Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Positive News
Yesterday, November 27th, after 5 weeks of not eating Chase's doctors were given the clear by surgery to begin feedings. They have started him off at 1ml every 3 hours and so far he is tolerating it very well. Chase was in what Michael calls a "milk coma" yesterday and resting peacefully. We let Chase rest yesterday and spent a good bit of time laughing at Conner. Conner is becoming very alert as he continues to grow stronger. Conner will open his eyes and look in the direction of voices/sounds. Conner also made a lovely mess for his nurse while she was changing him. And to think a month ago we were praying for poop...now it doesn't seem to stop.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving 2011
Thanksgiving Day is a day to take a break and remember all the things and people we are so very thankful for in our lives. This year, Michael and I are truly blessed with two very precious little boys who are continuing to grow and thrive.
Chase Michael
November 24th: One Month Old
2 pounds 3 ounces
Chase has dropped on his ventilator settings and is staying between 40-60% oxygen
(normal room air is 21%)
Chase's respiratory therapist brought Chase a little friend to keep him company. The respiratory therapist has a special place in his heart, Chase keeps surprising all the doctors with his strength and resilience.
The nurses are using Chase's little friend to keep his eye mask on. Now that Chase is feeling better his personality is starting to come out and in the NICU staff's words, "Chase is truly Conner's twin."
We are still waiting for Chase's ostomy to show some evidence of the surgery's success (poop coming out) If it stays the same over the weekend we will be meeting with the surgeons on Monday to discuss options. They can't start Chase's feeds until we know everything is working properly.
Conner James
November 24: One Month Old
2 pounds 6 ounces
Conner is now on 6.5ml of milk an hour and still pooping like a pro. Who would have ever thought we'd be excited about poop. Conner has been receiving steroids to increase lung development and has came down quite a bit on his oxygen level. He has been between 22-45% for the past couple days and the doctor said we are going to start weening him from the ventilator today
After throwing a full on fit and working very hard Conner managed to get his thumb in his mouth to suck on it. Note: Conner has a ventilator and feeding tube already in his mouth.
As you can see he's still resisting the eye cover. He prefers it lie right there.
He's not yawning....our little boy is crying. Conner is definitely enjoys throwing a fit when he doesn't get his way.
Monday, November 21, 2011
4 weeks old
I know I promised pictures and we took them I am just waiting for my dad to email them to me. I tried to take pictures Sunday, but the incubators and I are the same height so its a little hard sometimes. I will have Michael take some if I don't get them pretty soon though I promise.
The boys are doing pretty good this week, Conner has been pretty stable on his ventilator settings so they were weening him down to move him a non pressurized vent but just as they were getting to the no pressure point he couldn't handle it and they had to put him back up. The doctor reassured us this is fairly common and we will try again slower throughout the week. Conner is also up to what is right now considered to be "full feeds" he's getting continuous feedings of 5ml an hour...which is a great jump from the 1ml every 12 hours he started on. Now that he is on full feeds they have taken him completely off of the TPN (gatorade/vitamin) IV. And other then his usual daily removal of monitors and wiggling Conner is just chugging along right now.
Chase is still not receiving feeds yet. They are waiting for his ostomy(I have no idea how to spell that word) to show it is cleaned out by making a "smear." The surgeon says that typically takes about a week, which will be tomorrow,but we won't be concerned until late in the week if there is still nothing. Chase is beginning to prove to the nurses that he is Conner's true twin and not just the "quiet bourque" like he has been called. He is wiggle worm. Every time we go in his little limbs are just a going. Chase is on a higher pressure setting then Conner but is beating him on his oxygen requirement for a couple days now.
I just want to take a minute and thank everyone for all the support you have and are giving Michael and I. Words can not describe how we are feeling right now and with things changing constantly we are living in a constant state of not knowing. The prayers are working. Our boys were miracles to start and every day is triumph. This Thanksgiving our boys will be exactly one month old....and there's nothing in this world I could be anymore thankful for. It amazes me just how many people have our family in their thoughts and prayers and to all you I am so very thankful.
