Thursday, January 7, 2010
Wednesday, January 6
The babies had an eventful day on Wednesday. The day started off relatively normal. The babies were all comfortable, and Andrew and Mattie would drop their levels on occasion. This is becoming a normal occurrence. Kevin came to the NICU to pick Tara up for an appointment, and the nurse greeted him at the door to ask him to stay outside. Tara was eating lunch in the cafeteria, and Mattie had pulled out her breathing tube. They were trying to re-intubate her. The staff assured us that this is normal for babies and it won't be the first time one of them pulls their air tube out. Mattie is fine, and they were getting her back to stable last night.
We have another poop story, so fair warning to those who don't like bathroom humor. Kevin got to change Adelaide's diaper at her 4:00 touch time. Adelaide had only wet her diaper, so Kevin was thrilled to not have to deal with meconium. The nurse told Kevin that Adelaide and Mattie had big poopy diapers earlier in the day, so nothing was expected. As Kevin wiped Adelaide down, she began to poop all over the clean diaper he had given her. The nurse began to laugh, and Tara was standing behind Kevin laughing as well. With the nurse's help Kevin cleaned up the meconium and put a fresh diaper under Adelaide. She went again! Sticky black tar all of the place. By now, the whole NICU heard us laughing and were asking what was going on.
During the 8:00 touch time, Adelaide's nurse noticed that half of her chest was puffy. Tara had been helping with Adelaide's care, and the nurse pointed out the puffy side of her chest. Adelaide has an iv line that goes up her arm and into her chest for feeding. The line had apparently moved and caused the iv to be leaking into her chest cavity. They removed the line and inserted a new one into her wrist. The fluid in her chest will be absorbed in her body, and she's not in any danger.
Andrew had a pretty decent day. He was resting most of the day, but still gets in a tizzy when the nurses touch him during their care times. He got very upset during the 8:00 touch time when Kevin changed his diaper. The nurse had to bump up his oxygen and wait several minutes for him to calm down after she turned him to a new side. Even though Andrew throws his fits, several of the nurses have taken a liking to him since he's so cute. UPDATE - As I was typing this, Tara called the NICU for an update. Andrew's labs came back awful, and his x-ray shows that his left lung is in bad shape. The doctor is going to purposely deflate his lung and start over. He's on full oxygen and will be getting blood gases every hour to check his levels. Here's another step back.
Praise
Adelaide increased to 19ml of milk every 4 hours.
Poopy diapers for all the babies.
Mattie looking bigger and beginning to fill out.
The awesome staff at the NICU.
Prayer
Andrew's procedure to collapse his lung would go well.
Andrew would have improved lungs and lab work.
Andrew would sustain the improvements.
Adelaide's puffy chest would go down, and her body would absorb the fluid.
Mattie would not pull out her air hose and that she would be calm.
We have another poop story, so fair warning to those who don't like bathroom humor. Kevin got to change Adelaide's diaper at her 4:00 touch time. Adelaide had only wet her diaper, so Kevin was thrilled to not have to deal with meconium. The nurse told Kevin that Adelaide and Mattie had big poopy diapers earlier in the day, so nothing was expected. As Kevin wiped Adelaide down, she began to poop all over the clean diaper he had given her. The nurse began to laugh, and Tara was standing behind Kevin laughing as well. With the nurse's help Kevin cleaned up the meconium and put a fresh diaper under Adelaide. She went again! Sticky black tar all of the place. By now, the whole NICU heard us laughing and were asking what was going on.
During the 8:00 touch time, Adelaide's nurse noticed that half of her chest was puffy. Tara had been helping with Adelaide's care, and the nurse pointed out the puffy side of her chest. Adelaide has an iv line that goes up her arm and into her chest for feeding. The line had apparently moved and caused the iv to be leaking into her chest cavity. They removed the line and inserted a new one into her wrist. The fluid in her chest will be absorbed in her body, and she's not in any danger.
Andrew had a pretty decent day. He was resting most of the day, but still gets in a tizzy when the nurses touch him during their care times. He got very upset during the 8:00 touch time when Kevin changed his diaper. The nurse had to bump up his oxygen and wait several minutes for him to calm down after she turned him to a new side. Even though Andrew throws his fits, several of the nurses have taken a liking to him since he's so cute. UPDATE - As I was typing this, Tara called the NICU for an update. Andrew's labs came back awful, and his x-ray shows that his left lung is in bad shape. The doctor is going to purposely deflate his lung and start over. He's on full oxygen and will be getting blood gases every hour to check his levels. Here's another step back.
