Happy Birthday, Max

Well.. birthday dinner plans were originally for Merlion, a Singaporean restaurant, one we had gone to for Kelly's birthday.. but because of our unexpected bundle-of-joy, I had to settle for a quiet celebration in our hospital room at Duke... with food from Merlion of course! Yes, Krishelle to the rescue, again. No, again-again. This dear friend has really gone above and beyond to make Kelly, Ethan and I very happy the past few days. God bless you! And certainly not to be out done, Jessica bought a cake from Madhatters in downtown. So, yes, a quiet celebration, but with great food, a great cake, and wonderful company all around. I will have to think long and hard on how I will return such kindness. THANK YOU KRISHELLE AND JESSICA!

And as the night went on.. we had one more visitor. Elyse Lee came in to see us and got to see our precious Ethan. Many thanks for the great Jungle Book, Elyse!!!

As great as this day was for me, I am a little concerned about Ethan since his billirubin levels have gone up slightly from yesterday. Of couse, this is likely due to the fact that the phototherapy lights were removed this morning. I will pray that the levels are more stable than anything, because even with the slight increase, Ethan's billi levels are not in serious ranges, but Duke staff are just being very cautious which I am grateful for - although I am not happy to see Ethan's heel pricked for blood every 12 hours.

These days will pass my son.. and I can't wait to take you home and love you and feed you and raise you up.

Love,
dad