7 Days

-A lot can happen in 7 days. God created the world in 7 days (actually 6, he rested on the 7th). Daniel has performed some miracles of his own in the past 7 days.-Daniel reached the 3 pound mark, he is no longer a 2 pounder! His current weight is 3 pounds, 4 ounces. He is averaging an ounce a day in weight gain which is exactly what he should be gaining.
-A healthy, full term baby is born with the ability to eat (suck, swallow and breathe). A premature baby has to develop the skills to eat (suck, swallow and breathe). Daniel has begun learning to suck, swallow and breathe. He gets one bottle a day for practice. Daniel burns calories when he drinks from a bottle, it's an aerobic exercise. Daniel's practice time will increase as his ability to suck, swallow and breathe gets stronger.-Daniel is starting to control his own body temperature and he has started wearing clothes, very small clothes.
-A lot of babies born early have anemia and will receive one (some many) blood transfusions while in the NICU. Daniel received his first transfusion this week - an ounce of blood - it really perked him up.

-Daniel had an eye test on Thursday. The test was to check for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). ROP occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow and spread throughout the retina, the tissue that lines the back of the eye. Daniel's test results were negative, meaning he does not have ROP. He will have a repeat eye test in 3 months.