Hungry man

In the middle of last night, I woke to find Marissa trembling and crying in pain. She's been fighting a case of clogged ducts in her breasts which led to a mastitis infection. If you've never seen seen this, like I hadn't, imagine a really bad bout of the flu or heroin withdrawal, only it doesn't last quite as long. She was hot and cold, soaking our sheets, without much that could help her.

Since we were both up much of the night, I'm drained and can't muster up the energy for a post worthy of how good our day was. In short, I don't think anyone doubts now that Asher will be feeding on his own very soon. He drank from a bottle four times today, including once with me, and took a little more each time. My dad and sister were in town to see all this. Dad also modeled a nipple-less sports bra for us - tune in tomorrow for pictures.

When a baby gets ready to leave the NICU, mom and baby will spend time together in the transition unit getting ready to go home. These are rooms that help moms learn about any special needs the baby might have and to see how the baby responds to a less medical environment. Asher has been doing so well that transitioning was mentioned for the first time today. We might be doing that in the next few days if it weren't for Marissa's infection, but it sounds like this is coming soon regardless.

More to come tomorrow, including pictures and video of Asher taking down a big gulp of milk with me, then begging for more.