He gets stronger every day.

As of right now, Rian is off of his ventilator, dopamine and antibiotics.

The only thing he's being treated for is Patent ductus arteriosus. It occurs when a blood vessel that is normal while a baby in the womb fails to close after the baby is born. The cause of the problem is not known and it affects one in 2000 babies that are born each year. It is more common in girls and much more common in premature infants.

It's treated with medication and should close in a couple of days. For more info, visit the link.

But the big news is he's off the ventilator. That means we can hold him now. Before the ventilator tubes were short and didn't allow us to hold him. Spending time with him was difficult as we could only place a hand on his head or feet. Helen would sing to him and I would go in the evenings and read Winnie-the-Pooh stories.

If he continues to progress like this, we may not be prepared at home, to have him at home. I need to set up the crib, get a new car seat, etc....

And now that the ventilator is out, we'll be able to hear him cry and make noises which weren't possible before. So for now, hearing him cry will be nice but only for now.