Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween from the Four Clark Boys!

pssst... Check out previous years' Halloween costumes, including the older boys in the same puppy costume, here and here.

2 Month Mark!

Last night we "celebrated" Robbie's 2 month birthday. We got permission to have both older boys with us at the bedside (usually we are limited to 3 total visitors). It was Tommy and Michael's last time to see Robbie in the NICU, since RSV season is upon us, and any day now children under 12 will no longer be admitted into the NICU.

We brought along pictures of the boys and lots of cards, so Robbie won't miss them too much.

We had a great visit with Robbie. Tommy helped take his temperature, Michael helped clean out his mouth, and they both enjoyed watching him get weighed.
(David was sad to miss out on the fun, but happily made lots of cards and sent Robbie a hug and a kiss when we left the house.)

Believe it or not, Robbie is now 6 lbs 5 oz! At the rate he is going, he will go home bigger than the birth weights of Tommy (5 lbs 10 oz) and Michael (6 lbs 7 oz). It may be tougher to pass up David's (8 lbs 2 oz).

Speaking of Robbie coming home, we have no idea when that will be. Unfortunately he continues to have lung problems (fast, labored breathing) and he still hasn't figured out how to eat by mouth. The schedule and the stress are definitely wearing on us, but luckily he's cute enough to convince us to keep being patient with him.

Same Age at the Same Time

We celebrated Chris's birthday last week. I can now spend a couple months feeling like we're the same age.  (Yes, I realize a 10-month age difference isn't a big deal, but it's kind of compounded when one spouse looks like a teenager!)

We love you Chris!

Catching Up

I finally stole stole a few hours from my busy schedule, and spent some time documenting what's been going on around here for the last few months--before and after our new arrival.

I back-dated a lot of the posts, just to keep them in the right months for the archives.

Here's what's new:

• Month in Review: May 2008

• Month in Review: June 2008

• Month in Review: July 2008

• Five Stories of Fun (Worth Family Reunion)

• Month in Review: August 2008

• Month in Revew: September 2008 (includes updates and pictures of Robbie's progress throughout September)

• Robbie Report: Good News! (most current update)
  

Robbie Report: Good News!

Robbie is getting bigger and bigger, and cuter and cuter...

(click photos to enlarge)

He is now over five pounds, as of October 4. This is so amazing to us. He's already growing out of some of the preemie clothes! The recent great news is that he passed his second eye test, which means it looks like he won't have any ROP-related eye problems. This means the physical structure of his eye is intact. However, since he had bleeding in his brain, he could still have problems processing images that his eye receives. Like many other problems that could result from the brain-bleed, we won't know how he'll do until we wait and watch him develop.

He has started learning to breastfeed, but it is very slow going. He is getting the hang of latching on, but his respiratory rate is still much too high for him to be able to suck, swallow, and breathe. We try to remember that he is not even supposed to be out of the womb yet (his due date was Nov 2), so any progress he makes is really a head start!

It will still be quite a while before Robbie comes home from the NICU--we're guessing at least 3-4 weeks. He needs to learn to breathe slower and take all his feedings by mouth (breast- or bottle-feeding). It is possible that he will come home on oxygen.

It was great having Stacy here for a week. She gave Chris and I so much extra time with Robbie, and we even managed a little getaway one night at a hotel near the hospital. We were sad to see her go, and the kids still talk about how much they miss Stacy and Scott. Now we're looking forward to the arrival of Grandma Worth at the end of this week!