Day 42 - Samuel Update

Tomorrow Samuel will be 6 weeks old and if still in the womb would start his 33rd week of gestation. Surprisingly time has flown thanks to Noel keeping us busy. As of a couple of days ago, Samuel is wearing onesies and is wrapped in blankets to keep him warm and so far he has regulated his own temperature just fine. He hasn't needed the heat that they usually use on him in his isolette. Pretty soon here he will probably get put into a bigger bed because he growing quite nicely. It's more like a small crib like bed. He now weighs 3 lbs 13 oz. He will still remain in the room he is in at least until he is off the cpap which the doctor says will probably be 1-2 more weeks. He is needing about 32-35% oxygen on the cpap the last 4 or 5 days. Sometimes he has gone a little lower or sometimes a little higher if they are messing with him but generally he does well between 32 and 35. His hair is coming in more full and it's looking more like a dirty blonde to light brown color. He opens his eyes more and has more awake times which are still brief. He seems to be improving and progressing, still slowly but it's wonderful to see progress. He is such a miracle and such a fighter. I just couldn't get enough of him yesterday. Morgan and I got to visit him together (thanks mom for watching Noel!). He is soooooooooo cute. I got to rub his head of hair yesterday and I melted. His cute little eyes were looking around everywhere and everything he is and is doing right now makes me so grateful to have him here and doing so well. Heavenly Father has sure answered a lot of prayers with this little guy.

Yesterday, during our visit I got to change his poopy diaper.

Samuel swimming in his onesie.

Holding daddy's hand.

Proud, handsome dad.

I got to do skin-to-skin with Samuel. We're pretty much bosom buddies.



We love you Samuel. Get better buddy!

A Birthday Bash

This last weekend we celebrated all of the adult July Birthdays in the family including some close family friends who are practically family. The birthdays include my mom, Morgan's mother Mary, our friends Debora and Cal and my wonderful husband Morgan. I had been planning for the last 6 months or so to make a special cake for Morgan for his birthday. Since there were going to be people here to eat it this weekend, I chose to make it for the birthday bash.

Morgan likes Spongebob Squarepants. I'm not a fan until Spongebob is in cake form. So I decided to make him a Spongebob cake. It was so fun to make! I stole the arms from Mr. Potato Head.


He was very surprised. I thought he would've figured out what I was going to make him when he saw the yellow frosting on my face earlier on in the day.

Here are a few more random pictures of Noel. When I am changing her and taking her shirt off, I stop at her head and she and I both get a kick out of it. She always runs to the mirror when I leave her shirt on her head and she'll make faces and laugh. She is too cute for words.

She loves her backpack.

Pump?

For those of you who know what a breast pump is and looks like, this post is for you. Yesterday, I was emptying the dishwasher and while Noel is playing in the pantry I hear Noel say, "Pump." I turn around and she is holding the "pump" (a.k.a. a funnel) up to her tummy. It was the funniest thing. To explain a little further, because Samuel is in the NICU breastmilk is especially best for him, so I have to pump (otherwise he would probably get donor breastmilk). Because of this, Noel has become very familiar with the pump. Each pumping "session" she gets all excited for. I just have to say, "Noel, I gotta pump" and she instantly stops whatever she is doing and says, "I gotta pump, watch Einstein". When I pump I sit her on our bed and she sits next to me and watches Baby Einstein on the computer.

Too funny right?

Day 37 - Samuel Update

Samuel is still slowly progressing. He is now 5 weeks old. If he was still in the womb he would be starting his 32nd week. He weighs 3 lbs 11 oz (he is progressing fast in that aspect;)). He is still on diaretics. They bumped up his feedings a few more mls every 3 hours. The last few days he is in the 30's as far as how much oxygen they are giving him on the cpap (remember they want him down to 21% which is room air). Sometimes they need to crank him up to 40% or even 50% or so if they are taking his vitals or messing with him, but the last few days he's hanging out around in the 30's, which is progress. He kind of had a rough weekend and so many factors can be playing into his rough days, but the doctor said that looking at a chest x-ray they did this last weekend, his lungs don't look as abnormal as they should look. He said they look "mildly abnormal" so the doctor says he's more optimistic about Samuel's lungs. He also said that he thinks that Samuel will continue to be on the cpap for another few weeks until his lungs heal and mature. When they talk about his lungs they use the term Chronic Lung Disease which generally means that he has damaged tissue in his lungs which creates breathing problems and health problems. Some of the factors that lead to Chronic Lung Disease are: premature birth, injury to the lungs from all of the oxygen support (particularly the ventilator), and a heart condition known as PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) definition: The ductus arteriosus is a blood vessel in a fetus that connects the pulmonary artery, which carries blood to the lungs, and the aorta, which carries blood to the body, so that blood flow bypasses the lungs. Normally, this blood vessel closes shortly after birth; but when it does not, it is known as a patent (open) ductus arteriosus.) There are more factors but these are some of the factors that the doctors and nurses believe are affecting Samuel at this time.

