Home at Last

After 9 days in the intensive care nusery, too much hospital food, and developing friendships with the nursing staff, we are back home! Ian seems to be recovering, even though he is still coughing and is on oxygen. He is continuing to eat well and doesn't seem to be so congested. Continue to pray that the gunk in his throat disappears completely and that we are able to wean him off the oxygen quickly. We'll check back in with the doctor on Friday and see how his oxygen saturation levels are. Please also pray for energy and rest for me. As you might imagine, this whole escapade has been rather exhausting yet I want to give Gabe and Drew lots of attention and love. I'm curious how things will go tonite, it feels a little strange to not have all the monitors. Pray I rest well trusting the Lord rather than being engulfed by fear of whether or not Ian is breathing well.

Ian had another good day today and will HOPEFULLY get to come home tomorrow. He hasn't had any more apnea episodes (where his heart rate drops), so if doesn't pull any more of those, we may get to sleep in our house again! He's still on 80mL of oxygen and needs to be at 20-50mL, so hopefully they are able to reduce his Os tonite. We'll see. We are hopeful but certainly don't want to bring him home before he should be at home. Pray for restorative sleep for me. He was up every 1.5 hours or so last night to eat...which means I was sleeping in hour long increments...and very tired. Hopefully tonite is a little better.

Ian had a good night last night and is back to eating more frequently. He was up every 2 hours last night, which is good because it means he's feeling better...though he wore me out! They reduced his oxygen this afternoon. He's now down to 100mL and needs to be as low as 20 to 50mL before they will send us home. He also had a couple episodes of his heart rate dropping again today...which has earned him two more days at the hospital. We are encouraged, nonetheless, because he seems to be on the upswing. Pray he continues to improve and that his heart rate doesn't dip any more.

Ian had a much better night last night, his heart rate and oxygen saturation levels only dropped real low once. Which also means he's earned himself a room in the intensive care nursery until Tuesday (IF he doesn't do it again). He is still nursing, though he's been so tired that sometimes he goes 5-6 hours between feedings. Nonetheless he seems a little better today. Our nurses are great and we're hanging in there. Pray for restorative rest for me as I stay at the hospital and for Ian to kick this virus!

Drew seems to be sick still...he had croup last week and now has a runny nose and isn't quite himself. Pray we figure that out as well and that Ian doesn't contract anything else from the other boys.

Hard Day

Well, Ian was doing great until last night when he decided to start holding his breath again. His heart rate drops and then the amount of oxygen in his blood also drops and typically we rub his chest or jiggle him to get him to take a breath again. We've been reassured that this is perfectly normal for little ones with RSV...especially preemies. Nonetheless, its not so fun to watch him pulling these shenanigans!!! For whatever reason he was up at 1, 2, 3, and 5 having cycles of apnea (when he stops breathing) for about 20 minutes. Then he'd be fine. They slowed today and he was WIPED out. But he did nurse well this evening and hopefully tonite will be better. I still managed to sleep a bit, even with the monitor alarms going off real frequently. I was super tired and often woke up to the nurses running into the room rather than the alarms! Pray the Lord heals his little body, for the apnea episodes to STOP, and for us to lean on Jesus in the midst of all of this. He certainly has been gracious to us. As for going home, they won't send him home until he's gone 48 hours without one of these episodes. So, each time the little monkey decides to hold his breath, the clocks starts over. Nonetheless, we'll stay as long as needed to get him through this. More tomorrow.

Ian in Bed at Hospital

Here is a video taken earlier today of little Ian in the hospital. It looks like they will keep him in until early next week, which we are glad for; we do not want him home unless he is ready. The hospital staff has been amazing and we are so thankful for them.

Ian's progress

Ian is doing about the same today (if you're just reading this for the first time look at Tuesday, Feb. 20 for the beginning of the story). He did cough less last night, but when our doctor came in to listen to his breathing this morning he said Ian sounds worse than he did yesterday. Nonetheless the doctor reassured me that RSV changes every 10 minutes...he's clear and then all the sudden he's stuffy. It sounds like we'll be there for another day. Maybe by tomorrow or Sunday they'll send us home (with Ian on oxygen), but it really just depends on how he sounds. I am content to keep him in the hospital until he is well enough to be home without me worrying about his breathing. Gabe and Drew are in Colorado Springs with grandparents which is a great blessing allowing us to focus our attention here...and freeing me up to be at the hospital around the clock. Pray he continues to improve and that the infection doesn't move into his lungs. Pray also that we stay healthy and that the boys regain health (Drew has had croupe and Gabe had a cold that ended in an ear infection). Pray also for rest.

Ian is in a "holding pattern" here at the hospital. He is stable and breathing pretty well with the assitance of oxygen. Because the infection is viral there really isn't much they can do for him apart from suctioning his nose and mouth and giving him breathing support. They did do a breathing treatment today with a medication that loosens up the muscles in his chest...and hence the secretions. It seemed to help a little, but it really wore him out b/c he started coughing up all that junk. He is still nursing (which is a huge blessing) and he seems to be maintaining if not improving...just slowly. We'll be here until tomorrow for sure and perhaps longer. Basically we're taking it one day at a time. Right now he is still on a decent amount of oxygen and we need that to decrease before they send us home. One of the docs today told me that this "cold" is one that lasts for 7-21 days, so it may be awhile before he is back to normal. Hopefully we won't be in the hospital for all of that. They're willing to send us home with oxygen as long as it is just helping him to breathe a little easier and not necessary for keeping him breathing.

We're doing well and are grateful for the kind staff here in the nursery. I am able to rest here without worrying about whether or not he is breathing, and that has been wonderful. I've had time to cut my fingernails and read a book. I'll post an update tomorrow.

