First few months

Hunter spent the first three months of his life at the hospital. MY mom would visit him every day and my other brothers and I each got a weekly visit to see him.  Mine were late in the evenings- I think Tuesday or Wednesdays. The first 10 minutes at the hospital was an extensive scrubbing using plastic disposable scrubbers.  For an hour a week I would get to hold his hand through a plastic box, and eventually they let me hold him and feed him.  The preemie outfits were way to big and his skin was still very fresh so he usually was naked with just a diaper on him.  The diapers looked more like the size of a maxi pad with tape on the sides and he looked so silly because it would go from his armpits down to his knees- he was so tiny!  At birth he weighed 1lbs 9 oz and I think dropped down to 1lbs 2 oz right at the beginning.  For comparison sake- his arms and legs were the size of a lady's finger (length and width), all of his fingers would fit on my mom's thumb nail, his head was the size of an orange and his little... ahem... was more of a rice krispie.
Looking back at some of the pictures of Hunter with me and my brothers Erick and Collin- you can see the hope, fear, and compassion in our eyes even though we were only 12, 6 and 3.  My mom would leave me to talk to him with my hand reached through the incubator and I could gently place my hand on his back.  He really didn't open his eyes but every once in a while he would mom a little bit. The first time I held Hunter was when he reached three pounds and it was called "kangarooing."  My mom had me wear a button up shirt without a bra (not that I really needed one at twelve) and at the hospital I unbuttoned the top buttons and one nurse carried the wires and vent tubing while another placed Hunter on my bare chest, tummy down wearing only a diaper. Vent tubing and wires were taped to my arm.  He fit so perfectly under my chin and both of my hands could cover his bare body completely.
There are many proven benefits to Kangaroo Care. In fact, of the several hundred studies done to date, every study has yielded positive results. For the parent (or sister in my case), Kangaroo Care promotes earlier bonding.  For the babies, Kangaroo Care regulates breathing, stabilizes heart rates, regulates the baby's body heat, stimulates more rapid weight gain, shortens hospital stay and allows baby longer periods of alertness and sleep.  I have to admit, the experience was magical.
Once he was big enough for me to feed I would cradle him and was given a small bottle - the size of a doll's bottle- to feed him with.  The milk was measured in CC's and was like an amount of a cough syrup dose.  His head would be in my hand and I would count his sips then release the bottle so he would take a breath.  After 10 sips I would give him a chance for a breath and if he didn't get enough air his alarms would go off.  The alarms panicked me at first- but it isn't uncommon for alarms to go off in the nicu and the babies always bounced back. 
Genetics and biology plays a big role in the survival of preemies.  Statistics show that African Americans and females have a higher success rate in premature births.  As a Caucasian male Hunter only had his namesake and his family to help him get better.