We appreciate the support to get back and forth to the hospital, the hospital is 48 miles one way from our house and with gas being over $3.30 a gallon it doesn't make our daily commute easy. Last week we really had to sit down and figure out what to do about the cost. It broke both of our hearts to think we would have to cut back our trips to the nicu but we were able to pull the donation fund from this site to get a gas card.
I also want to say a special thanks to all those kind women who have cooked and have signed up to cook us dinner. Not having to worry about what's for dinner is such a relief. There was a time I was waiting for one of us to turn into a burger. We have been able to relax on our way home knowing that we don't have to cut our visit at the nicu short just so we can have dinner at a decent time.
Thanks again to everybody and I promise we will return the favors :)
The boys are doing pretty good this week, Conner has been pretty stable on his ventilator settings so they were weening him down to move him a non pressurized vent but just as they were getting to the no pressure point he couldn't handle it and they had to put him back up. The doctor reassured us this is fairly common and we will try again slower throughout the week. Conner is also up to what is right now considered to be "full feeds" he's getting continuous feedings of 5ml an hour...which is a great jump from the 1ml every 12 hours he started on. Now that he is on full feeds they have taken him completely off of the TPN (gatorade/vitamin) IV. And other then his usual daily removal of monitors and wiggling Conner is just chugging along right now.
Chase is still not receiving feeds yet. They are waiting for his ostomy(I have no idea how to spell that word) to show it is cleaned out by making a "smear." The surgeon says that typically takes about a week, which will be tomorrow,but we won't be concerned until late in the week if there is still nothing. Chase is beginning to prove to the nurses that he is Conner's true twin and not just the "quiet bourque" like he has been called. He is wiggle worm. Every time we go in his little limbs are just a going. Chase is on a higher pressure setting then Conner but is beating him on his oxygen requirement for a couple days now.
I just want to take a minute and thank everyone for all the support you have and are giving Michael and I. Words can not describe how we are feeling right now and with things changing constantly we are living in a constant state of not knowing. The prayers are working. Our boys were miracles to start and every day is triumph. This Thanksgiving our boys will be exactly one month old....and there's nothing in this world I could be anymore thankful for. It amazes me just how many people have our family in their thoughts and prayers and to all you I am so very thankful.
We appreciate the support to get back and forth to the hospital, the hospital is 48 miles one way from our house and with gas being over $3.30 a gallon it doesn't make our daily commute easy. Last week we really had to sit down and figure out what to do about the cost. It broke both of our hearts to think we would have to cut back our trips to the nicu but we were able to pull the donation fund from this site to get a gas card.
I also want to say a special thanks to all those kind women who have cooked and have signed up to cook us dinner. Not having to worry about what's for dinner is such a relief. There was a time I was waiting for one of us to turn into a burger. We have been able to relax on our way home knowing that we don't have to cut our visit at the nicu short just so we can have dinner at a decent time.
Thanks again to everybody and I promise we will return the favors :)
Friday, November 18, 2011
Rejoicing In The Good Days
Yesterday, both boys hit 2 pounds yesterday! Chase is weighing in at 2 pounds 1 ounce and Conner is still ahead weighing in at 2 pounds 3 ounces. The boys had a great day yesterday neither boy got above 60% on oxygen and Conner pooped the whole day again :) I plan on taking pictures today so I will post them when I get home.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Chase's first surgery
So, today was a very stressful day for all of us. Chase had his very first surgery to repair his intestinal block. Michael and I got to hospital this morning around 9 am and they began surgery around 10:15 am. Chase was in surgery until just before 3 pm.
When the surgeon got in it turned out the block was a lot higher then they anticipated/hoped it would be. They ended up having to remove part of his intestine and reattach it. The dye test from last week either revealed or caused a hole in his colon which they also repaired. They ended up pulling the end of his intestines/bowel out of his abdomen so that he can heal and begin feedings. When he gets bigger they will reinsert it into the abdominal cavity. And just to add to the fun the surgeon removed his appendix to allow the repaired area to be tested before they stitched him up.