These are pictures of Samuel on Monday night, a couple of nights ago. He looked so peaceful.

Our 3 lb 11 oz chunk. His hair is coming in more full and looks to be dirty blonde.
Here is a little video of Samuel. I was guarding the light in the room from his eyes because he was trying to open them. He is often awake when I'm there which is kind of fun. After 15 seconds or so the battery died on the camera.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Day 31 - Samuel Update

Today was Samuel's one month birthday! He is doing well today. They actually took his "picc line" out a couple of days ago (the day that I posted last) so he no longer has the central line and IV in his arm. He is now having bowel movements on his own!! Hooray! They only give him suppositories if he doesn't have a bowel movement within a 12 hour time period but he hasn't needed them for the last 24 hours or so. Today they changed his feedings from continuous to intermittent. Over a two hour time frame they feed him 30 mls of fortified breast milk and then they stop for an hour. So basically, every 3 hours, they start feeding him and stop after two hours and then he gets a break for an hour. My mom and I visited him today and he was sitting at 38% oxygen on the cpap. Within the last few days there have been times where he'll tolerate 35% for a small length of time and a couple of mornings ago he tolerated 28% for an hour, but typically he likes 40% which is what he has been at since he got off the vent for the 2nd time. I just called the nurse a few minutes ago and now she has him at 36%. I was talking to the doctor this morning and he said that as far as his lungs go, he doesn't see any improvement and this is the one time that I am disagreeing with him. I think he is showing progress by tolerating less oxygen assistance even if it is for short periods of time. Especially today, I think he is showing progress. He started at 38% at 12pm and now he's at 36% almost 6 hours later and he is tolerating it fine. Baby steps is all I can say. Literally, baby steps! He's our little trooper. Oh, Samuel now weighs 3 lbs 5 oz (he lost 1 oz overnight which is to be expected considering that he's on diaretics) and he is 15.5 inches in length. He has gained 1 lb 2 oz since birth and has grown 2 inches! That's our boy!

Day 29 - Samuel Update

Samuel is slowly progressing. The last couple of days he has been able to come down on the air on the cpap. He ranges from 35%-40% oxygen support on the cpap now. I've held him each time that I've gone in there the last 3 days. It's so nice to be able to hold my little baby. His "picc line" is coming out today or tomorrow, depending on if there is a nurse that can do that today or not. FYI: The picc line is what they call the central line, where a catheter type tubing is inserted through his arm into a vein and pushed all the way to his heart so that he gets everything through the IV faster whether its nutrition or antibiotics. He no longer needs the picc line because he no longer needs the assistance of what they call the "TPN Nutrition" which is everything his body needs like lipids, amino acids, etc., because he is getting that from the 7 ml/hr of fortified breast milk that he is recieving through his feeding tube. They will bump it up to 8 ml/hr after the picc line is taken out. His bowels are still working well (well enough to have an actual blow out. Yesterday the nurse had to change everything in his isolette, his diaper, bedding and all of the cushioning around him supposedly. That's my boy!!!)

This picture was taken on Sunday. He woke up after I held him and of course just before I left. He is such a precious little baby.


These next 4 pictures are from yesterday, the 4th of July. As of today he weighs 3 lbs 5 oz but the nurses aren't sure if it was an accurate reading because he is up 3 oz from yesterday. A couple of times the last few days I have heard him actually cry. It's a teeny tiny cry but it is not hoarse anymore since he's been off of the ventilator for a while. He woke up for me again just before I left and as the nurse was changing his cannulaid (the nose piece). He did so well yesterday.

Day 25 - Samuel Update

Samuel is doing about the same as last time. The doctor said the next month is going to be a slow process of Samuel getting to room air. They've upped his feedings a few different times and now he is at 3.5 mls an hour. He is tolerating his feedings well. I've seen him everyday since I've been feeling better and it's been wonderful. He looked so much bigger and different when I saw him a few days ago for the first time in a week. He is 3 lbs 2oz as of lastnight. He looks great but every few hours or so he just kind of gets tired and has a cluster of desats and heart rate drops. He seems to do better on his tummy.

Here a few picures of my Tuesday night visit.

He was really still asleep in this picture but his eyes would pop open every once in a while.
They were changing the nose sticker so I snagged a quick picture of his face. He looks so good!
I just had to show this picture. Noel just loves brushing her teeth. Right after family prayer at night she runs down the hall saying "brush teeth, brush teeth". Morgan sets out the footstool and they brush their teeth together. (Cute and funny story: Yesterday just before my parents left out of town, we said a family prayer and this is at5:30pm or so. After the prayer, Noel ran down the hall saying, "Brush teeth! Brush teeth!" It was too cute. We had to tell her that it wasn't bedtime yet. She was a little confused.)