Well, don’t “start spreadin’ the news” just yet, Charlie’s
not “leavin’ today,” but we’re getting closer by the minute. At our meeting this
week with our neonatologist, the main topic at hand was Charlie’s departure.
That’s a far cry from the months of meetings where this query was met by the doctors' glassy-eyed automatic response: “There’s no way we can know when that will be,
Charlie will let us know when he’s ready to leave.” And now he is…almost.
Charlie has passed so many hurdles during the past four months including four
major surgeries, a variety of respiratory devices, and learning how to
coordinate his breathing, sucking, and swallowing. Now he is an eating machine,
taking over 60 cc by mouth every three hours. After so long it’s hard to
believe we are moving ever closer to the day when he will leave the confines of
Cedars-Sinai. We have every reason to hope that this will happen some time in
September (God-willing, pu pu pu) but the next week or two will clarify where we stand. We’re still working at bringing those feeds
up, trying to get Charlie off oxygen, and making sure all is well with his
shunt and cerebrospinal fluid absorption.
I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps
To find I'm king of the hill, top of the heap…
Too bad Charlie wasn’t quite ready to face the crowds at the Hollywood Bowl last night where he could have heard the originator of that song. Liza Minnelli’s performance there was delayed from mid-July when we thought our twins would be born (we expected them to come 4 weeks early—not 16!). For months Kendall and I had this fantasy in which we’d go to the Bowl to see Liza and then Kendall’s water would break during the show. Liza would notice the ruckus in the audience at which point she’d invite us to the stage and deliver the twins herself in front of 18,000 enthusiastic fans. Okay, maybe Liza wouldn’t have been the ideal midwife and perhaps the Hollywood Bowl wasn’t the perfect sterile environment but it was fun to imagine. As for Charlie, even after he’s sprung from the NICU we’re going to have to be very careful about germs and crowds so he’ll have to settle for my renditions of Minnelli’s top hits, many of which he’s already heard. (Is that why we keep moving from bay to bay? Are parents banding together to sign petitions against my constant warbling of showtunes?)
Charlie hit 120 days earlier this week. Oy Guttenyu, as my mother would have said. The number 120 has special significance in Jewish tradition. Because Moses supposedly lived until the age of 120 (at least according to Deuteronomy 34:7), the number became part of an oft-recited blessing for longevity. “Biz a hundert und zwanzig!” Jews say in Yiddish, or “Ad me’ah v’esrim shanah!” in Hebrew.
More to say but for now I must rush up to the NICU for Charlie’s early morning feed. The more bottles he takes by mouth, the sooner we can blow this popsicle stand.
These NICU blues, are melting
away
I'm gonna make a brand new
start of it—outside of Cedars!
If I can make it here, I'll make it anywhere
It’s up to me…Charles Oliver
Thomas Miller!
pu pu pu
Posted by: Erica M | August 30, 2009 at 08:39 AM
Dear Charlie,
What big eyes you have, my dear! I'm so happy you're eating a lot. Keep at it so you can go home with your parents very soon.
Love,
Julie, who can't wait to meet you
Posted by: Julie R. | August 30, 2009 at 08:51 AM
Go, Charlie, go!
Posted by: david | August 30, 2009 at 09:07 AM
Oh my gosh! He is SOOOOOOO cute! (pu pu pu) Hope he can go home *very* soon.
Posted by: Barbara | August 30, 2009 at 09:12 AM
dad! thats the cutest picture i have seen of him yet!!!!
Posted by: leah | August 30, 2009 at 09:17 AM
Oh the cuteness!
Posted by: Margie | August 30, 2009 at 09:44 AM
Such amazing progress! What a life Charlie has led already.
Posted by: Annika | August 30, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Great! Keep the good news coming.
Posted by: Pam G | August 30, 2009 at 10:33 AM
it will be the best shana tovah v' mitukah present in the world! amen, let it be so! Hugs to you all from B'ham Susie
Posted by: susie specter | August 30, 2009 at 10:54 AM
Oy, what a punim! pu pu pu!
Posted by: Sheila Linderman | August 30, 2009 at 11:11 AM
Dear Danny,
Charlie is "king of the hill" as far as I'm concerned ... and this coming from a "Frank Lover"! He gets cuter every day - pu,pu,pu and I hope he will be home with you for the coming New Year which will be the sweetest for all of you.
Love,
Marilyn
Posted by: Marilyn Molnar | August 30, 2009 at 11:12 AM
Can't wait for that exciting moment when he gets to see the beauty of LA traffic first-hand!
Posted by: Neil | August 30, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Thisis such good news. I'm absolutely rapt for you all. Charlie is such a beautiful little boy! I could just eat up those cheeks! xx
Posted by: Kimberley | August 30, 2009 at 02:27 PM
Charlie is looking great!!! I hope the Chicago crowd gets to meet him next summer,since it looks like he has many admirers from your old hometown.
Posted by: Caren Jones | August 30, 2009 at 04:12 PM
Put down the knitting, the book and the broom, it's almost time for a (pu-pu-pu) holiday!
He is a beautiful boy, and I can't wait to see him in his own nursery!
Posted by: Jane | August 30, 2009 at 05:30 PM
hooray! wonderful news!
Posted by: Sally | August 30, 2009 at 06:20 PM
Look at those beautiful big baby blues! I've been away for a few weeks, and it's great to see such wonderful news here. Go Charlie!
Posted by: Edelweiss Transplanted | August 30, 2009 at 06:39 PM
What a little cutie! So wonderful to hear the great news!
Posted by: Mitzi Levering | August 30, 2009 at 07:20 PM
When I read "God-willing, pu pu pu", I can see and hear Mom doing that!
Charlie looks GREAT!
Mazel tov!
Love, your big brother
Posted by: Your big brother, Bruce | August 31, 2009 at 01:52 AM
Danny~
Charlie is adorable~such a sweet smile.
I'm so happy about all the progress and how beautifully you've weathered the ride.
Posted by: sandy | August 31, 2009 at 09:24 AM
Yea! I already want to celebrate for his departure.
Posted by: churlita | August 31, 2009 at 11:23 AM
I think he is looking like Judy.
Posted by: helena | August 31, 2009 at 02:25 PM
maybe he will be home for your birthday! now that's a party! xo,m
Posted by: m.yahn | August 31, 2009 at 08:38 PM
Cutest picture ever and it's so wonderful to hear some silliness and - I hope - relaxation in your blog voice.
Posted by: K Wild | August 31, 2009 at 09:11 PM
Oh those eyes! What a little doll!! I can hardly wait to see pictures of baby Charlie at home in his own nursery, snuggled in his daddy's and mommy's arms! (pu pu pu)
Posted by: Elise | September 01, 2009 at 02:55 AM
So HAPPY for you!!! Amazing progress! Charlie is so adorable and he already has his own fan club!
Posted by: mary | September 01, 2009 at 09:43 AM
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! I am happily going on a road trip and won't be able to read up too often but will try. I hope that dear Charlie is 'oot n' a'boot soon! Maybe I will come home to hear that Charlie at home, in his room and you will enjoy him and your less hectic lives filled with less transportation and more quiet times.
Posted by: suzanne | September 01, 2009 at 09:39 PM
This is amazing news! He needs to get home ASAP so he can star in the next TWSS video. GO CHARLIE!
And happy birthday, papa.
Posted by: Kathryn | September 04, 2009 at 03:15 PM