Enjoying the Silence

As of Monday night, Luke is a hefty 3lb 5oz and is now getting his feedings in 1 hour vs. the 3 hours he was getting them previously and he's doing great with it. The specialists gave him a once-over today and said that he still has some learning to do (with eating, swallowing, etc.), but they'll continue to work with him and track his progress. His nurse gave him his second "test bottle" anyway and he was able to drink 10 of the 15ML's, which sounds good to us!
The best part of the visit though was when I held him for over 40 minutes and during the entire time, he didn't de-sat (or over-sat) once. I know this sounds good, but it's hard to describe how incredible that silence felt. For the first time I was able to hold him, while he slept and didn't have to hear "DING DING DING DING" every few minutes. I'm not sure anyone who's never spent any time with a baby in a NICU can really appreciate what it's like, but it's probably the top 5 most peaceful moments I've ever felt. While I held him, taking in the moment, I looked around at his little area, at the decorations on his wall and window, his monitor and really started to feel like we're in the home stretch. That soon, this will become a distant memory and Luke will be at home with us.
On Tuesday we have our next family meeting with his doctor and we'll be getting his progress report and an updated timeline. We'll let you all know what they say. Until then....good night.