Praise
Adelaide increased to 19ml of milk every 4 hours.
Poopy diapers for all the babies.
Mattie looking bigger and beginning to fill out.
The awesome staff at the NICU.
Prayer
Andrew's procedure to collapse his lung would go well.
Andrew would have improved lungs and lab work.
Andrew would sustain the improvements.
Adelaide's puffy chest would go down, and her body would absorb the fluid.
Mattie would not pull out her air hose and that she would be calm.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Tuesday, January 5
Hi everyone. Sorry that we're late with the blog. Kevin's been back at work recently and then up at the NICU at night, so it's been tough keeping up.
The babies are still doing ok.They've all seen some improvement over the last few days.
Adelaide is now feeding on 14ml of milk every 4 hours. They doubled her intake. So, she's getting a half ounce each feeding. She's still off of photo therapy, and we've been enjoying watching her open her eyes. She's still doing very well.
Mattie had a lot of mucus in her lungs the last few days, and they've been doing a mist to break it up. The doctors were afraid of infection, but so far no infections have been found in her blood count or cultures. She still gets mad when the nurses do their care, but she's doing better. Her lungs are also still murky, but improved.
Andrew is doing well on the oscillator. His numbers have been holding steady, so they're going to treat him like a normal preemie, which means the frequency of his tests will be less. They feel he's improving enough to be left alone on the every two hour tests.
By the way, we really enjoy seeing who's following along and who is leaving comments. We read them all and love hearing your stories and hearing from people we haven't talked to in awhile.
Praise
All three babies are improving.
All three babies have increased their feeds.
Adelaide doubling her food and still off photo therapy.
Mattie and Andrew's lung improvement.
Prayer
Protection from side effects of ventilators and medications.
Mattie to increase milk.
Continued clearing and improvement of lungs.
Continued growth and strength.
Protection from infections.
The babies are still doing ok.They've all seen some improvement over the last few days.
Adelaide is now feeding on 14ml of milk every 4 hours. They doubled her intake. So, she's getting a half ounce each feeding. She's still off of photo therapy, and we've been enjoying watching her open her eyes. She's still doing very well.
Mattie had a lot of mucus in her lungs the last few days, and they've been doing a mist to break it up. The doctors were afraid of infection, but so far no infections have been found in her blood count or cultures. She still gets mad when the nurses do their care, but she's doing better. Her lungs are also still murky, but improved.
Andrew is doing well on the oscillator. His numbers have been holding steady, so they're going to treat him like a normal preemie, which means the frequency of his tests will be less. They feel he's improving enough to be left alone on the every two hour tests.
By the way, we really enjoy seeing who's following along and who is leaving comments. We read them all and love hearing your stories and hearing from people we haven't talked to in awhile.
Praise
All three babies are improving.
All three babies have increased their feeds.
Adelaide doubling her food and still off photo therapy.
Mattie and Andrew's lung improvement.
Prayer
Protection from side effects of ventilators and medications.
Mattie to increase milk.
Continued clearing and improvement of lungs.
Continued growth and strength.
Protection from infections.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Sunday, January 3
Today, Andrew and Mattie's lung issues continued throughout most of the day. The doctor decided to switch Andrew back to the oscillator, which he has responded very well. Mattie's still struggling some. Both of her lungs are now looking cloudy on the x-rays. She was given a mist to break up some of the mucus in her lungs and her blood gases looked better. They also ran cultures and blood tests on Mattie to check for infections. So far. the blood work came back negative for infections. The cultures will take a day to return.
Adelaide spent most of the day sleeping. She's off of the photo therapy and is slowly being weened off her oxygen. The doctor said she's doing terrific.
We had a very sweet moment Sunday night. Tara got the chance to wash Andrew's face and suction his mouth. After she washed his face, she got to hold his hand and talk to him for about 10 minutes. Andrew was moving around quite a bit, but his levels never dropped. Kevin thinks that it was his mother's touch that calmed him down. Tara couldn't stop talking about what a great experience it was. She said it was the best moment she's had with the babies so far.
Praise
Adelaide doing so well.
Adelaide off photo therapy.
Andrew responding to oscillator.
Tara's time with Andrew.