Right before his surgery they opened up his incubator and I touched his hand instantly he grasped my finger and held on very tightly. He's a strong little boy and is full of surprises. The doctors have told Michael and I numerous times he has surprised them and exceeded past their expectations for him already. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers while he recovers.
Oh yea, I almost forgot! Conner has gone up yet again on his feedings and has pooped every chance he gets. Today Conner was up to his usual tricks to lighten the mood for us...he doesn't like it when daddy gives him the serious voice. During Chase's surgery Conner managed to remove his temperature probe and a heart monitor, so according to the monitors we had a blood pressure less cold baby.
When the surgeon got in it turned out the block was a lot higher then they anticipated/hoped it would be. They ended up having to remove part of his intestine and reattach it. The dye test from last week either revealed or caused a hole in his colon which they also repaired. They ended up pulling the end of his intestines/bowel out of his abdomen so that he can heal and begin feedings. When he gets bigger they will reinsert it into the abdominal cavity. And just to add to the fun the surgeon removed his appendix to allow the repaired area to be tested before they stitched him up.
Right before his surgery they opened up his incubator and I touched his hand instantly he grasped my finger and held on very tightly. He's a strong little boy and is full of surprises. The doctors have told Michael and I numerous times he has surprised them and exceeded past their expectations for him already. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers while he recovers.
Oh yea, I almost forgot! Conner has gone up yet again on his feedings and has pooped every chance he gets. Today Conner was up to his usual tricks to lighten the mood for us...he doesn't like it when daddy gives him the serious voice. During Chase's surgery Conner managed to remove his temperature probe and a heart monitor, so according to the monitors we had a blood pressure less cold baby.
Monday, November 14, 2011
We are 3 weeks old today!
We are 3 weeks old today, mommy and daddy couldn't be more proud.
Chase Michael
3 weeks old: 1 pound 10 ounces
Chase has had a pretty rough past couple of weeks but things are starting to settle out a bit which means its about time things get stirred up again. Last week at this time Chase was depending on the ventilators at about 75-90% oxygen. Today, he is down to about 40-55% which the doctors are going to take advantage of and have scheduled surgery for tomorrow morning, November 15th. The surgeon is going to repair Chase's intestinal obstruction and the hole in his intestinal lining.
Chase sucking his fingers....look how light his hair is getting!
An update on Chase will be posted as soon as we can. Please keep him and the surgeon in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow.
Conner James
3 weeks old: 1 pound 15 ounces
Conner is super close to breaking the 2 pound markers but has decided that he does not enjoy getting chipped when the doctor feel it's time for him to poop. He has now decided to control that himself and go every chance he can. The doctor informed us that we have a poopin' professional on our hands and it's just another joy Conner's poor nurses get to enjoy. Conner is keeping up with his usual stunts removing random monitors and his eye cover.
Conner is now on what they call continuous feeds which means breast milk is constantly being fed through his feeding tube. He went from 1 ml every 12 hours in the beginning to getting 2.5 ml every hour. He should be breaking that 2 pound marker very soon.
This is Morgan, the boys' big sister. She has been smelling the blankets we bring home from the NICU and carries them around. She's been staring at me while I was updating ya'll so I figured I would show you the boys' supportive big sister as well. She's resting now because she knows soon two little boys will be all over her.
Please keep our little guys in your prayers and thanks again for all the support :)
Thursday, November 10, 2011
11/10 Update
Conner, the black fabric piece should be over his eyes but he'd rather it be up there.
Conner's little face...
It is kind of hard to tell but the red light is attached to his left foot which means his leg is fully extended across his other leg and propped up on the blankets that are meant to be over his legs....silly boy always fines a way to rebel. Conner is now on continuous feeds and weighed in at 1 pound 15 oz today...tomorrow we could have a 2 pound baby!
Both boys have came down on their oxygen levels which is a very good thing. Other than that not much has changed today....no news is good news :) Please continue the prayers and I will post new pictures of Chase as soon as the swelling goes down.
Again, please do not copy these pictures and post them on other sites. Michael and I wish for their pictures to remain only on this posting. Thanks :)
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