4.7.09 & 4.8.09 Visit

We went to visit Christian with Michelle's mom today. I went down to speak with one of the doctors for a sleep study consultation while Michelle and her mom went upstairs to see Christian. Once my consult was over, I went up to see our beautiful little boy and he looks happy as ever! He always looks super cute when he is on his tummy, like a little tree frog! Yesterday we had a very exciting thing happen- he opened both of his eyes wide open to look at us!! That's the first time we have seen both of his beautiful little eyes! It was incredible to feel the emotion surrounding that event and very special.

Christian is feeding completely off michelle's milk supply, and the doctors boosted him up to 4.0 mL per hour today, which at his weight is the most they will feed him right now. If he tolerates this amount, they will begin fortifying the milk with extra protein and enzymes to boost the amount of calories he is consuming, ultimately increasing his weight.

Chrsitian began steroid treatments this morning. He is going to be receiving 40 days of injections to increase his lung functioning. The x-rays that came back showed lungs that were not functioning well and the doctors decided during rounds to begin steroid treatment earlier than expected as a result. Part of the problem is the fact that he is on a ventilator and that he is so young... his body and his lungs aren't supposed to be functioing right now, as they are supposed to be still developing in the womb. The nurse told me that these steroid treatments are very common in babies his age and that they should start to improve his gases soon. He has a high amount of carbon dioxide in his blood gases right now, which means his arteries aren't pumping enough of the gas out of his lung and heart. They have certain ratios of oxygen to carbon dioxide that need to be maintained and he is hooked up to an oxygen stream which can be inversely correlated to the amount of carbon dioxide leaving his blood. This is a scary time for us right now, as the longer he is on the ventilator the more potential scarring his lungs will endure.

In other areas, he is doing very well. His ventomiacin is no longer being given to treat his infection and it seems that it has been all cleared up.

Michelle is making Christian an Easter basket right now with massive amounts of ribbons on it. I'll have to take a picture and post it. She's extremely crafty, as is Corinne.

4.5.09 & 4.6.09 Visit

Our apologies for not writing sooner, but the past few days have been quite hectic with consults for my sleep study, putting together Easter baskets, taking Michelle to the doctor, and various other things. On to Christian!

Christian looks to be getting bigger and bigger! The nurse told us today that he weighs 1 pound 9 ounces, which means he has gained about 6 ounces since he was born. He looks healthy and happy in his little incubator. We spoke to the doctor for a while today about potential steroid treatments that Christian is going to need in relation to his lung development. Apparently, the steroids tend to make some babies lose weight if they are given too early, so the doctor wants to wait until Christian is taking more milk and consistently increasing in weight.

Speaking of which, Christian was up to 3.0 mL yesterday and 3.3 mL today in regards to his feedings. He is taking Michelle's milk extremely well.

4.4.09 Visit

We just got back from visiting our little man a little while ago... I need to stop eating late at night so that I can work off this pregnancy weight. This is Jason-not Michelle- by the way. She seems to be doing just fine with that =)

Christian looks very healthy right now, which is all we can ask for. They increased his feedings from 2.0 mL to 2.5 mL per hour, which means he is receiving about 60% of his food by breast milk and 40% by IV fluids. Once he is able to take 100% of his feedings by breast milk the doctors will be able to remove the feeding tube from what we understand.

Christian's vitals are more stable tonight than they were last night. His oxygen levels and his heart rate have both been remaining relatively level and the same. He is on about a 65% oxygen saturation level right now.

He just looks really healthy. He opened up his eyes for Michelle and I again tonight... I can't tell you how special it feels to witness that and feel that... it carries so much more emotion for us. these simple little milestones and events mean so much right now- it really helps us to feel more connected to him when we cannot hold him or comfort him right now while he's in the incubator. He totally has my legs and my calves and my feet... He's going to look just like his daddy when he grows up! Hopefully he gets Michelle's nose though =) We will see.

We'll stop in tomorrow again to see our little monkey after church with his big sister. She's having a special date with mommy and daddy to go see an IMAX 3-D movie. On a side note, Christian still loves his Peter Cetera songs. I'm beginning to write the structure for my book about our experiences, which I plan to title, "Peter Cetera Saved My Baby." It will no doubt become an instant bestseller... we just need to get it to Oprah somehow.

