Dante's doing very well. All the nurses at Brigham & Womens just adore him...how couldn't you?

He has been having some "spells" which is a nice word for apnea. Apnea is when the newborn stops breathing. Its very common in premature babies, they sometimes forget to keep breathing. Dante hasn't had a lot of them (like the other babies in the ICU), but he has had a few. One of the conditions that must be met for him to come home with us is that he is "spell-free" for five consecutive days. He was also a little jaundice, so they put him under these lamps to help...its called phototherapy. As you’ll see in some of the pictures below, he’s wearing little cloth cut-outs to protect his eyes. We call them Dante’s shades...and he keeps trying to rip them off, driving the nurses mad.

Atta boy...

Jenn was released this past Saturday...and needless to say it was pretty tough for us to go home without Dante. He’s going to be in the ICU for at least a few weeks. But we are reminded all the time that he’s doing very well. Of course, Jenn and I plan on being at the hospital every day...although, with my next chemotherapy session this Friday, I’m not so sure how I’ll be able to manage....we’ll see. While we were there last night, we got a chance to take him out of the incubator and hold him for a while. I read him some stories, and Jenn tried to feed him with the bottle. He doesn’t have the sucking reflex down yet, so he isn’t able to breastfeed or feed from a bottle...but he’s getting there. Every so often he’ll make the motion...he’s just got to keep at it!

In any case, we’re both pretty tired (hence the short update) and we’re heading back to the hospital in a little bit. Below are a few pics. The first one is Dante in his incubator with “Ustin Bear” (a gift from the Ustins, all the way from California). The second picture is Dante latching on to my finger. I got pretty emotional when I had my hand in there and Dante just grabbed my finger and wouldn’t let go! Could be a wide receiver...you never know! The third is Dante, chillin’ with his shades on, with a picture of Mommy & Daddy in the incubator. I put the picture there the other day, so while he doesn’t have his shades on he has something to look at. And the last pic is Dante and Mommy rocking and talking.

As always, click on the picture for a larger and more detailed view.

Coming very soon...more Dante updated, some Thanksgiving stuff(ing), and an update on my chemotherapy session #3...please continue to check in!