Weighing in at...

Preston weighed in at 3lb 9.1ounces last night! He is an amazing little boy!

Wide awake and ready to eat!

Preston is WIDE AWAKE and ready for his noon feeding on Friday.

Are you familiar with the NICU?

Are you familiar with the NICU? Well needless to say Meredith and Ken were not until Preston decided to come into the world Christmas Eve. In fact, Christmas Eve Meredith and I sat in the hospital that night reading the NICU information book. We actually thought the NICU was just the way we always saw it on television...you know with the glass for you to peek in at the babies? Well, its nothing like that. It is actually a VERY secure area of the hospital. When you arrive on the NICU hall you have to have permission to enter. Once you enter the actual NICU and arrive in the room where your baby is staying, you begin the scrub down! Yep, a 5 minute scrub from finger tips to elbows with soap and sponge. After you have scrubbed yourself to a dry prune, you are allowed to enjoy time with your baby. The babies are constantly monitored by nurses and various machines. In fact, sometimes the beeping might even scare you.

MOVING ON UP...

Such a sweet picture...Mommy enjoying some snuggle time with Preston. After last night, Meredith needed some good news and she got it. Preston is 3lbs 7ounces and he has been MOVED TO ROOM 4! For those of you who are not familiar with the NICU...you move from room to room as your progress and room 4 is the best room to be in because its the room right before you get to move out!

Again...its all about who you know in the NICU

Okay so last night sweet Dorothy brought the Bishop family dinner and then it was time for the nightly visit to the NICU. Ken had already told us that twins were being delivered from Selma so we should arrive right at 7:30pm. Of course...we took our chances and we arrived later. When we buzzed room 3, the nurse FINALLY answered the phone and was actually pretty rude while telling us she was not going to allow us to visit with Preston. Needless to say, Meredith was NOT a happy camper. So, again its all about who you know in the NICU.

growing...growing...growing

Little Preston is slowly but surely becoming BIG Preston!

In his onesie!

Look at little Preston, he is such a BIG Boy in his first onesie! He now weighs 3lbs 2.5ounces...moving on up!

Such a GOOD Day!

They have now removed Preston's temperature probe so he is keeping his temperature stable. He is also one step closer to being bottle fed because they have moved his feeding tube from his mouth to his nose. Mimsy held him for the first time last night because he is finally 3lbs in fact he is 3lbs 1.1ounces. When Meredith went to visit today, he was wearing a shirt and the doctor checked his eyes. Everything appears to be normal. This has been such a GOOD Day!

Big Boy!

Tonight Preston weighs 3lbs 0.7oz. This is AWESOME! Keep on eating Big Boy!

Almost 3 lbs

Last night Preston weighed 2 lbs 15.3 oz...only .7oz more and he will weigh 3 lbs!

This is wonderful news! He is doing exactly what they want him to do: eat, sleep, and gain weight!

Once again...all depends on who's on duty in the NICU

Meredith and Ken were both very disappointed last night when they were not allowed the awesome opportunity to bathe sweet Preston. The nurse on duty does not like to remove the babies from their beds and therefore bath time did not happen.
But for some happy news...Nurse Joy (the queen of holding) sat down and spent some time today with Meredith while she was admiring baby Preston. She informed Meredith that once he reaches 3 lbs he will be able to keep his temperature the same and he will then have one less wire.
Preston has shown us so far that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
We all know God is good and please keep praying!

Splish Splash...

Preston's taking a bath! Part of the NICU requirements "to take your baby home" is to bath your newborn preemie. Well, since Preston is growing so much, its time for Mommy and Daddy to bathe him. Tonight's the night...check back to hear how it goes!

Just here to eat and grow...

Preston is continuing to improve each and every hour of every day. They are currently feeding him 24 ccs of breastmilk and they will continue to up the amount as long as there is no residual. The nasal cannula is at .5, which is the lowest, and now we are just waiting for them to remove it. The doctor told Meredith today that Preston is doing great and he is pretty much just in NICU to eat and grow!

Its the little things in life...

Meredith just sent me the following text "Its the little things in life we take for granted. He sucked on a pacifie for 40 minutes. The sound of the sucking was awesome. He is up to 22ccs and receiving some extra vitamins. He weights 2 lb 10.6 oz."

Keep on growing Preston!

Preston is a BIG BOY

Tonight Preston moved to room 3...yippee! This is great news! He also weighs 2lbs 9oz and they are feeding him 16ccs of breastmilk every 3 hours. They are no longer providing him with fluids...only caffeine and he takes that orally.
Way to go little Preston!

Peaceful Preston

Preston continues to grow bigger and healthier everyday.

Meredith decides to check his diaper...he was smiling an awful lot!

What a WONDERFUL way to begin the NEW YEAR!

On New Year's Day, Pierce joined in on the visit to see Preston in the NICU. Mommy and Daddy are blessed with two beautiful boys!

First time holding sweet Preston

Instead of just staring...

Ken is back in the office, Pierce is going to Mrs. Libby's, and Meredith spends the majority of her day in the NICU. Today, instead of just staring, she read Preston a book. Thanks to Mrs. Patsy Jeffcoat, Meredith has now begun reading to Preston while she visits. We all know how important reading to children is and this is the perfect opportunity to get started with Preston. Today Meredith read the children's book Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney.

excerpt from the book Guess How Much I Love You
...He was almost too sleepy to think anymore. Then he looked beyond the thorn bushes, out into the big dark night. Nothing could be further than the sky. "I love you right up to the moon," he said, and closed his eyes. "Oh, that's far," said Big Nutbrown Hare. "That is very, very far." Big Nutbrown Hare settled Little Nutbrown Hare into his bed of leaves. He leaned over and kissed him good night. Then he lay down close by and whispered with a smile, "I love you right up to the moon - and back."

Preston is doing very well. The nurses continue to up his breast milk intake and they also remind Mommy and Daddy that Preston is doing exactly as expected...sleeping!

Gaining weight

Preston now weighs 2lbs 9oz...he is almost up to his birth weight...hooray! He continues to improve in every way. He is currently eating 7cc of breastmilk every 3 hours and they will continue to up the amount every 9 hours. He just LOVES spending time on his tummy!

So far so good...

Happy New Year! So far the year of 2011 has been GREAT which includes Preston's improvement. On New Year's Eve both Meredith and Ken were able to actually hold, snuggle, and enjoy little Mr. Preston. It turns out you just have to learn how things work around the NICU. Meredith and Ken were lucky enough to come across the "Queen of Holding" Nurse during their afternoon visit on New Year's Eve. The "Queen of Holding" suited them up and let him hold him until their hearts were content.

On their way to a New Year's get together they picked up Pierce to join in the festivities. Everyone had a great time and raised their glass to Preston the little fighter!

As of this afternoon, Preston's breastmilk intake has been increased to 6cc every 3 hours. This is AWESOME!

He continues to improve with the help of your thoughts and prayers. Thank you!



**don't worry, pictures are soon to follow!