Our little champ is weighing in at 7 pounds 15 ounces now at the start of his 4th week of life. In fact, he may already be up to 8 pounds since we weighed him last night. This means that instead of the customary 1 ounce per day, or 21 ounces total, our little guy has gained 26 ounces ounces since birth, not counting the extra five of his birth weight that he had to regain. Needless to say, he’s eating like a little tiger. This is very good, since he was a NICU baby and his eating career got off to a rough start.

Amidst one of Levi’s many meals yesterday, Brad commented how we might be brewing ourselves a little lineman. Not knowing much about football, I said, “Aw, great! There’s hope for an athlete in the family after all.” Then Brad informed me that linemen are the players who are, what shall we say, the comparatively stout guys on the field… or as Brad puts it, “just there to plug up the holes.” Poor Levi! Already getting flack at such a young age. At least it isn’t disturbing his sleep, as you can see.

On a lighter note, I have some good news to share. After less than three weeks since Levi’s birth, I officially donned a pair of my pre-pregnancy jeans. Now, these are my magical, stretchy, “buffet restaurant” jeans, but still… I’m counting that as a victory! And where did I wear them, you may ask? Why, to eat sushi for the first time in 8 months. Yet another reason to celebrate! Thursday was definitely a good day.

Today is Tuesday, February 6, 2007 – the day Levi comes home. Levi has been in the NICU for 11 days now. That’s about 10 more than we were initially expecting and 11 more than we would have liked. The NICU is a terrible place and it is a great place all at the same time. It is terrible because you are separated from your baby. Unlike the regular nursery where everyone can come and peer through the window and see your little baby being bathed and swaddled right after birth, the NICU is securely behind two sets of doors. You have to give the secret password to get through the first door and you have to scrub your arms and hands for 1 minute before going though the second. You know how it is completely unwise to separate a bear cub from it’s mother? The NICU is exactly the same thing when it comes to babies and their mothers.

It is also a terrible thing for your baby to be in the NICU since you have to basically live at the hospital in order to feed and see your baby every 3 hours. We live 20 miles from our hospital, so this was especially bad for us. Driving to and from the hospital all the time really begins to get old in a hurry. Luckily, our cousin Kevin and his wife Joanna live very close to the hospital and gave us a key to their place. So we got to go crash at their place in between feedings, and that was a real life saver. » More: Levi Comes Home

Since Levi was 4 weeks early, the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) team was present for Levi’s birth. As soon as Levi was born, they had the responsibility of checking him out. They poked and prodded him and then one doctor stood there for about 2 minutes contemplating whether to send Levi to the NICU or the regular nursery. Deep down, I was saying to myself, “please, please send him to the regular nursery.” But the doctor was cautious and due to Levi making some grunting noises when he breathed, he sent Levi to the NICU for overnight observations. As it turns out, that was a very fortunate decision – one that we will forever be thankful for. » More: Levi Goes to the NICU

Levi Anthony Birchfield arrived on Friday, January 26th. He weighed 6 lbs, 5 ozs and was 18.5 inches long. He was 4 weeks early (at 36 weeks of the pregnancy).

It all started about 9PM on Thursday the 25th. » More: Levi Anthony Has Arrived