I have casts

The past two days have been good in the NICU. Having a private room is quite nice, there aren't as many beeps from other baby's monitors, we have our own private bathroom as well as a TV, and Kc can bring his computer and we can update the blog from the hospital.
Yesterday morning, Dr. Gerardi came in and put Noah's casts on. He used a special dressing that was developed by NFL trainers. They look like fiberglass casts, but they hardened in less than two minutes and are fairly flexible. Noah doesn't seem to mind the casts which is a good thing. He will have his casts changed weekly for aproxiamately a month before he has a minor surgery on his achilles tendon. He will then be casted for about two months before he graduates to braces.
Kc, Nana, Papa and I all took an Infant CPR class that focused on trach babies. We practiced placing a "bag" on a trach and giving two breaths before giving 30 chest compressions. We also learned the four symptoms of a choking child — crying without any noise, excessive coughing or coughing without any sound, high pitched voice or gurgling sounds, and a bluish tint in the face. Because of Noah's trach he shows three out of four symptoms at all times, so I suppose, if he is choking we will just be looking for a blue baby. I guess dressing up as a Smurf for Halloween will not be an option!

Grandma Jackson and Uncle Scott came by for another visit before heading back up to Rocklin. Noah truly loves being held and rocked!
His feedings are going well. He is now bottle fed every other feeding and has increased his milk intake to 45 ml. He will continue to increase 1 ml every feeding until 50 ml. When Noah is able to drink 70 ml the doctors will decrease the fluids given to him through his PICC line (a deep IV line that goes through a vein in his arm towards his heart). Eventually the PICC line will be taken out and he can go home. Noah is still spitting up during every feeding, but I am confident that he is just a "typical boy" who loves to spit.