Sleep at last...

We are so sleep deprived so we decided that we could sleep in today. Although, with mom getting up every 3 hours to pump, I still feel like I could sleep for days and still not have enough. We got up to the hospital to find all of Matthew's drainage tubes and most of the IVs removed. His nurse told us that he had a wonderful night and he was going to have a bottle today (all of my hard work and long hours of pumping finally paying off). He was suckling on his fist all afternoon and we were sure that he would have no problems taking to a bottle. Unfortunately, he didn't appreciate it much and was given a feeding tube instead, but he didn't appreciate that much at either. The nurse had to make sure that she had the placement of the tube so she pumped a little air into his tummy to listen for a gurgling sound. Then she did it three more times for another nurse to listen. My poor little man was not happy and quite gassy after they finally deciding that they had successfully placed the tube in his stomach. I was complaining to Blake that they should have let me gave him the bottle in the first place. Mom's are better for that kind of job! Though, he was not convinced. The respiratory therapist came over with a pacifier so we could try to get him use to suckling. With all the tubes that have been shoved down his throat it's no wonder that he thinks everything that comes into contact with his mouth is going to hurt. Then she went and got the good stuff. It was a sugar water type stuff that she out on the end of the pacifier and he liked it. He would get the sweet stuff off and then spit the pacifier out. He gagged a few times so she told us to work on it with him at another time. Dad wasn't satisfied so he tried until it was time for us to go. Matthew almost got it and we can't wait to try again tomorrow. We didn't get to hold him today, but we got spend a quiet Sunday with our son and I couldn't be more happy. His larynx is still swollen and irritated so he still can't produce an audible cry. We hope tomorrow will be different. I heard him for a few minutes after he was delivered, but Dad has yet to hear him. Switch did cough while gagging on his feeding tube and I thought I was going to cry. I didn't cry, but I did think it was the sweetest most precious cough in the world!! He did a lot of hard work today and has come so far in his recovery. Blake and I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers and we hope that they continue until he is at home, in his own bed, and waking Mom up for a feeding instead of an alarm clock waking her up for a pumping!! Switch told me that he loves you all and can't wait to meet you!