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!

6 Jan PM

Tricia Drives
Tricia drove today!! I had a notepad and pen and documented several driving infractions on our 2 mile journey from the hotel to the hospital...including rolling through a stop sign--just to be a stinker! She did great and feels safe to drive now. We are home at Altus now after two visits to Tommy this morning. She is planning on returning to OKC Sunday afternoon, and I'll stay here. My mom is planning on sticking around a couple more days before she heads back to Omaha.

Tommy
Tommy is still doing well. He is now on 25% oxygen through his nose--just to help him a bit more as he had a couple of incidents where he shallowed his breathing and his heart rate dropped. They don't seem to be worried about that at all, and they are just working on making sure he doesn't regress. After they checked his blood, they do not anticipate that he'll need to be on the ventilator again, so that is a blessing. There are lots of complications that come from the ventilator including wild blood pressure fluctuations and issues with blood vessles in the eyes, so keeping him off that nasty thing is their priority. Other than that, he continues to slowly gain weight and is now up to 6 cc's of formula every 3 hours. He has digested the last two days of feedings very well with either no remaining milk or about .5 cc's remaining, so that is just awesome.

The Altus Kids
I showed the kids some videos and pictures of Tommy when we got home. They had lots of questions, but mostly, they want to know when they can hold him--especially Kaitlyn. I really wish we could take kids into the NICU, but I know that they are little germ factories, so the potential danger to Tommy is just too great. They'll have plenty of time to love on him once he gets home!

I hope all is well with all of you, and thanks again for all the sweet emails, calls and support you have given us. We truly appreciate it!

5 Jan PM

Sense of Humor
Well, I think we saw the first glimpses of Tommy's humorous side--well, I really doubt he meant to do it, but it was still funny. The nurses weigh Tommy each night, and tonight was no different. Except for the fact that Mommy and Daddy were there to help, so he decided to put on a little show for us. First, the nurse disconnects his electrical leads to help get him out of the isolette. Then, she started changing his diaper. The original plan was to take his diaper off in the isolette and then lay him on top of the clean diaper which was already in the scale. As she put him in the scale, he started pooping all over the place! But, she had her hands full of him and the leads, so I helped hold him as he continued to poop right on the blankets in the scale. While I was holding him, the nurse got a new diaper ready, and while she was trying to put it on him while I was holding him, he decided to begin peeing! So, now I had pee all over my hands while trying hard to steer clear of his butt as it was pretty messy. What a crazy little boy! We finally moved him to a dry spot on the scale and got his diaper on before we weighed him! Whew! Then, I cleaned off my hands and the rest of the visit went smoothly.

If I remember correctly, he weighed in at 1128 grams which is about 2 pounds, 7 ounces--just 4 ounces from his birth weight.

With the nasal tubes delivering air to him, he had only a couple of episodes of lower breathing rates and lower heart rates--so it looks like that did the trick.

Glenda Booker
We also had a nice visit with Glenda Booker (Brent Booker's mom) who offered up her house to Tricia while Tommy is in OKC--what an incredible blessing she is! While you all are keeping us and Tommy in your prayers, say an extra prayer for Glenda for us...she told us her arm has been hurting her the last few days and said the doctor thinks she may have a torn rotator cuff. We pray that God heals her arm and totally eliminates her pain. She is such a sweet-spirited woman, and we are so grateful to have met her!

Tricia and I will be home tomorrow afternoon. I look forward to heading back to church Sunday morning!!

Friday, 5 Jan AM

Peeking out at Daddy

Tommy
Tommy is still hanging in there. He had a bunch (10-15) episodes of "low sats" (low oxygen saturation in his blood) last night. They only last from 5-30 seconds and then things are back to normal. It sets off alarms, and the nurses come and rub his back or move him around a little, and that takes care of the problem. They say that his brain is just immature and forgets to fully breath sometimes. So, they put the tubing that extends just a little way into his nostrils back in--it is not delivering any oxygen, but instead, it just gives a little positive pressure to his lungs to help remind him to breath.
Brain Ultrasound
Tommy's ultrasound came back about the same as last weeks. It was not any worse, so that is good, but it is not much better either. The Dr. reminded us that things like this generally don't change over night. They may take weeks or months. Having this low level of bleeding, he thought, should not raise his risk of mental retardation or any other problems over his already increased risk by being premature.
Tricia and I
Tricia is doing well physically. We both find that this whole experience has been emotionally overwhelming. I am tired, but I get plenty of sleep--even a nap after lunch. Tricia is the same way. While I don't find myself worrying very much, you can't help to think about the end results of all of this and what we can do now to help...the kangaroo care is really important for both Tommy and us, and us being here is also good for Tommy. I have decided that Tricia won't be able to be the sole provider for Tommy during the rest of his stay at the NICU--she is going to need a few days away from this every couple of weeks...like Tricia said, the NICU is just emotionally draining...it is kind of like Disney World--it is wonderful to be there and we love to see Tommy, but after you walk out the doors, you feel the weight of what you just experienced. It is a daunting task for a parent to see his little baby boy frail and helpless with tubes all over--I have great hope for the future, and I am thankful for God's love and everyone's support, but it is still very tough to see him that way.