Increased feedings.
Kevin's Dad coming up to clean up back yard and remove leaves.
A clean house.
The nurses at the NICU giving us two custom picture frames with the babies' hand and foot prints.
Encouragement from the other parents in the NICU.
Prayer
Improvement in Mattie and Andrew's lungs.
Fluid around Andrew's heart would go away (normal after surgery).
Adelaide would slowly be weened off the Jet ventilator.
Tara and Kevin could take the setbacks in stride.
Adelaide spent most of the day sleeping. She's off of the photo therapy and is slowly being weened off her oxygen. The doctor said she's doing terrific.
We had a very sweet moment Sunday night. Tara got the chance to wash Andrew's face and suction his mouth. After she washed his face, she got to hold his hand and talk to him for about 10 minutes. Andrew was moving around quite a bit, but his levels never dropped. Kevin thinks that it was his mother's touch that calmed him down. Tara couldn't stop talking about what a great experience it was. She said it was the best moment she's had with the babies so far.
Praise
Adelaide doing so well.
Adelaide off photo therapy.
Andrew responding to oscillator.
Tara's time with Andrew.
Increased feedings.
Kevin's Dad coming up to clean up back yard and remove leaves.
A clean house.
The nurses at the NICU giving us two custom picture frames with the babies' hand and foot prints.
Encouragement from the other parents in the NICU.
Prayer
Improvement in Mattie and Andrew's lungs.
Fluid around Andrew's heart would go away (normal after surgery).
Adelaide would slowly be weened off the Jet ventilator.
Tara and Kevin could take the setbacks in stride.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Saturday, January 2
We have poop! Mattie had her first last night while we were in the NICU. They finally gave her a glycerin enema to help her get started. Kevin had the honors of changing her first poopy diaper. In the memory of Jed Clampett, who while shootin' at some food, discovered oil, Mattie had black gold...Texas T down there. We're only sharing these details for a giggle. We know all of you parents know about what we're talking about. Oh, the joys of meconium.
While visiting the NICU today, we met with Dr. Shoemaker, the head of all the Baylor NICUs. He's still concerned, but not worried about the kids. He did tell us that all of our children were behaving badly today. All three have some lung issue going on right now. Andrew and Mattie both had collapsed right lungs, and Adelaide's x-ray showed small pockets in her lungs. They tweaked their ventilators and had them laying on their sides. They did an x-ray on Mattie this afternoon, and her lungs have improved. Andrew's x-ray was this evening, and he's gotten worse. They have now taken him off the conventional ventilator and put him back on the Jet. The Jet is the ventilator he has had so much trouble. These are the small steps backward that they told us to expect. All the babies have increased their feedings and are still under photo therapy.
Praise
Mattie's first poop!
Increased feedings on all of them.
All three of their eyes are now open.
The doctor is "concerned", but still not "worried".
LeeAnn, Adelaide's nurse last night, found a malfunction in her incubator. We're thankful she was attentive to notice this and fix the problem.
Our niece, Sarah, turns 14 tomorrow. We're having a fun family night.
Prayer
Andrew would be OK on the Jet and not clamp down.
Andrew's carbon dioxide levels would lower. They're high because he can't get rid of his carbon dioxide properly.
Andrew's and Mattie's collapsed lungs would inflate.
All three of their lungs would improve.
Continue weight gain and strength.
No side effects from ventilators or medications.
While visiting the NICU today, we met with Dr. Shoemaker, the head of all the Baylor NICUs. He's still concerned, but not worried about the kids. He did tell us that all of our children were behaving badly today. All three have some lung issue going on right now. Andrew and Mattie both had collapsed right lungs, and Adelaide's x-ray showed small pockets in her lungs. They tweaked their ventilators and had them laying on their sides. They did an x-ray on Mattie this afternoon, and her lungs have improved. Andrew's x-ray was this evening, and he's gotten worse. They have now taken him off the conventional ventilator and put him back on the Jet. The Jet is the ventilator he has had so much trouble. These are the small steps backward that they told us to expect. All the babies have increased their feedings and are still under photo therapy.
Praise
Mattie's first poop!
Increased feedings on all of them.
All three of their eyes are now open.
The doctor is "concerned", but still not "worried".
LeeAnn, Adelaide's nurse last night, found a malfunction in her incubator. We're thankful she was attentive to notice this and fix the problem.
