Day 52 - Graduation to NICU Level II

Today is a HUGE milestone in little Zachary's life. Today he graduated from NICU Level III to NICU Level II (a.k.a. the "step down unit")! Yeay Zachary!!! NICU II focuses on getting him ready to go home, i.e. maintaining his body temperature and learning how to drink a bottle. Today he drank his first bottle and once he got the hang of it, he did really well, he drank 35 mls which is over an ounce! He now drinks 32 mls every three hours which equals just over eight and a half ounces a day! We thought you all would like to see some comparison pictures.

Here's Zachary on the day he was born...

and here he is yesterday!

Look how his feet hang over the snuggly now!

Here he is on the day he was born (next to Stephen's hand)... and here he was yesterday (next to Stephen's hand)!

He's now 3 pounds, 10.4 ounces (over 3 and 1/2 pounds) and 16 and 3/4 inches long. Remember when he was born he was one pound, 14.5 ounces and 13 and 3/8 inches long, that seems so long ago, but it was only seven weeks and two days ago!

Last night he was really alert when Mommy was holding him.

Daddy had his hand up high and Zachary was watching Daddy's hand intently. We even got a little video of it.

Here are some pictures (and even a video!) of Zachary's first attempt at drinking from a bottle. We were so proud of how well he did!

Here's the bottle before...

Here he is drinking his milk.

Here's the nurse teaching Zachary how to suck on the bottle.

He even finished with a big burp, before going to sleep.

We couldn't believe he drank the whole thing!

We want to thank everyone who left comments for us, please keep them coming! We love them and so will Zachary when he is older! We are so fortunate to have so many people loving us and praying for us. We hope you have enjoyed sharing a little bit of Zachary's big day, the day he graduated to NICU Level II!

Love to all!