12 Jan 07

Tricia
Well, no sleet, ice, snow or wind can keep a mother away from her NICU baby! Tricia made it safely to OKC despite traveling through some harsh conditions today. She got to see our precious boy and then traveled again (safely) back to Glenda's house. I was pretty nervous about her driving, so I sent her with a couple of blankets, my heaviest winter coat, gloves, food and a full tank of gas. I figured that if she ended up in a ditch somewhere, at least she'd be able to be comfortable until someone came to help. But, alas, my worries were once again worthless as she made it just safe and sound-by the Grace of God. Although, I wasn't willing to risk the weather with the other kids, so we stayed home! I think we will give it a shot on Sunday afternoon. There is supposed to be another even bigger wave of freezing rain and snow tomorrow, but I figure that after church, the roads should be reasonably clear, and we could stay the night and come back Monday.

Tommy
Tricia said Tommy was all snuggled up and cozy tonight. He is up to 11 ml's per feeding giving him 88 ml's per day or 3 ounces of food per day!!! I'd still like to see him at least get 110 ml's per day as I read a study that babies who recieved that much or more breastmilk had a statictically significant increase in their post-hostpital performances (mental abilities, physical abilities) than did kids who recieved less than this while in the NICU.

Anyway, at least he is back at his birthweight and should be rapidly putting on weight. Wouln't it be nice to say that we needed to rapidly put on weight? Just a thought that popped into my head as I am munching on popcorn doused with butter and the "family secret" cheeses! (My dad's own creation!)

Anyway, Thanks, God, for keeping Tommy in your hands and delivering Tricia safely to OKC!

11 Jan PM

Tricia made it home just fine, but we are both exhausted from our busy weeks! But, as promised, here are some new pictures of baby Tommy!







He weighted 2 pounds, 11.3 ounces tonight and was 15.55" long! He will have another ultrasound on his brain on Monday.

We are not sure if the kids and I are going to head up to OKC or not due to the weather. I sure do want to see my little guy--especially after looking at the pictures Tricia brought home! I miss him a lot more than I thought I would.

Don't be alarmed if you don't see a post for tomorrow--if we do go up to the city, it will be a long day!!

10 Jan Update

Tommy
The new IV in Tommy's arm seems to be working out pretty well. Hopefully, this means no more IV sticks in the future!! He is also going up to 10 cc's of milk tonight, so that means his overall intake will be nearly 3 ounces. His weight is still hovering just below his birthweight.

The bad news is that they did another ultrasound Monday on his brain--it seems that the blood is still there, and they have upgraded the "seriousness" of the bleeding from a "Grade 1" level to a "Grade 3" level. I am not sure at this point if they think his brain is still bleeding or what--but Tricia reports the doctor is still not overly concerned at this point due to the fact that he is so active and nearly moblie scootching around in his incubator. We ask that you focus your prayers on his brain and that there be no damage done to it due to the blood and that the blood will go away quickly!! The Dr. told Tricia that we are not "out of the woods" yet, but that he was optimistic that the situation should clear up with no outside intervention.

Tricia's homecomming
Tricia will be comming home tomorrow. It seems like forever since she has left--for me and the kids! I can't wait to see her. I saw on the weather forescast that there is a good possiblility of an ice storm on late Friday night though Saturday. We are going to have to watch that closely to determine whether or not the kids and I will return to OKC on Friday afternoon with the intent of coming home on Saturday. The last thing this family needs is any more issues, and me getting stuck in a ditch somewhere with the kids--or worse--does not sound like a great time of fun to me!! If we do go, we'll probably take the Jeep as the Mustang just doesn't like slippery conditions very well.

Take care, and thanks for all the love!

9 Jan PM

Tommy Update
Tommy did something amazing today...he was laying on his tummy with his face toward Tricia, and he lifted his little head up and turned his head so it faced the other way! Tricia was amazed! The nurses told her that did not surprise them at all. They use a padded flexible cushion that wraps around his sides and feet and kind of squishes him to keep him all tucked in and comfortable. They said that a couple of nights ago, he managed to get himself on top of the cushion and had his arms and legs dangling over either side! I told Tricia that it was no big deal that he lifted his head up--after all, it can only weigh a few ounces at most! Hee Hee.