Our niece, Sarah, turns 14 tomorrow. We're having a fun family night.
Prayer
Andrew would be OK on the Jet and not clamp down.
Andrew's carbon dioxide levels would lower. They're high because he can't get rid of his carbon dioxide properly.
Andrew's and Mattie's collapsed lungs would inflate.
All three of their lungs would improve.
Continue weight gain and strength.
No side effects from ventilators or medications.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Friday, January 1
Happy New Year, everyone! We've had a great couple of days. First, Andrew had a very successful surgery. His vitals were looking pretty good yesterday and today. The doctors have also moved him off the oscillator and back to the conventional ventilator. That's a big step! He is now 1lb. 14oz., and his hair is turning blond. His hair is curly at the back of his head too.
Kevin and Tara spent some of New Year's Eve with the babies and more time was spent New Year's Day morning. They were all doing very well. Adelaide is now 2lb. 2oz., and she has been so peaceful the last few days. Kevin changed her diaper this morning, which was very wet. She's been on a steady diet of Tara's milk too. Adelaide is still on the Jet. We need her numbers to go down before she can be weened and moved to the conventional. Her eyes have also opened. Kevin and Kevin's parents got to see them this morning. They're dark and cloudy, but they were opened briefly.
Mattie is gaining weight too. She is now 1lb. 8oz. She's also been getting a lot of Tara's milk. She's been sedated lately, which is good for her. They moved her to a very small dose of morphine, which they use all the time on preemies. She's been sleeping much better now. She still hasn't pooped, but the nurses don't seem concerned. She's also on the Jet and has more oxygen going in then her sister. Kevin got some pics of her without her hat on that he'll post soon. Tara's changed two of Mattie's diapers. We're definitely feeling more comfortable handling them. It's hard when they have so many wires and tubes coming out. Mattie has an IV or line in every extremity, but one.
The NICU moved the babies' head ultrasounds up to last night, and we found out that the results all came back normal. This again is a huge thing. It means they have no brain hemorrhages. We thank God for protecting them over these last two weeks. That's right, they are now two weeks old. Thank you again for praying for us and our babies. We're thankful for your love and support.
Praise
Andrew's successful surgery
Andrew on the conventional ventilator
All three received normal head ultrasounds
All three on Tara's milk
All three have weight gain
Adelaide and Mattie's eyes opening
They're all still doing "reasonably well"
Prayer
Andrew's response to the new ventilator
Andrew's recovery
Mattie would poop
Their jaundice levels would improve
Continued weight gain and strength
Continued protection from side effects of ventilators and medications
Kevin and Tara spent some of New Year's Eve with the babies and more time was spent New Year's Day morning. They were all doing very well. Adelaide is now 2lb. 2oz., and she has been so peaceful the last few days. Kevin changed her diaper this morning, which was very wet. She's been on a steady diet of Tara's milk too. Adelaide is still on the Jet. We need her numbers to go down before she can be weened and moved to the conventional. Her eyes have also opened. Kevin and Kevin's parents got to see them this morning. They're dark and cloudy, but they were opened briefly.
Mattie is gaining weight too. She is now 1lb. 8oz. She's also been getting a lot of Tara's milk. She's been sedated lately, which is good for her. They moved her to a very small dose of morphine, which they use all the time on preemies. She's been sleeping much better now. She still hasn't pooped, but the nurses don't seem concerned. She's also on the Jet and has more oxygen going in then her sister. Kevin got some pics of her without her hat on that he'll post soon. Tara's changed two of Mattie's diapers. We're definitely feeling more comfortable handling them. It's hard when they have so many wires and tubes coming out. Mattie has an IV or line in every extremity, but one.
The NICU moved the babies' head ultrasounds up to last night, and we found out that the results all came back normal. This again is a huge thing. It means they have no brain hemorrhages. We thank God for protecting them over these last two weeks. That's right, they are now two weeks old. Thank you again for praying for us and our babies. We're thankful for your love and support.
Praise
Andrew's successful surgery
Andrew on the conventional ventilator
All three received normal head ultrasounds
All three on Tara's milk
All three have weight gain
Adelaide and Mattie's eyes opening
They're all still doing "reasonably well"
Prayer
Andrew's response to the new ventilator
Andrew's recovery
Mattie would poop
Their jaundice levels would improve
Continued weight gain and strength
Continued protection from side effects of ventilators and medications
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