Baby 217

Jordan has had a very good weekend. He is now 2 inches longer than the 11 inches at birth. He has also gained over 5% of his body weight since Friday. Of course he is measured in grams, so it only translates to 1lb 9oz. However he is tolerating his feedings well, and it still sleeping. He is working on opening his eyes a little more, and it is positively the most adorable thing. He's so small that he actually has to exert his eyelid muscles to open them. He is getting better, but is not good at it yet. We don't need him to wake up yet, so we'll keep you updated.
I have spent a lot of time this month talking about how good Jordan is doing, but something happened today that brought us back down to earth. The night Jordan was born, the doctors made it clear that babies born that early don't usually live. Logically I've always known that there have been babies brought into the NICU over the last month that haven't made it. Just like when you drive to work and hear about a fatal accident 10 miles ahead - you feel bad, but it's distant and doesn't really affect you. When we go to the NICU and see an empty bed that wasn't empty the day before, we assume that the was moved to another part of the NICU or sent home. Last Thursday when we got there, they were admitting a large (over 5 pound) baby in the bay next to ours. I'd seen the mother a few times, but never really said anything other than hello. Today, when I got there I glanced over and saw the baby. However, the baby wasn't hooked up to an IV, rare for only 3 days old. Also, the vital sign monitor was off. I knew I was looking at the smallest corpse I'd ever seen. It was lying less than 10 feet away fom my son. I don't know why, or when, or how it died, and the nurses will ever tell me if I ask. The baby passed shortly before we arrived, an the nurses took him away shortly afterward. All the mama Ali and I know is that as long as our son is in the NICU, we need to appreciate every day we have with him. This was the first time we cried in weeks. Reading the first part of this entry, you might think just another day of sleeping and eating. It was, but I know of at least one person in Jacksonville tonight who would give everything she had for just one more night of that. That baby was in bay 217 of the NICU. No matter what happens from here on, I will remember the baby in bay 217. Please leave comments concerning the baby in 217 (or 216 for that matter).