Because of his many movements, IVs have not lasted very long. In the last two days, he has had IVs in three different spots, and when the IV tonight quit working as well, they decided it would be better for Tommy to get a more permanent IV that goes directly into an artery. Tricia had to sign a consent form for the procedure to take place, and they reported that they got it in on the first try and that it was working great. I'm still not sure where exactly it went in, but the research I did said it usually goes into an arm or leg. The IV is called a PICC line--that stands for something, but I forget exactly what. It can last up to a month because it extends farther into a large artery. That is good news for Tommy who already has to suffer from daily heel sticks to test his blood. His poor little heels look more like pin cusions with all the little sores on them! :-(

Tommy is still feeding well, and he is now just about 25 grams from his birth weight...that equates to about 2 pounds, 10.2 ounces right now. Wonderful news, huh? As they increase his feedings, they expect that he will rapidly gain weight.

One more Update

I just talked to Tricia--they had to move Tommy's IV again!!! Now it is back in his foot. But, they say that he is getting very close to the weight where they start letting him regulate his own temperature!! That is one of the criterion for him to come home! Then, once he gets to be 4 pounds, he'll be taken out of the incubator. Those little glimpses of hope are sure nice to see! They are also bumping his feedings to 8.5 ml tonight at his 11:30 pm feeding.

Also, while you are praying for Tommy, Karina Sones is another little girl worthy of prayer. Many of you know her, but in case you don't, you can visit her journal here

Basically, she had lukemia, and they did a bone marrow transplant on her (I think she is about 7 years old). The bone marrow took well, but now she is fighting some other infections that bubbled up in the last few weeks. They were stationed her in Altus and then moved to Washington DC. They are a very sweet Christian family, and we were blessed to know them while they were here.

Just a couple more days until more pictures!!

8 Jan PM

Tommy is still progressing well. He is up to 7.5 ml/feeding. They had to move his IV, and I guess Tricia had to wait for an hour while they did that--they had lots of troubles getting one to work, and I would guess that was pretty tough on our little guy. The IV is back in his head again, and that is so emotionally tough for Tricia to see. Today was the first time she has been up to see him without me being there, so it was a pretty tough day for Tricia. The good news is that they are decreasing the amount of IV nutrients that Tommy gets which means that in a few weeks, he won't have a need for the IV any more--as long as he keeps digesting the breastmilk well.

I went back to work today...only for about 6 hours or so. It was nice to get back into the swing of things. All three kids had school today (Kimberlyn, our youngest, goes to Mother's day out). I was pretty worried that they would have troubles getting going, but they all did just great! I am letting Robby stay up late tonight to watch the game--probably a bad idea, but he and my mom just love football, and I figured it would be a nice treat for both of them (and me) to enjoy watching the game together. As you know, being in the military makes it so the kids don't get to spend as much time with extended family as most other kids, so I think the benefits outweigh the costs in this case.

We had a wonderful dinner of sheppard's pie delivered to us...very yummy. We have delivered meals to people before, and you just don't ever realize what a huge help and blessing those meals are until you are on the recieving end! Thanks!

That's it for tonight. Thanks for your continued prayer support---God definately has His loving hand in our lives!

7 Jan PM

Tommy
Tommy is up to 7 cc's of fluid every 3 hours--which is about 1/4 of an ounce each feeding. So that makes a grand total of about 2 ounces per day of food. They are steadily increasing that, so hopefully, he'll be gaining some more weight soon! He is up to 2 pounds, 8 ounces.

Tricia left back to OKC after church today. It was a tough time at the Nance household, so I took the kids to the park and then we had Pizza hut for dinner. Just a little treat to help us all feel better. Kaitlyn was in bad shape--she was crying her head off as Tricia left, and of course, that was really hard on Tricia too. But, Tricia made it up there and saw Tommy (got to hold him for about 30 minutes too). And now she is settled down at Glenda's house.

Oh by the way, Glenda said her arm was feeling much better. She said that she had been taking some medication from the Doctor, but was not sure if that was the cure or what...I think God is blessing her through our prayers and through her sweet heart--opening her house to Tricia. Thanks to God for Glenda!!

I'll be out of pictures for a while as Tricia has the camera with her, but when she gets back, I'll make sure we get some updated ones!