24 Jan PM

Tricia is safely back in OKC now...and probably is holding Tommy as I type this. I am not positive on his weight, but I know they increased his feedings to 22ml's. They also told Tricia when she called today that his red blood cell count was slightly low, so they gave him about 21cc's of additional blood. At first, we were pretty alarmed about that news, but we remembered that the Dr. told us that is was highly likely that sometime during his stay, Tommy would need some extra blood. The nurses said that we shouldn't worry about this at all and that premature babies often require additional blood. Of course, I also did some research online and found that in the first two months of life, premature babies often require blood transfusions because of anemia (low red blood cell count). I guess that they don't actually begin producing their own blood until after a few weeks from being born. So, again, we are just hoping that this is like they say--no big deal and expected.

I'll get some better updates in the morning after Tricia gets to talk to the Dr. face-to-face.

The kids are doing well again--the bedtime routine tonight was back to normal, and Kaitlyn has pretty much fully recovered from her fevers and sickness. I can't say for sure that having Tricia home helped that part, but it definately didn't hurt any!!

That's about all the news I have for now. Here are a couple of recent pictures!

Tommy hanging out

When he is on his tummy, Tommy likes to scoot himself to the very top of his bed. The bed itself is on an incline....you can see that he has sucessfully gone about as far up as possible!

When we got home Saturday, there was about an inch of nice wet snow--perfect for making a snowman! We used almost all of the snow in the front yard to make a snowman and a small snow fort! But, alas, the 40 degree weather the next day made poor frosty and the fort melt back into a pile of water. It was fun while it lasted!

23 Jan 07

Lots of changes
Okay, Tricia came home today...I recalled her home as Kaitlyn was starting to get sick, and Kimberlyn and Robby have had terrible problems getting to sleep, and the only thing I could figure was that they were really missing her. So, she is home for the night, and we are going to try to keep this schedule such that she'll come come Tues night and we'll head up Friday night--to help spread out the visits.

Tommy got his IV line taken out, and they jumped his feedings to 22ml's every 3 hours or just about 6 ounces of total intake. He is up to 1376 grams which is still just over 3 pounds. So this all means that he'll (hopefully) never have another IV line stuck in him again!!! That is great news.

But, rather than chat here, I'm going to take some time to visit with Tricia!!

22 Jan PM

Tommy
Tricia says Tommy is still doing great. He is up to 19ml's per feeding which amounts to just over 5 ounces of breastmilk per day. Once he gets to (and tolerates)20 ml's, the Dr. told Tricia that they will remove the IV line. They also started him on vitamins today--it just goes into his feeding tube. That will replace the specialized cocktail of nutrients that he got through his IV.

Tricia has sounded pretty tired each time I talked to her today, so keep her strength in your prayers. Kaitlyn did not feel well this morning, so she stayed home from school--which meant I couldn't go into work. So, I got several loads of laundry done and the dishes taken care of. I actually managed to clean up the kitchen so it doesn't look quite so messy.

That is about it for now. My goal is to be in bed by 9pm! So, we are starting bedtime routines early tonight!!

20 Jan 07

Exciting News!
Wow--what a GREAT VISIT for all of us this weekend!!!
Tommy was moved again to what they call the "satellite" portion of his care-it is down the hall from the NICU and is where they put babies that are doing very well. He still has the same around-the-clock care, but it is kind of like an upgrade in his status. Praise God!! He actually got moved Thursday night when we got into town. Tricia went up there while the kids and I had fun in the pool. At first, she was freaked out that something bad was going on, but they told her that this was a good move and not to worry at all.

Tommy now weighs a whopping 1369 grams (about 3 pounds even--3.018 to be exact). He is up to 17 ml's per feeding which equates to about 4.5 ounces per day.

They even had him dressed in the clothes Grandma gave us too!!! Of course, we left the cameras at the house in our rush to get out of Altus before the weather rolled in! AHHHHH.

