Date Night

Cohen has had a few pretty slow days, which we are so thankful for! They are still just playing with his ventilator settings a little but he is just kind of hanging out for the most part. His feedings have increased to 4.3 mL per hour which he has been enjoying! He is down to one IV which is so weird to see him without something on every limb and a ton of tubing. His rash is looking much better and one of his nurse practitioners said they might write an article on him and use his pictures because it is so rare and they've never really seen anything like it. Cohen and mommy got to have a little more snuggle kangaroo care time today which we both enjoyed. Cohen also finally got his fingers into his mouth! He is always trying to get them in there and this morning when we came in he was sucking on his fingers...what a big boy. I did take a picture but I don't have my camera cord here at the hospital. This is going to be one well photographed little boy!
Danny is here for one more night so he is taking me on a little date tonight.  It will be nice to have some time together away from the hospital. We were coming into the hospital one day and he mentioned how normal it had become for us. I generally come in around 9-10 in the morning and stay until around 2:00. Sometimes I go home for a little break otherwise I stay until dinnertime and then go home. Then I make another trip back in the evening to say goodnight to the little fellow and read him his bedtime stories. He only has two books so far so we might get him another to add to his collection for his one month birthday on Sunday!
We are slowly starting to do a few more "normal" things like visiting with a few friends and Danny is the best man in a wedding next weekend so I may try and make it to that. So far I have been secretly thankful to kind of hide in Seattle and not have to see too many people quite yet. I have to admit it's a little bit awkward to see people for the first time mostly because I think people are a little bit afraid or aren't really sure what to expect out of us. It's usually kind of a cautious approach that we get. They probably aren't sure if I am going to be a crying mess or if we will still be the same people they knew before. Some days I am a crying mess, but some days are better than others, so I guess it's fair to wonder what you are going to get. Things that are not helpful are saying things like "At least you got one good baby" or "You can always have more kids". We are very thankful for Cohen, and yes we can have more kids, but that doesn't make losing Carter any easier. I know that people say these things with good intentions, but they aren't helpful. Things that are helpful are hugs, telling us you are thinking of us or praying for us, or asking questions about Carter and Cohen. I will talk about either of them any chance I get :) You don't have to have the "right" things to say, we just appreciate that you care. So many of you have called, sent cards, texts, emails, and facebook messages and I know we haven't been able to respond to everybody individually but please know that we did receive them and we do appreciate them very much!