Day 22- Can I get fries with our room?

He is a little creepy but means well.

Owen has had another good day, He is hanging in there. He is like your normal newborn right now except for the medical equipment attached to him. Eat, cuddle, sleep, poop and pee is the extent of his day. We were told to enjoy this because if he does need surgery we won't be able to hold him or change his diapers for the days following the surgery. We are enjoying this time that we have which seems like a calm before a storm. No major change in condition or plan. We are waiting until Tuesday for the decision to be made on Owen's plan of care.

Today we moved to another place to stay. It is the Ronald McDonald house. This place is nice and offers you whatever you need. They have donated goods of all kinds including food. I was half expecting to get a super sized fries when we walked in the door but were greeted by some nice people instead. McDonald's is known as "the Devil" in our house but we may need to rethink that. (On road trips Chelsea won't even stop at one to use the facilities!) Not only do they provide weight gaining food but they do good work for their community. The room is nice and we have kitchen space, including fridge, pantry and freezer space. They have volunteers who come in and cook dinners for all the house guests which will be nice to enjoy at some point. We will miss Casa de Rich but we might go back if needed. We are forever grateful for what everyone has provided us.

Owen continues to have great nurses while being here. They all are loving and compassionate with him. I know that it takes a certain person to be a nurse of any type but to work with these small people is just amazing. Chels and I are still doing good. We enjoy the time between feedings and diaper changes as any new parent would. Chelsea has been reading while holding O, and I blog/surf the net. When mom leaves for a break or to go eat, Owen has his own TV in the room and we have logged many hours of ESPN already. We are tired of hearing about Brett Favre and Tiger. We were able to watch a whole Wed night baseball game the other night so I am teaching him the ropes already. Breast feeding has been good the last few days. We could never get a lactation consult at Roseville which was weird that we could not but we asked yesterday and had one in our room here in about 1 hour. Since then Chelsea and Owen have improved much together. The lactation consultant really helped us all relax during feeds which could be stressful due to hunger, crying, and desaturations. Today Owen had his longest session of breast feeding that lasted about 25 mins.

The bonus about staying at Ron's house is that it is about a 10 minute drive away. We are able to get in more time with O which is very important. We imagine that the RN's here like to get Owen as their assignment because we do all of his care while here. AND he is the cutest kid on the unit...no, the hospital!
-Chris