But, the very best part happened at 1130 today. And, if you don't think this is a "God thing" then you are CRAZY! The kids got to see Tommy through a window. Okay, so that does not sound like the best part to many of you, but I can assure you that IT IS! Like I have said before, the kids have been dying to see their baby brother. And, this "satellite" place has windows all over, so I asked the nurse if the kids might be able to look and see Tommy (the windows all have blinds over them). They let the kids into the first room which has windows without blinds, and the nurse held up Tommy for them all to see. When Kaitlyn was saying her prayers tonight, she prayed (like she always does) for Mommy and Tommy and then, at the very end of the prayer, she thanked God for letting her see Tommy. We talked about that for a little while. I asked her if she thought it was interesting that the very night that we got into OKC, Tommy was moved into that new room--and that they let her come into part of that room to see Tommy. I reminded her (and myself, for that matter) that God knows our wants and our needs, and that He decided that it was time for her to get to see Tommy because He knew just how important it was to her. Some might argue that it was a coincidence, but I know better. God was looking out for our kids, and if there is one thing in this whole world parents of all aged kids can remember, it should be that God loves our children even more than we do. How awesome is that?

Tommy's IV fluids are also dramatically decreasing, so we really think he should be completely off them very soon. And, the episodes when his oxygen saturation rates drop and/or is breathing rate drops are down to almost zero.

So, from the sounds of it, Tommy is doing just great! And that is just what I needed after having a really tough week. I am finding that juggling work and home as a "single parent" right now is VERY hard. I have only a few minutes each day for myself, and by Friday, I was completely wiped out. I just felt like I was at my maximum level of emotional and physical level of stress. Luckily, someone at work noticed that, (my previous boss--Lt Col Carriker), so his wife decided that she would pick up Kimberlyn for me from mother's day out and also take the big kids into her house after they get home from school on those days when Kimberlyn goes to school as well. What I really need is to get out and do some running and exercise, as I find that physical activity is the best way for me to get rid of all of my stress that is built up inside. I am confident that if I can get to the gym a few times per week, I'll be able to handle all of this extra stress right now!

But, I'll tell you that everything that happened this weekend so far has really pumped me up, and I'm so excited that the kids got to see Tommy!

Thats it for now...

17 Jan PM

Quick Update
Nothing much new to post today. Tricia verified that it was indeed Cystic Fibrosis that Tommy's showed a "potential positive" for--but the Dr. is still relatively certain that this is false because he does not have any other complications.

He went up to 15ml's per feeding and he gained about 6 grams. The accuracy of the weight (down to the gram) is pretty questionable as they have him in a diaper and still hooked up to all the machinery when they weight him. So, when they try to lift the wires and tubes so that they don't count in his weight, I don't think they can get a truly accurate measurement, but as long as he is not going backwards, I'm happy!

I forgot to mention that Tricia had an OB appointment yesterday as well. Her blood pressure was actually on the low side (something like 108/55), so they took her off of one of the two blood pressure meds she has been on. Her left eye is still giving her fits, but she has an optometery appt in a couple of weeks. I think her prescription probably changed through all of this--and I understand that to be a common occurence--so hopefully, a new set of contacts for that eye will fix her up!

That is about it for now. We are very thankful for all of you prayers and support!

16 Jan PM

Tommy
Just a quick update. Tommy's ultrasound came back still at a Grade 3 level, but with some improvement. The Dr. is not worried at all about it and expects that there will be no long-term consequences from the blood on his brain.

I also think I made an error with the Cerebral Palsy part in the last entry--Tricia thought I told her that the test came back positive for Cystic Fibrosis. She will double-check with the Dr. tomorrow, but when I did some research, what the Dr. told me matches up exactly with the information I found on Cystic Fibrosis. In fact, there are no blood-type tests that can lead to a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy, although I did learn that premature infants have a significantly higher rate of that disease. So, I must have gotten them confused. Lets just hope he doesn't have either one!

Tommy is up to 2 pounds, 14 ounces (1302 grams) and his feedings have been increased to 14 ml's per 3 hours! He is still doing very well!

