He Has a Name (and a Face)!

We finally finalized the little baby's name:

Robert Scott Clark (Robbie).

(click to enlarge)

As you can see, he's pretty cute. Even though he is so early and small, he looks pretty normal--just tiny. One of the cutest things is that he is "furry," covered in lanugo--fine, white hair covering his body--which will eventually be shed from his skin.

His health seems pretty good so far. He is on a ventilator for breathing, which means we haven't been able to take him out and hold him yet, but we are able to help care for him--changing diapers, taking his temperature, sponging off his mouth and tongue, etc. We do this all through arm holes in his isolette (incubator-like bed). He has been getting nourishment through a PICC line (a more long-term kind of IV), but a few days ago he started getting fed with my milk as well--through a tube directly into his stomach (it will be a few weeks before he can try nursing).

My recovery is going very well. I checked out of the hospital yesterday, and am officially up and around. It's been nice to be back with the older boys (most of the time), and I keep pretty busy pumping my milk and making visits to the hospital.

A huge thanks to everyone for all of your prayers and support. We appreciate Stacy being here this week, and Stephanie and Karen who will be around over the weekend. We have lots of friends who will be a huge help to us in the coming months as I will be spending most of my time going to and from the hospital.

Again, we feel so blessed about the way things have progressed. My doctor was extremely attentive to my symptoms, and I was definitely prompted to go to the hospital to get checked out that night (I wasn't actually very sick until after I got there). As far as we can tell, little Robbie is on track to grow and develop as he should, and we are in for quite a growing experience of our own along the way...