Today was a long, tough day. We got an early start hoping to avoid the traffic and insanity that surrounds a Hawkeye home football game. We almost succeeded. Navigating any part of the west side of Iowa City on game day is an arduous task; trying to get to University Hopsitals, which is across the street from Kinnick Stadium and the 70,000 drunken fans lurching about outside, can be an ordeal.

Once we ran that gauntlet and made it inside, we found Will still dealing with breathing problems. Because his lungs remain immature, the ventilator is being asked to do an increasing amount of work to help him breathe. While Mary and I are concerned, the doctors assure us that this is nothing they haven't seen in many other babies Will's size and age. We are awaiting the results of a few tests that will help them to determine how his next week will go, and I will report more here once we learn what that course will entail. It seems that many of the things that they would like to see improve -- his breathing, his eating, his weight -- are all tied together, and that finding the solution to one problem will start the process toward solving them all.

While today was tough, it could have been far tougher. The love, support and assistance of friends and family makes all of this easier. We share news about Will through this site because we spend as much time as possible with him at the hospital and simply don't have the time to communicate with everyone personally. We also don't have the time to personally thank everyone who has offered support and assistance along the way. It all has been staggeringly overwhelming. We want to thank everyone for every call, card, note, e-mail, flower, meal and chore. Thanks to our co-workers for picking up our slack and allowing us more time to be with Will. All of this help and support has enabled us to deal with this each day, and to spend as much time as possible with our son. We can't possibly thank you enough.