I need to go to bed! It was a crazy day at work, and I am beat! So, have a great day/night!

15 Jan 07

Tricia's Trip
Like I said before, Tricia made it up safe and sound to OKC on Friday, but I didn't quite realize how much ice had accumulated on the car until I got there on Sunday...all I can say is that I'm not exactly sure how she could even steer! There was ice touching the front and back tires in the wheel wells. I chiped it all out and told her not to drive like that anymore!! There is not a ton of tread left on the tires in the first place, and after the rubbing they took, I am hoping they last until I can get some new ones ordered and put on the car!! Here is a picture of it!
We headed up to OKC on Sunday afternoon and got back around 4:30 pm (1630L) on Monday. Brett and Brenda Prothe looked after our animals while we were gone--THANKS! We had a very nice visit-although Glenda offered up her home for our entire family, we wanted to stay in a hotel with an indoor pool--for the kids to have a little fun. We also headed to the mall while we were there, and had some fun playing in the icy parking lot! The roads on the way up were pretty nasty--especially in OKC. But the Jeep loves the snow and did just great (OK, I'll admit it, I actually love driving the Jeep in the snow!) We had fun, but I don't think Tricia thought my crazy driving was much fun when she and I took a trip to the hospital together while Glenda graciously watched the kids.


The Kids and I


Tommy
Tommy continues to do very well...he is up to 13.5 ml's per feeding which equates to about 108 mls (3.6 ounces) per day!!! He now weighs about 2 pounds, 13 ounces and when he gets to 1500 grams (about 3 pounds, 4 ounces) he will start easing into bottle feeding!! Yipee! And in about 3 days, he will be completely off is IV!!! He is still having a few episodes of low breathing rates or low oxygen saturation during the day, but only 3-5 of them, so that isn't too terrible. The oxygen being delivered into his nose has been pretty steady at 30%. They did another brain ultrasound today, and we should find the results tomorrow some time. I talked to the Dr. this morning and asked him lots of questions about his brain--basically, it is not continuing to bleed...the drains in the brain are very small little channels that go into his spinal chord. Basically, as the blood drains, it fills these "ventrical" drains. So, right now, they are pretty full and tend to put pressure on the brain. As the drains expand, the observed "grade" of his condition increases until a point is reached where his body's absorbtion of the blood and the amount of blood that reaches the drains get to be the same--in other words, the blood is not draining as fast as it is collecting now, and they are watching it closely to see when that happens. Hopefully, today's ultrasound will show that the two are about equal now. Additionally, as he himself grows, the brain and the drains in the brain will also grow with him--allowing more and more blood to be expelled from the liquid surrounding his brain. So, the prognisis, according to the Dr. is good.
They also did a blood screening of about 50 or so diseases and genetic defects. One did come back as a potential positive--cerebral palsy. The GOOD news is that this is one of the two tests that often indicate false positives in premature babies. AND, the Dr. is almost certain that it is a false positive. With actual Cerebral Palsy, they would expect lung or intestional complications to be present, but none of his systems are showing any problems. Thus, we are doing what the Dr. said--not worrying about this at all. They will do an additional round of tests just before he is released from the NICU to confirm the false positive.

I got to hold Tommy for about an hour this morning--he is still so small, but I really enjoyed spending that much time with him. I went up for three visits total. I decided this week that my original plan of going to OKC every two weeks was not going to meet my needs of seeing him! The kids (Kaitlyn especially) REALLY want to see him, and it is so hard for them to have to wait. Kailtyn asked me if she would be allowed to hold him when he got home! I said "OF COURSE!!"


I also brought back a bunch of pictures. Kaitlyn gave him one of her tiny little stuffed animals--a dalmation dog. You can see that it looks pretty huge compared to him right now! The nurses said that was a great thing--so we can keep the dog to show him later in life about just how small he was!!

So, the bottom line is that Tommy is doing just great! Praise God for that!





In this last one, Tommy is wearing his very own hat--given to us by Tricia's mom!!!
Pretty soon, he'll get to wear some of the clothes we have for him.