I found an article a preemie mom wrote in a magazine I was reading--I think she summed up Tricia and my feelings really well. This is hard for me to read without becoming emotional...she wrote:

While I was busy planning a picture perfect future for our family, life took an unexpected turn. We never planned on having a preemie. We also never planned on depending on such wonderful neighbors...We never planned on becoming so close to to othher parents in the NICU sometimes not even knowing their names. And finally, we never planned so many prayers would be said for [our family] during the most difficult time of our lives. Ben's birth at 24 weeks cahnged our lives. We have learned to love unconditionally. As parents of a preemie, we don't worry about a 5 or 10-year plan for him. We celebrate life each and every day just by looking into his precious little face.

Like I told Tricia--no matter how this whole thing turns out. No matter whether Tommy is mentally challenged or worse, God has blessed us with a precious little boy created in His own image, and the more time we get to spend with him, the more we are blessed.

4 Jan PM

Just a quick note--The X-ray of Tommy's stomach and intestines did not show any infection, and he tolerated is last feeding just fine. He is now on meds that will help him to continue to tolerate increased feeding amounts, and it sounds like he will be on that medication until he leaves the NICU or at least for quite some time.

Tricia and I took a nice long walk in the hospital tonight--partly to get out of the hotel for a while. It was good for both of us! We also are planning on heading over to Brent Booker's Mom's house tomorrow afternoon so Tricia can meet her. I can't tell you what a blessing she is. She is just such a nice person, and the fact that she is willing to open her house up to someone for such a long period of time tells you volumes about her. We are so blessed.

4 Jan Afternoon

Tommy just chillin' out in his home! It was cute how his little legs were hanging out of his bed. He was sound asleep, and almost slept though the entire diaper change!

Daddy finally got to hold the little guy--what an experience!

Tommy's Stomach
I am learning all kinds of interesting things. After Tommy "eats" all of his food, they wait for about an hour and then suck whatever remains in his stomach back out to measure it. They like it to be just a little bit--I think it was 10% or less of the full amount of food they look for. That is pretty gross, don't you think?? Anyway, he has been doing very well until this last feeding--almost the whole 5 cc's came back out after the feeding..yummy. They don't seem too concerned just yet--they say that this happens quite often, and I have confirmed that from what I have read online. The main concern is that his bowels have become infected, so they are testing for that right now. The Dr. really does not think that is the case, but he wants to completely rule that out. Then, they give him some meds to help kick-start is digestive track again, and then they will continue to feed him. He has gained another 20 grams or so, and is now just 100 grams from his birthweight. It seems crazy that we are weighing our new baby using grams, doesn't it??
Tommy is also completely off of oxygen in any form--no more nose tubes--the only thing physically stuck in him is a feeding tube and an IV. As things get peeled off his little head, you can see more and more of his face--he is looking a bit more like a little baby boy. Except, he still has about 8 or 9 sensors sticking to him with their associated wires and the like, so moving him from the bed to the chair where we get to hold him is a pretty involved process. I got to hold him for the first time today--Tricia has done it in the past. He is so tiny and light, you almost forget he is on your chest. But, he just sleeps away so comfortably there. I am so impressed with our nurses. They call us and tell us of any changes as they happen--even inbetween visits. And they have such a passion for what they do. I couldn't ask for anything more!

The Altus Kids
I figured out how to play UNO and Tic-Tac-Toe online today, and Robby and Kaitlyn and I all had fun playing for an hour or so. They seem to be doing well, and my mom is enjoying the extra time she has gotten to spend with the kids--especially with our pending move to Germany in about 6 months.

Saturday
We are still planning on comming back to Altus Saturday evening. Hopefully, Tricia will be up to driving herself back to OKC on Sunday, and then we'll start working on a schedule for me to head back to work. I am going to really miss going up to see Tommy every day, but it is a necessary evil. I should still be able to see him on the weekends for a little while. I'm also looking forward to getting back to Church--to see friends and get recharged!!

Take care, and God Bless!

Jan 3 PM Update

Tommy "The Pistol" Nance
Tommy is starting to get a reputation in the NICU--as a feisty little man. This morning, he pulled his IV cord from his bellybutton. He also pulled his feeding tube from his nose a couple of times. They ended up having to put a new IV into his HEAD! That was a scary thing to see for the first time. But, it is better there than it would be in his hand or somewhere else..he would definitely pull it out there. Other than that, he seems to be doing well! He has had a couple of sessions where the oxygen level in his blood went too far down for about 30 seconds--it happens at about the same time each day, so they suspect that they may increase his caffeine intake a bit. I guess the caffeine helps keep him breathing and so forth. He also gained 2 ounces from when we left, so it looks like the breatmilk is doing its thing!

Tricia
I think the visit home greatly helped Tricia. Her doctor's visit went very well--she had her staples removed and some blood work done. Her swelling has greatly decreased and her vision has improved. She still has not taken any pain pills and has much less pain--she is walking much better and much more. So, overall, the is almost all over the hard part (physically at least). She is almost back to my normal wife, and that is just awesome for everyone!

The Altus Kids
All the kids are doing great--Grandma has been doing a great job, and they all seem like they are doing well. We did another webcam session when we got back here to OKC. They really like that.

Well, that is about all the news for now. We found out that tricare (our insurance through the military) will pay for all our hotel costs for the first 10 days--which is pretty much all of the expenses so far! That is great!!