Sigh. Will has been in the NICU for 8 days now, and he's doing great. He's off of all of his breathing tubes and IV's, he's done with his antibiotics, his jaundice is cleared up. He's breastfeeding like a piranha and sleeps really well. So why is he still in the NICU? Well, they wanted to do a "sleep test" on him last night to make sure that he's really ready to go home. This requires being hooked up to special monitors for 12 hours. They are looking for sleep apnea, irregularities in the heartbeat, etc. Unfortunately, he did not pass. He apparently had a couple minor episodes they weren't worried about, but he also had one they are worried about where he was not breathing for several seconds (not unusual for any baby) and his heart rate dropped. This combo means he has to stay in the NICU for 3 more days and be given caffeine. Then they will repeat the test. Our son is going to be a Starbucks addict by the time he gets home. Joy. This delay is, of course, very upsetting and disappointing for us. If he had passed, he would have been discharged this morning. We are soooo so ready for him to come home. This really is rather torturous. I can't imagine what it must be like for parents of super early preemies that have so many problems they have to stay in the NICU for months! Obviously we want him to be as healthy as possible before we bring him home, but not having him here is eating our nerves. Steve keeps waking up at night thinking he hears the baby crying. I'm a bit of an emotional wreck at times and I'm always anxious and rushing to the hospital to see Will, no matter how recently I've seen him. They let us take his temperature, change his diaper, breastfeed him, and hold him for awhile. That's it. We can't bathe him, play with him, take a nap with him, show him off. Because of the strict rules at the NICU, Steve and I are the only ones allowed in to see him. So we have to rely on pictures to show him to his own grandparents. By the bye, now that he doesn't have all these tubes on his face, we'll be taking some good pictures and posting them, so check back soon for those. In the meantime, everybody pray for lil' Will!