Day 2

Whenever talking to anyone, the first question they ask is, "How is everyone doing?" A fairly typical and obviously appropriate question. I of course am trying to figure out various ways to say, "I am tired, but overall, great. Oh, you want to know about Ali and Ethan - got it. Everyone is doing great. Ali is doing awesome, is up walking around, taking some ibuprofen every now and then, but that's it. Ethan is also doing great. When he came out, the doctors were astonished by how awesome he was doing for his gestation. He is still doing great. Unfortunately, I think how great he did yesterday gave at least myself some false hope, that he would be awesome and we would never see the "bad" side of NICU. But, in the last 24 hours or so, he as had an oxygen tube placed around his nose to regulate his air (not to continuously pump oxygen.) He also has a feeding tube through his mouth that goes straight to his stomach. He actually ate this morning and Ali was able to pump just enough to provide him his first meal. Late this morning, just as my mom and dad visited him for the first time along with his Grandpa Bob, they put him in the incubator with the light to take care of the jaundice. So yeah, its a little disheartening to see him hooked up to all of these machines, unable to fully eat and breathe on his own, as well as now living in a pod under a tanning machine. But, even though it sucks seeing him like that, we are okay with it. We knew it was going to happen and we will get through it."

I guess I went a little longer than I expected there, but hopefully it portrays a little bit of how I am feeling. (Besides the fact that I am tired of course.)

So, what else is happening? As I mentioned, my parents (grandma and grandpa names to be determined) came up for a few hours, as well as Ann and Bob, Kristin and Ben. My question is who gets to determine grandma and grandpa names? Please let me know. Ethan told me he is really wanting Grannie Annie.

Ali got to hold Ethan for about an hour this morning which was great for the both of them. She is going to be an incredible mom.

Now that he is in the incubator and getting his tan on, we won't be able to hold him again until he comes out, which they hope will be in about 3-5 days. The last guess, and they will tell you its a total guess because they don't want to lock in a date so you can't get your expectations up, is that he could go home in about four weeks. But, as they say, they will change their guess every day until he actually does go home. At some point, we will post all of the things Ethan must do before being released, such as the car seat test, body temperature, etc.

The first non-Ethan post in a while is in regards to our lunch the last two days. Yesterday, Ben went out searching for food. In the elevator, he asked a Dr. where to get some sandwiches. The Dr. said he had to go to Eppy's Deli on Ontario. So Ben did and he brought us back some great bagel sandwiches. So great, that we went back today. Ben, Bob, my dad and I went there to get sandwiches, and the owner, Larry was in there. The guy is plain nuts. Next door is a Subway, and the sign on the front door of Eppy's reads something to the effect of, if you want shitty food, Subway is next door, we only have good food. I am fairly certain there is an expletive on the sign. We get in there and he asks my dad where he is from - "Indiana" says my dad. "They have any Jews there?" replies Larry the Jewish owner. He asked if we had ever been there before, to which we replied yesterday. He yells out in the middle of the very small diner where is son is one of two people making sandwiches - "Oh, so you know the service sucks, but the food is really good." In a very playful/non-demeaning way. The sandwiches are awesome, and therefore, I highly recommend Eppy's if you are ever in the Streeterville area. Oh, and if you go to that Subway, make sure you do not sit at Larry's tables on the sidewalk. I am not sure what, but I know something bad will happen.

I posted some pictures in an album of today's visit. Ethan has a bunch of wires and tubes connected, so just beware if you don't like those types of things.

Ali is out of here tomorrow, a full week stay. I will make her post something tonight or in the morning.

Godspeed -
Matt