like urping now and has no yellow mucus junk in it. It is just sour milk. I've been holding him so much that I smell a bit like him when I leave. Maybe it's time for another shower. . . ? Oh, who has the time! I'm busy with my little bear.

Nanette seems to be doing well. I saw her in her mommy's arms today (YEAH!) and she is tolerating her feedings again. Just tiny amounts, but it is another step in the right direction. Aunna is still stable and her parents seem a little more relaxed today. I sure hope they are getting enough sleep. I say this as I write my update at 1:30 in the morning.

I am so glad Albert is back and he can relieve me for while. Our bear is in his daddy's arms and I can get a good 5 hour stretch of sleep in a real bed. Speaking of which, I hear it calling my name as I type. Thank you all for your prayers and support and your wonderful emails. Those of you whom I have never met as well as dear tried and true friends have been a true support in all of this chaos. God has anchored us in Him through Jesus' blood and smoothes the waters with the friendships of so many people. I am truly sorry I have not had the opportunity to respond in person to all of the emails. Rest assured that I am keeping every one of my correspondences and intend on answering them at some point. If anyone would like to check out our website I have posted every update on it. It starts with the most recent update and as you scroll down they go back to the first update we wrote. The address is:

www.sliaskyne.blogspot.com

Again thank you for all your prayers and support. We are truly blessed and appreciate it tremendously.