Just Pictures

Wide Awake

My old private room. We miss you.

So tired from all that growing.

My stuffed Dog...

Reminds me of a Tanooki Suit.

Just relaxing..

Calm Season

Things have been very calm for Gabe in the NICU lately. Right now the focus is for him to continue gaining weight and wait and see what happens with his lungs. They haven't been improving at the rate that the doctors would like, but they have tried a couple of non-invasive options and waiting to see what happens.
Last time he got an x-ray, they could see that his lungs were collapsing a bit, so they upped his air pressure. His oxygen level has been pretty much the same ever since he was put on the CPAP. They would like to be able to bring the pressure and oxygen level down to ween him from the CPAP.
Funny story from Dan... when he was holding him on Saturday, they hung his feeding tube and syringe up after Gabe was done eating to get the last little bit to go down. Well, like any other baby, Gabe burps after he eats, but instead of it going through his mouth, it goes through the feeding tube and into the syringe. It makes a really funny noise when it happens, Dan described it like when you're sucking through a straw and you are sucking the last little bit out of the bottom. It cracked us up every time we heard it:)

Yesterday

The doctor told us yesterday that Gabe had some bleeding in his head, but that it was really mild and that she was happy with the results. There was no bleeding in the ventricles or any pressure on his brain tissue. Please pray that God stops the bleeding and that Gabe doesn't have any developemental problems due to it. He also has had some weight gain in the past two days :) He is now at 2 lbs 9.5 oz.

Dan's First Father's Day

We both are so glad that Gabe has been doing so good this week! He is still on the CPAP, but he is stable and hasn't needed to go back to the ventilator! The little guy weighs 2 lbs. 7 oz. and is working on beefing up right now. Dan got to hold him last night. Gabe's mouth kept opening wide while he slept on Dan's chest, which causes the oxygen he's getting to escape through his mouth instead of going to his lungs. Dan kept trying to push his mouth shut, but gave up after an hour when they put him back.

Dan is already such a caring and loving dad. Gabe is really lucky to have such an amazing example to follow as he grows up.

Growing Up So Fast!

After Monday, we weren't expecting this so soon! Gabe has been taken off of his ventilator!!!
We can't believe it. It is truly God's hand upon his little lungs. The nurse was going over his settings over the past two days, and it was unbelievable how fast they were able to ween him from his support. Now he is on what is called the CPAP. It fits over his little nose and gives him continuous air so his lungs don't collapse since he is breathing in and out on his own now. In the pictures you can see his feeding tube going into his mouth, which goes down the esophagus. His full feedings go down that little tube, so he was taken off of lipids (like a pumped up Gatorade). He is only getting fluids and his medicine through his IV now.
He has had several poopy diapers, one and a half I changed. I figure I'll have enough of those down the road, why get burnt out now;)
The best part of the ventilator being out, is I finally get to hear his little baby noises! He has a VERY tiny, hoarse cry, but it just makes me beam to finally hear him!

This picture was right after a major tantrum because he doesn't like getting breathing treatments with the oxygen mask (top left corner of picture). He was a little worn out from all of that fussing.

Feeling Better

Gabe is doing much better today!

I'd even say he had a significant improvement. :) His lungs are working so much better than yesterday that his vent settings on oxygen and pressure are down so much that both Shannon and I thought there must have been a mistake on the machine. It's nothing short of a miracle from God!

Lung medication

Gabe had his surgery a week ago and had been making some progress. However, he has started to backslide on his vent settings since yesterday. Oxygen content is up along with the pressure settings. The doctor's are recommending to us that they use a steroid, dexamethasone, to help with his lung development and to get him off the ventilator.

In the 1990's this drug was administered at much greater doses and for longer periods of time. Some of the long term side effects of higher dosage were:

• Cerebral palsy
• Impaired growth
• Neurodevelopmental delay
• Lower IQ scores

The long term side effects are less likely with the lower doses. Please pray that God heals Gabe's lungs and protects him from any short term or long term side effects.

