Daddy's turn! Day 5

Today I got to hold Pat for a bit over 45 minutes. I held him for a moment just after he was born, and then not again until this afternoon. When he was born, the day was sunny and cloudless all day. The next four days we had clouds, rain, sleet, snow, and freezing temperatures. This afternoon when I help Pat, the clouds disappeared and the sun shone down from a clear blue sky. Clear and blue from what I could see out the window, anyway.

Today he is under the lights all day, and is in his tent as well. He needs to be in a reduced oxygen environment pretty much all the time now, so when I held him I had to hold a gas tube before his face - a small price to pay. His bilirubin was down a little, which along with his increasing age means everyone is less worried about it. But he still gets to bathe in blue light. But it's OK - he's much more peaceful now. He is no longer running a temperature, and appears to be more comfortable. Mostly he just sleeps.

Talking with the people here, it appears that next Tuesday - a week from today - will be the likely day for his surgery. I think that's more of a guesstimate than a firm estimation, but it's better than "sometime next week".

I'm having trouble downloading pictures here this afternoon, so later tonight I'll post some pictures, including what will no doubt become an iconic father-son image.