It's Been A While

Four days without an update...sorry! It's been a long week.

Sunday, 05/17/09: My convocation from dental school! Aaron was even mentioned during the ceremony, since he was born there. He is such a little celebrity. I was able to take some pictures with him in my cap and gown. What a nice picture I will be able to show him. Technically he wasn't even supposed to be here yet, but now I was able to celebrate one of my biggest accomplishments with him.


That night, we also added another photo to my "favorites". Here is our little monkey cuddling inside Clayton's undershirt. Oh so cute!
Monday, 5/18/09: This was a rough day for Aaron. He had been having a few apnea/brady episodes but recovering well but today, he wasn't doing as well. As a result, they moved him back to CPap. However, after only an hour on this and one more episode, they decided to put him on BiPap. This was really discouraging. He has been doing so well for quite some time now. But, life in the NICU is always described as a rollercoaster ride, and this was our down. Aaron's head ultrasound a few days prior showed stability (even some slight improvement) and a CBC showed no signs of infection, so those were quickly ruled out as reasons for the episodes. The doctors ordered a chest x-ray for some explaination but that, too, showed improvement (God is soo good!). So pretty much Aaron just got tired of working so hard and just needed a break. His little lungs can only do so much work. Now the BiPap is helping him out again and he is doing well. His blood gases have been even better. Of course, he tries to pull it off of him every chance he gets!

Wednesday, 05/20/09: Graduation day! I showed up to visit Aaron today and saw taped on his isolette a sign saying, "Dear Mommy, Congrats Grad! Love you, Aaron". It was really sweet. He was sleeping most of the time and was all swaddled up. He was really comfortable. They went up on his feeds to 11cc/3hrs. He has been having zero residuals. This is such motivation to keep away from all dairy! The nurse gave him his bath at night but I was able to put lotion on him. Boy did his numbers skyrocket when his mommy was rubbing him all over! I love when I can do something that comforts him. If he keeps this up they will continue to increase his feedings and maybe move him back to cannula again. We will just continue to pray.

Let's Try It One More Time

Today is Aaron's 2 month birthday!

Aaron had been on BiPap since Sunday afternoon. They've been weaning him off and he's been doing really well. They moved him to CPap on Tuesday (no set breaths/minute, just continuous pressurized oxygen for when he decides to take a breath) and back to cannula yesterday! Last time he was only on it for 24 hours so we're praying for a little longer this time. He was doing really well last night. We just love how comfortable he looks with these smaller tubes on. They've also started feeding again, very slowly. He is tolerating it well.

On Tuesday, he had another eye exam. Everything looks great so far! Aaron even went from stage 2 to stage 0. After speaking to a few doctors someone was finally able to explain that to us (apparently opthamology is a confusing thing). So pretty much there was a fibrous scar wall that could have potentially stopped Aaron's blood vessels from growing properly to his eyes (if it got really bad they would remove the scar surgically). But now that fibrous wall is resolving and getting better. Thank you Jesus for continuing to heal our little boy!!

Yesterday I had really special visit with Aaron. For the first time I could be with him and not look at the clock or worry about setting up for a patient. I was there for hours. And, since he's been doing very well on the cannula, I held him the whole time. Of course, he was sound asleep in my arms, which was not a problem at all. I think I managed to kiss every inch of his face and head. Here he is sleeping comfortably in mommy's arms!
Doesn't he look so much bigger?

Such a Rebel

Ever since realizing the comfort of the nasal cannula, Aaron has been rebelling against the BiPap...in a good way, of course. For one thing, he has been trying desperately to pull the tubing off his face! Second, they've brought down the breath rate and pressure and he is still consistently hitting his 100% oxygen saturation on the pulse oximeter. He is soo wanting to be off the BiPap and back on the cannula. Clayton and I realized tonight that when they switched him over this weekend his settings were still pretty high on the BiPap. This time, they are actually weaning more. He is doing very well and having good blood gases. Maybe they will try the cannula again real soon.

They started feeding breastmilk again. Very slowly. There was no infection so they are discontinuing the antibiotics for the millionth time. I am trying my hardest to cut out ALL dairy and anything that could make Aaron gassy. I never realized how many things that would be!

Aaron is 1250 grams tonight (2lbs 12oz). This is a little less than a few nights ago but considering he wasn't being fed it's not too bad of a weight loss. I can't believe 3lbs is just around the corner.

Happy Mother's Day

Needless to say, Mother's Day has a whole new meaning for me. As special as today was, it was also very difficult. I wanted nothing more than to celebrate my first Mother's Day with Aaron at home in my arms. But, I was just so thankful that he is doing so well and is still here fighting every day so that he can come home!