Diaper days

Gabe had some good news to share. He filled up his diaper, #2, for the first time. He was rewarded by getting extra milk and more often. This is great news, since it is the first steps of him being ready to eat is own lunch instead of having other nutrients pumped directly into his blood supply.

Other funny news.... Mom changed his diaper yesterday. However, when the nurse was turning him over his diaper fell off. Oopsie! Gabe had to be turned again to his back so he could get the diaper reattached. :)

Recovery Day One

We learned today that Gabe still has a heart murmur. However the murmur is not associated with his now closed PDA. (Praise God!) It is called a “PPS" murmur or peripheral pulmonary stenosis. From what we understand it isn't anything to worry about.

This is what I found out about it online: "In newborn babies the arteries that lead to the lungs (branch pulmonary arteries) are typically somewhat small. When the blood gets pumped from the large artery leaving the heart and enters these smaller pulmonary arteries, there is very often some turbulence and the blood makes a whooshing noise similar that that of water going through a bend in a garden hose. " He should grow out of this murmur.

Other news: Gabe's chest tube was removed today. It was sooner than we anticipated, and should allow him to be more comfortable while he recovers. He also has been started on some thyroid medicine to compensate for his low levels. The levels are checked every morning for progress.

Successful Surgery!

Gabe's surgery is over and everything went well. He is sleeping soundly and looking cute as ever!
The doctor who did the surgery said that a significant improvement in blood flow would be at a 4, and Gabe's change in flow was 22! He REALLY needed that PDA closed! We are so excited to have this obstacle over with and can't wait to see his improvement over the next few weeks!
Thank you for your prayers! Please keep praying for his recovery to be quick and as pain-free as possible. And his lungs recover from all the stress and he is able to be weened off the ventilator at a good pace.

Surgery

On Monday 6/8/09 at 12 Noon Gabe will be in surgery to have his Patent Ductus Arteriosus closed. We understand that the surgery will only take about 30 minutes total, but there is extensive set up time associated with it. Please pray for a speedy recovery and that his RDS also clears up as a result from the surgery.

Cat Needs a Home

Since we have family with cat allergies and bringing home a little baby soon, we thought it was time to get rid of our cat, Bandit, before we move next weekend.

If any of you know of anyone wanting a cat, he is very people friendly, 8 years old, litter trained, is fixed, declawed in the front, and is playful with strings.

I don't want to take him to a humane shelter, so please let us know if anyone wants him. You can just post a comment and we'll get in touch with you if that is easiest.

Waiting...

They are still letting Gabe recover from his bad weekend before they decide on what to do about his PDA. The nurse said, unofficially, that Gabe will have another echo of his heart on Monday, and the doctor will probably decide then if they'll do surgery or more medicine.

We both have gotten to hold him since. He is so precious, and it's hard to put him back! Dan also got to change his first diaper... it was pretty funny. It was probably the longest diaper change in history because he was being so careful and gentle.

Good Surprises

We were surprised to find out today that Gabe was doing well enough for Mom to hold him. This was her first chance to pick him up and she didn't let go for 2 hours!!! Gabe was very relaxed in Mom's arms. He didn't even fuss when Shannon had to stand up so we could switch out her recliner for one that worked.

If he does well through the night I will get to hold him tomorrow.

bad days and good days

The bad - (Sunday)

Gabe gave us a pretty good scare Sunday night. He had major swelling due to the medication that he was on for his PDA and he had low blood pressure. His platlet counts was down and he had his 4th blood transfusion. The doctor also could not pinpoint what was causing his worsening condition. Lab cultures needed additional time for results. Words could not express how we were feeling.

The good -(Monday)

PDA medication was halted and his swelling had reversed, blood pressure was back up and cultures came back negative for infections. What a relief!

An xray was taken to verify the location of his new breathing tube and another echo on his heart to view his PDA. The PDA had not closed but did reduce in size.

We should find out Tuesday or Wednesday if they will try another round of medication or decide on surgery to close his PDA.

Oscillator

This was the second ventilator that Gabe used. It however did not have the desired results, and was only used overnight.