"There's been a lot of stories about how I got to be called Duke. One was that I played the part of a duke in a school play--which I never did. Sometimes, they even said I was descended from royalty! It was all a lot of rubbish. Hell, the truth is that I was named after a dog!" - John Wayne

September 19^th: His name is very popular, everyone loves it (doctors, nurses, teches). People will call him John until they hear me call him Duke and they change it. Little John is also appropriate because of his size, but we will see how long that lasts. They also think the magnet we have by his bed is adorable with a picture of John Wayne on it and his quote “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”

     Today Duke was very responsive to voices and touch. He is easily stimulated by touch and often if you play with his feet he will move them as if to say “stop it!” However with how sweet he looks we can't help but touch him and talk to him about how much we love him and want him to get better so he can come home.

His nurse for the past couple of days has been Ann Marie, who looks over him like an hawk! She pops in because she swears she hears things and I am grateful! I am beyond happy to have someone with those reflexes and concerns looking after Duke. They introduced some of my breast milk today ( 1 tsp) which he has fed to him through a tube to his stomach. I got to feed him some, which was very nerve wracking because I didn’t want to be too quick or too slow. When I checked in later she said he has been able to keep it down, which means he is accepting the milk which will only help him move toward getting out of the hospital quicker.

            The doctor today was telling us about his ventilator, it has a bit of a gap in it and they may have to replace the hose, which would be better for him, but they don’t want to do it if his CO2 levels aren’t as good because this could set him back a little. I listen and can hear the leak, which makes him sound a little like a duck. They tell me he is relying less and less on the ventilator and is breathing more room air which helps his lungs prepare for being off the ventilator.

            We listened to a little Beatles music today, but this distracted the doctors a bit, so we will have to introduce more music later. The nurse said the musical stimulous is good, and soft, but it just annoys the doctors.