The nasal cannula was short lived and Aaron was put back on BiPap early this afternoon. Although he had a really good blood gas last night (even better than his usual "good" ones), he seemed to be getting very tired of maintaining his breathing and had a few apneic episodes. He is still not getting any breastmilk which I'm sure isn't giving him the energy he needs to maintain breathing. Although it is a minor step backwards, we are glad that he is getting the support he needs. Of course he hates the BiPap hat and is trying to take it off with all his might! Hopefully when they start feeds and he gets more energy we will try the cannula again.

Aaron had a lot of visitors today. Both sets of grandparents, uncles Craig & Glenn, and great-grandma Berry all went to say hi. And, he will be spending lots more time with me from now on as I am (un)officially done with school!

I can't thank you enough for all your thoughts and prayers. We definitely see a light at the end of the tunnel. Aaron will be home before we know it.

No More Vent!

The ventilator is off! After 3 days of BiPap, and exactly 8 weeks since he was born, Aaron is now ready for nasal cannula...bypassing CPap! They told us about the change early this morning. We really thought we'd have a somewhat long journey to cannula but Aaron must've been doing really well these past few days for them to change it this quickly. He looks so much more comfortable than before.
There is no positive pressure associated with the cannula so he is 100% breathing on his own now. His throat is also completely recovered from having the tube down there for so long. He's gone from a low, scratchy cry to looong, loud one. It just makes us smile every time he cries. The cannula is also helping him not swallow so much air. The xrays they've been doing on his belly are getting better and better, but they're still holding off on the feedings. As a result he's down a few grams. Hopefully they will start with that again very soon. The most wonderful perk of the cannula is that soon we can try bottle feeding. This is one of the biggest hurdles, along with breathing on his own (which we can now cross off the list), that Aaron has to overcome before coming home.

The nurses can't believe how strong Aaron is and how fast he is progressing. He would only be 33 weeks gestational age this upcoming Monday, meaning he'd still have at least 4 more weeks to go before being considered "full term". We are just so thankful that God continues to watch over and protect our little miracle.

Enough's Enough!

There were a few long nights this week on our part which led to no updates, so here it finally is. Sorry for the delay!

Aaron's vent settings have slowly been getting remarkably better over the past few days, from 35 breaths/minute to 30 BPM 12 hours later, to 25 BPM 12 hours after that. Then Tuesday morning when Mari went in to see Aaron with some friends from school she noticed that there was a "15 BPM" setting on the machine. She was so happy to see that and the low pressure settings. She asked the nurse if it meant that Aaron will be off the tube soon, the nurse just smiled and nodded. We were then told that they planned on making sure he could handle this setting for another day or so and they would take it out. If, however, he managed to pull the tube out himself, they would just leave him be and see how he does. Needless to say, that part didn't sit well with Mari.

Well, apparently Aaron inherited Nana's eavesdropping abilities and at approximately 3am on May 6th he extubated himself!!! The doctor told us later that when he did that, he didn't even need much support while they got the BiPap ready. He only desatted a few times while on no breathing support at all! The nurse, one of our favorites, called Mari just before 9am to tell her the news, so Mari headed right over to see Aaron's new breathing apparatus. It was so nice to see his face without all that tape on it. We definitely have one handsome little boy on our hands.Of course, we shared the news immediately with family. Aaron probably had one of his busiest nights with visitors. Both sets of grandparents rushed over to see him after work. He was so happy to finally show them his cute little chin.

So Aaron is now receiving oxygen with some pressure through his nose just as an aid. With the tube out, we can now (FINALLY!) hear him cry and hiccup and he even sneezed! To top it all off, as of last night (05/06/09) he weighed in at 1250 grams (2lb 12oz)! Feeds are continuously being increased by 1cc/12 hrs. He is currently up to 11cc/3hr.

He had a head ultrasound the other day. Although his head circumferance has been steady, the U/S did show a little blockage that is stopping the cerebrospinal fluid from draining properly. The attending doctor said it was "pretty big" but we know that nothing is too big for God. He's already brought Aaron this far so He is definitely taking care of him.

Thank you for the continued prayer. We are so happy to be sharing this news with everyone! And, we will definitely try to update more often :)

Chunky Monkey

What a great visit we had tonight with Aaron. He is finally over his 2lb 6oz (1070 grams) hurdle!! Tonight he weighed in at 2lb 8oz (1120 grams). All the breastmilk he's been getting must really be helping. He is officially up to 6cc every 4 hours. It was just four days ago that I was so excited that he was receiving 3cc of breastmilk every 6 hours!

Also, they've decreased his breath rate on the vent to 35 breaths/minute (previously 40) and his pressure is down to 12/5! It seems like the surgery is paying off and weaning him off the vent is going well.

He did need a blood transfusion, however, because his platelets were low. Luckily, everyone on Clayton's side and Aaron are all the same blood type so he's been getting direct donations from his dad and uncles. Now everyone can say they've helped him grow!

We are just so thankful! It is so nice to see him acting like a "real" baby.