Christian Opened An Eye!! 4-3-09

Today was absolutely amazing, it was one of the days I was waiting for, the day he would finally open his eyes!!! Jason was standing against his little house and he just opened his eye! His left one.
We were so ecstatic, we started taking pictures, but he slowly started closing it by the time we snapped so I only caught him with it half open. I'll post it anyway. His feedings are back up to 2ml. He looked quite comfy all snuggled up on his stomach and was drooling away. There was one time his heart rate dropped to 82 but he quickly came back to 160ish. Jason was having anxiety attacks today, probably because he was looking at the moniter too much. I learned to just look at Christian instead of the moniter b/c I used to freak myself out too.
I will post Christian's photo now for all to enjoy! Thank You for all the prayers! They are working:D

4-2-09 Visit

Today was a much better day for Christian. When we got there, he was laying on his back and just kicking away!! They told us they gave him some blood this morning, so his color was looking really good. He's back on his feedings as well.
I wasn't half as tired as I have been, but when I got home this afternoon, I conked out. I haven't really been able to eat much. I think my body is dealing with alot of stress and my stomach has been acting up. Its not aching persay, but it's definately uneasy and a bit queezy. I'm scared my milk supply will start running low if I don't eat enough, so I try to force myself.
Jason seems to be doing better too. Of course, he always has an appetite!!!
He took Corinne to get ice cream thus afternoon and to buy some things at wal-mart. We don't want her to feel left out since we go see Christian in the afternoon's, so she was happy to hang out with him.
I try to arrange to pump at 7am so I can get Corinne ready for school. I know every minute she hangs out with us, she enjoys!
Hopefully tomorrow will be another uneventful day for Christian. Thank you for all the prayers:D

4.1.09 Visit

We went to go see Christian in the morning about 9:30 am, when the doctor typically does his rounds. We found out more information about his condition today, and Doctor H said that christian has something called PIE (Pulmonary Interstitial Emphysema). Basically, the condition can result from prolonged ventilator assistance and an overpumping of the fragile lung sacks, which is why they chose to put him on a separate ventilator. Though we still don't completely understand what is happening and what this means, I remember the doctor saying that they had to get him off of the ventilator soon to minimize any serious lung scarring. When we saw Christian, he looked well. His color was back and he looked better than he had the prior evening. The doctors had taken away him feedings as a precaution but they are back on at 1.0 mL per hour right now.

We went back to see Christian this evening after shift change at 8:00pm. He still looks to be doing well, and his vitals seem strong. He reacts very well when Michelle and I talk to him, and the nurses suggested recording our voices while reading a story so that they can play it back to him if his vitals drop. His heart rate dropped once tonight while we were there but he pulled himself back up on his own very quickly, within 10 seconds. We don't know what is going to happen at this point and it's really scary... We aren't totally clear about what the PIE condition means, nor how badly he has it. From our research online, it seems preemies are supposed to have this condition at 72 hours or less after birth, not this far along. It also stated that this condition is only present in about 1-2% of preemie babies. I stopped reading because I didn't want to scare myself or Michelle... sometimes too much information is a bad thing. There is mortality associated with this kind of condition. Hopefully we will get more information tomorrow when we see the doctor during rounds.

On a positive note, the doctors could not hear any signs of his heart murmur today, and they think it may have gone away. Also, Christian looks very close to opening his eyes! they are becoming more and more unfused each day. We love him so much, it is so difficult to leave him.......

3.31.09 Visit

I left for San Francisco for a quick day trip to pick up all of our mail that has been sitting for about 6 weeks, to pick up our tax documents and to make sure the apartment hadn't burned down. Of course, on the one day that I wasn't with Michelle, something turns for the worst.

The day began much like every other day we have had with Christian thus far. Michelle went to visit in the morning with her mom and everything was fine. christian's vitals were good, he looked to be in good health and there was no cause for concern. It was a relief for me to hear, as I was having anxiety just being away from my family even for a day. It was the first day that I wouldn't be able to see Chrsitian in the hospital because I was traveling.

Fast-forward to later in the evening, and I call Michelle from my plane during my connecting flight from Las Vegas. She tells me that the hospital called to let her know that something had happened- when I called her, she was already at the hospital with her dad. Apparently Christian had to be changed to another ventilator because he had a condition called PIE. They changed him to a jet ventilator which pumps 420 bursts a minute rather than the normal respiration he had been receiving over the past 2 weeks. When Michelle went to see him, she said christian was pale and not moving hardly at all. He looked lifeless and frail. However, as soon as michelle began talking to him, she said his vitals picked up quickly and that he responded to her voice. Throughout the evening, he continued to get better. We called the hospital later, around 2:00 am, to ensure that he was still doing well. The nurse assurred us that he was doing well and that his vitals were still strong. We planned to see him first thing in the morning during his rounds so that we could have an opportunity to speak with Doctor Harley.