Trevs next step is to take a bottle. He still has a small feeding tube down his throat. We can do this as soon as his oxygen needs come down a bit more. Hopefully 1-2 weeks. We went to a Parent Support class the other night in regard to his speech development which amazingly begins with and is directly related to how well his first feedings go. Babies, fetus' actually, learn to suck at 12 weeks gestation but the ability to suck AND swallow doesn't happen until closer to 34-36 weeks gestation, that is why at times even full term babies have a hard time eating at first, let alone a preemie. How a baby learns to suck and swallow determines how well he forms his words and speech development later! Mother nature is AMAZING! Yet hard to mimic unfortunately. Preemies are also so used to being poked and prodded so much they have to learn 'good' stimulation when it comes to their mouths. Up until now, although it keeps them alive, nothing but tubes, sticks and medicines have been shoved into their mouths which can cause a negative reaction to anything near their mouths. Trev does suck on a binki now and then and thats a good sign he has a good sucking reflex. The other tricky thing for a preemie is remembering to breath while eating! So a slow but exciting step is coming up as Trev works his way home to us.