So Many Mielers!: In Rides Roland William, The Gunslinger

Roland William
Born 9/10/2015 @ 11:27a
Weight: 2lbs. 13oz.
Length: 15.5"

Our boy Roland totally lives up to his namesake so far. He is calm and in control, unless he wants his binkie, in which case he shrieks like a banshee until the small piece of rubber is inserted into his tiny waiting mouth. He has the least amount of hair of the four, making him the easiest to identify by head alone. When we tuck his legs up like the nurses showed us, mimicking their environment inside me, he has a tendency to kick back the first few tries. It makes me laugh because he has been doing this against my hand for over two months, every press of a certain spot of my stomach meeting with a gentle kick back from my boy. And lets not forget that it was the trademark restlessness of The Gunslinger character that led to my water breaking six days ago!

Roland began his NICU life with IV, CPAP, and feeding tube. He was later put on lights and needed to be intubated due to some trouble breathing. He was extubated less than a day later and did great on his CPAP. He was off his lights for three whole days before he needed a little extra time sunning himself. After three days without his little glasses, he was used to looking all around the room (the nurses tell us that at this age, they distinguish light, dark and faces) and he was not happy to have his eyes covered again. As of this morning, Roland is on the least support of anyone. Not only are his lights and CPAP off, but his IV has been removed as well. Aside from surface monitors for heart rate and such, he has only the feeding tube left. The soundness of his sleep when I left him this afternoon tells me he's feeling pretty darn happy about the whole thing. He and Becker seem to be in a race to see who comes home first, so it will be interesting to see what Beck does in the next few days.

Roland, 1 day old, intubated but with no lights yet