new day, new faces: today we met the eye doctor, or optometrist. a very nice weekly visitor. tuesdays.

what he found out in his examination did sound like a shopping list, BUT there are only two important facts:
first: he said "typical for this early a birth" and
second: he was not at all excited, but very calmly promised he will look after the eyes of our three-headed dragon, and at the end of the day, that is a massive six!

now, our dragon even has the first series of appointments... tststs... :)

today was split: the sweet side was benjamin on my chest for two entire hours without any mask or tubus! breathing all alone, two full hours. definately a step into the right direction, even a long one!


the sour side is collin's healing process lagging behind normal timeing. time is passing by, over a week already, without his belly making the essential progress everyone is expecting. therefore there were more medication and therapies and information today. unfortunately there are odds, he could face yet another surgery for another chance to look inside and ascertain the reason for the lag.
but since this is a very positive blog and successful at this strategy, there aint no reason to change this!
so: please, cross your fingers yet again for the medication to finally kick in and take effect! thanx to every one of you!
summary: tiny steps, but at least in the right direction!

collin is back! he was out kangarooing again. still with his tubus trunk, but imbibing milk again, special preemie milk! stable values, whenever it is quiet enough around him. the most innocent smile. our biggest youngest is back on board, and we are slowly changing into the fast lane... next rally point - the one-kilogram-line! - is within grabbing range... still thrilling, who will be first to pass it, however, the cards are re-shuffled now... maybe we have spoken a little early in chapter 64. those who have not yet, could be with us in said fast lane, in the end... :)

...nicest children's song?

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the picture is a copyrighted logo of the "TSV Sondelfingen e.V."

time has come: for the first time after his surgery collin has imbibed something: tea. i know, it sounds unspectacular, but believe you me, after intestine surgery it means the world. the other vital functions - breathing, heart rate etc. - are normal so far. still a little swollen arms and legs, but decreasing.


again, the combo of skill, art, hope, finger crossing and a little luck did the trick and created a little miracle!

and i'd like to drink to that! a beverage with only one single letter: T! :)

calm sea, clear line of horizon. water below, sky above. all blue.

kangaroo are back at being a couple, mommie has returned and: got milk!

not a single alert from benjamin today! three hours on the kangaroo. absolute silence, first time! atta boy, miss cruise will be proud of you!

mommie has made almost identical experiences with victoria. the oxygen flow has to stay up, but if she continues like this, she will be a proper little ma'am, very soon! go girl!

collin fights on and very successfully so. at the moment "only" cheered by caresses inside the incubator - kangarooing is still on pause, for a few more days, hopefully! - but his belly is starting to wake up. and his eyes laugh and say: "be right there!"

and at the shore, in the sand, there are clearly five sets of footprints, in the fishback-powers sense. nobody is being carried, everyone walking on their own. no trials, no suffering.

due to excessive lonesome kangarooing i fell into bed at nights and couldn't write no more. (hold on a minute, why so tired, if i only lay around all afternoon? - well, it's the listening that strains!) besides, it was two days completely free of bad news, so i was also simply enjoying them:

victoria was first to be re-extubated. she's breathing easily by herself and reasons hope that this would be for good. she also moved into the next room, where there are two somewhat older and stronger boys behind a window pane who can show her how it's done, and how to get through nights without alerts. well, that's the hope behind it anyhow. let's see who learns what from whom, in the end. :)

benjamin, meanwhile, got rid of his "trunk", too. he's exercising his little voice and all around a happy camper.

finally, collin, he does NOT fit the title "problem child", not at all, in fact! he needs as good as no extra oxygen, copes with his surgery extremely well, wounds are healing on time, and he's lookin' forward to being put back on a mother's milk diet, soon...

they all gain weight allright, given the circumstances and events. but leading the pack by a margin is still... erm, no, i'm not supposed to say it, that's what chapter 64 is for!

bruna has hatched something. no, no more triplets. no ducklings, either. an infect. harmless, but of course she wasn't exactly welcome in an intensive care unit anymore.

so i had no other choice than to be the kangaroo by myself. well, kangaroos aren't exactly pack animals either. but beyond any doubt lonesome kangaroos are subjected to equal care and competency, as a pair would...

and OF COURSE also lonesome kangaroos wear their ears. unless they forget their locker key... :)

i have researched, but been unable to find a song telling about preemies in intensive care, about achievements of medicine, superpowers of little patients and parents' feelings alltogether.

but i do, however, know a song that at least tells about grown-ups who have committed themselves to saving little ones.

my good old musical path-of-life companion, reinhard mey wrote and sang "golf november". read it, have it translated (sorry, all in german, but i'll help upon request!), especially the last two lines. this is actually, how i feel...

if you look at victoria today, there is not only nothing of her former critical situation visible anymore, moreover, she came out of it stronger than ever!

same goes for collin: very shortly after the surgery, the miniature hero lies in his bed, showing off oxygen saturation values beyond 95%, all with a mere 21% oxygen content in his breathing air!

forces one image into your mind: the one of a caterpillar metamorphosing into a butterfly: all this hard work of peeling itself out of the cocoon, to then - beautiful and feather-like - fly on...