Grair is home! We were able to come home yesterday afternoon with Grair, and have begun to settle into life at home with two children (something we originally had planned to do three weeks ago). And after many doctor consultations, we are without oxygen! He looks just like a regular newborn coming home from the hospital, with a chest-long incision. The next few months will require a new level of detail with Grair’s recovery. More doctors...

Grair has been doing exceptionally well considering his heart condition two weeks ago. We are in the NICU working on feeding, and he is progressing nicely. The staff has come up with a world-renowned feeding pathway that Grair is working on. It is basically a combination of oral and tube feeds, with the plan of 100% oral feeds before releasing him. As it stands now, we are on the pathway to achieve this mid-week. However, anything can change....

Grair’s recovery has been moving in the right direction ever since the surgery. He has stayed strong and persevered through every significant milestone. Yesterday, another milestone was reached: moving out of the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). In a normal chain of events, Grair would have moved to the fifth floor. However since he is so small, he was moved back to the NICU. This was only done because the NICU staff is better trained...

The breathing tube is off! The doctors and nurses will continue to monitor, but so far there is no need or indication that Grair will require the tube any more. Since the tube is off, both Melissa and I were able to hold Grair for the first time since surgery.

Grair’s breathing tube is still in, it wasn’t removed yesterday as originally thought. However, the breathing machine was turned off. He was able to breathe on his own, and the doctors have carefully been monitoring it. While breathing on his own, he had to work a little harder than they would have liked to see. We are told this is natural; after all, half of his very short life he has had a machine do the breathing for him. He needs...

I have started an album of Grair photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/seth007/GrairConnorMeranda?authkey=tTG5CMBsQgk While some may show up from time-to-time in the posts, the entire collection will always be available at this location.

Every doctor, nurse and resident has assured us that kids are tough. For the past seven days, Grair has been through more medical incidents than Melissa and I combined, and yet he is persevering and growing. His strength has made us stronger. Last night, Grair got have his first dose of milk. It was only a small amount, and it was feed through a nose in his tube, but it settled well. Sometime today, the doctors are going to try removing the...