Back to the Hospital

Ian developed a cough over the weekend and had a couple of episodes on Sunday where he held his breath and turned purple in the face. It totally freaked me out and we ended up in the ER on Sunday night. They did chest x-rays and tests for RSV (respiratory syncitial virus) and the flu...everything looked good. He did hold his breath for a bit while we were there, but by the time someone got to the room to see him, he was pink again. So they sent us home. Monday we visited our doctor (we're regulars there) and he heard the cough and was surprised it wasn't RSV. At any rate he told me to keep Ian with me 24/7 and to call him that afternoon. Last night the cough got worse and he seemed VERY sleepy and didn't eat so well, so I was relieved when our doctor called this morning and told me to come in first thing. They were monitoring his blood oxygenation (which should be in the high 90s) and it dropped to the 60s and then the 50s as he held his breath and turned purple with the doctor standing there. Talk about overwhelming! They were all running around getting oxygen and trying to stabalize the little guy while I stood there crying. I didn't sleep much the past 2 nights keeping an eye on him, but I was grateful the Lord allowed it to happen in front of the doctor. I had prayed for CLARITY for our doctor on my way there that he would know how to proceed. He sent us by ambulance to the hospital, and Ian is now in the intensive care nursery again. The bonus is we know most of the nurses there from our first stay. They ran a bunch of tests...one of them being RSV and this time it came back positive. So, the little guy has a nasty viral infection...making it difficult for him to breathe. He's on oxygen and they have him hooked up to a slew of monitors. Looks like he'll be there for at least a few days...maybe longer depending on how quick this clears up. There isn't much they can do--some breathing treatments and sucking the gunk out of his nose/throat. Again we are confident of the Lord's grace to us in this as the events unfolded today. I'll post updates as I have them.

Drew Bear

Gabe singing "I'm a Nut"

I'm a little acorn nut, lying on the cold, cold ground.
Everybody steps on me, that is why I'm cracked you see.
I'm a nut. I'm a nut. I'm crazy.
Called myself on the telephone, just to see if I was home.
Asked myself out for a date. Pick me up at half past eight.
I'm a nut. I'm a nut. I'm crazy.
Took myself to the picture show. Sat myself in the very front row.
Wrapped my arms around my waist. Got so fresh I slapped my face.
I'm a nut. I'm a nut. I'm crazy.

Ian has gained 3 oz in the past 2 days. They want him to gain 1/2 oz/day...so we're doing great! As a result we're going to stop bottle feeding and just breastfeed over the weekend and see if he continues to gain come Monday! WHOHOOOOOOO! I am thrilled as this pumping and then bottle feeding thing is a bit exhausting--lets just say it will certainly increase the amount of night sleep I'm getting.

Ian continues to gain weight and has finally surpassed his birthweight. Today he was 6lbs 9oz! He is nursing well and we're continuing to increase the number of times I am nursing him each day. Hopefully by next week we'll be done with bottles and fortifying the breastmilk. He is 3 weeks old today and still such a little tike!

Ian gained 2 oz yesterday and is doing well in the eating category! He is congested though, which is a little disconcerting as it is RSV season (a respiratory virus that can be especially dangerous in little guys). I've been fortifying the breastmilk we feed him with a small amount of formula and I'm wondering if he is allergic to milk. Gabe was congested for a week after I used a milk-based formula with him. I've changed formulas, and I'm hoping the congestion disappears with the change.

The positive trend continues today! Ian gained another ounce and I was able to breastfeed him at the clinic today. Last week each time we weighed him to find out how much milk he was getting while breastfeeding, 18cc was the most he got. He eats 45-55cc from a bottle, so that was discouraging. But today when I nursed him I was shocked to find out he drank 54cc of milk! That means he is increasing in energy and we can increase breastfeeding to a couple times a day. Hopefully by next week we'll be moving toward breastfeeding exclusively. It may still take a couple weeks, but we are very encouraged!

When you can't get it out with the spoon, tip the bowl! What he doesn't realize is that oatmeal doesn't exactly "pour" out...it does stick to whatever it touches though.

I went to have Ian weighed today and he gained almost 3 ounces in the past 2 days! YEAH! It seems as though he has turned a corner. His bilirubin is down and he is a bit more alert, so feeding him is not such an arduous task. He's eating more at each feeding and has started eating every 2 hours instead of every 3. That has been great...except at night. It takes an hour to pump and feed him, I sleep an hour, and then we start all over again. Nonetheless, this is a season and I am hoping we'll be moving toward nursing in the near future!

Ian is "tanning" again on his bili-lights. His bilirubin is back up, but he seems to have turned a corner in the last day in the eating arena. I went to the hospital to have him weighed this morning and he gained a little over 2 oz! WHOHOOOOO! He's now back up to 6lbs. At any rate he needs to keep gaining weight. Once his energy increases we'll work on breast-feeding. Meanwhile he sleeps and sleeps and sleeps.

Update on Ian

Ian gained weight (not quite an ounce) from Wed. to Thur. and maintained from Thur. to Fri. Unfortunately they'd like him to be gaining more weight each day, so over the weekend we'll fortify the breastmilk with some formula to increase his calorie intake. We also went in for some blood work today to check his bilirubin levels...and they're back up. So, back to the bili lights we go. At least we're able to treat that at home. Apparently the excess bilirubin makes him super sleepy (all he does is sleep), so hopefully when that is cleared up he'll have more energy to eat! We're doing well...tired, but we are grateful to get to live life together in the midst of this chaos!

Just a Swingin'