friday..

No major changes today...just sleeping a lot and hanging out!

goodbye 512

Collin is officially moving up in the world! .. He has not been considered critical for awhile now..and he is doing well enough to move out of his single room (#512) ..Another step closer to the door :)  He will now have a roomate a little girl!  

Feedings are going very well, he's tried bottle multiple times and breastfeeding twice..he's getting pretty good at it, he just tires easily and falls asleep half way through the feeding.  If he doesnt finish his bottle they send it through his feeding tube.  He is currently eating 38mls 8 x's a day with the added calories now 28!  I, (Mommy) was getting upset over milk production because Collins mls keep going up, and I make only about half of what he eats, and they have to defrost milk to make up the difference.  I was worried that the frozen is going to run out soon, and that he would not have enough milk... BUT nurse maeghan brought out all of his frozen to show me, and it made me feel a whole lot better :)  She let me know its very common for Nicu moms to make very little amounts of milk because of the stress and using a pump instead of breastfeeding can make supply dwindle.  She said I have been doing amazing, and its awesome that Collin has had nothing but breast milk for 8 whole weeks :)   Here are some pics from today:

Frozen Supply!

Trying to eat his hands :)

last night in #512

God Parents!

Introducing Collin's God Parents!!!!

Uncle Joey (Jason's Brother)

AND

Auntie Aubrey (Shanoah's Sister)

:)

Just Hanging Out.

Collin is still doing very well. He hasn't had many breathing spells today, which is great. I (daddy) got to feed him a bottle today and he ate the whole thing! Usually the nurses don't expect babies his age to take more than half. What a pig! They're gonna keep him on 2 bottle feeds a day for a while and see how he does. Collin's nurse told me that he can try breastfeeding too! He's getting to be such a big boy. It's hard to believe how far we've come! Here's a new picture and a video of Collin just being super cute!

bottle!

Collin is doing really good!  His settings on the canula went down :)   He has really been loving his pacifier the past few days, and he was able to try his first 2 bottles today!!  The nurse did his first one and he took 17 ml's..and then was fed the rest through the feeding tube... But after mommy got out of work, she fed him an entire bottle! 36 mls - He is such a little piggy!!!  (Thanks to nurse Melina for showing me how to feed Collin his bottle!)

Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!!    Collin Enjoyed his first Christmas :)   We spent our morning visiting with family and had a great time!  Collin got many wonderful gifts from his aunts, uncles and grandparents! Then we got to spend the whole afternoon/night with Collin!  We are happy to report he was put on the nasal canula and he is doing a great job!  He's continuing his antibiotics and he seemed much happier today..the only time he fussed was if there was no binky in his mouth! We were both able to hold him today, and change him into a Christmas outfit :)    We overall had a lovely day and we hope you all did too!  

christmas eve.

Collin is doing very well today. Mommy got to hold our little man after 4 days, so she was really happy. Collins been put back into his crib and the only iv he has is for his antibiotics. The doctor says that his vent settings are low enough that he can come off. They're starting him on steroids again to get rid of the swelling in his throat from the tube. Once the swelling goes down and he comes off the vent they're gonna try him right on the canula. No cpap! Yay! This would be the best Christmas present ever! Right now Collins snuggled up to mommy, and she's reading him his twas the night before Christmas book he got from nannie and pop pop....and we think he's pooping also....

pneumonia

...So Collin's "cold" is a pneumonia.. but the good news is one of the antibiotics he was started on is the way to treat it! :)   Its been just a couple days and he is already looking so much better....He was being extremely irritable, and they decided to start feeding him again and he's been a happy boy ever since!  He is gaining weight at an astounding rate..we cant believe how fat he looks   4 lb 11.9 oz!!!!!     Perhaps 5 lb by Christmas?!  
His Doctor said possibly tomorrow to come off of the vent, it all depends on how is night is tonight, and if he has no spells he most likely will go to CPAP, a few days of that and then back to a canula.  We just cant wait to hold him again & put clothes on him.   He will most likely try breast feeding and bottle feeding within the next week or so, maybe when his round of antibiotics is done and he's fully recovered. :)

positive for a bug

Still nothing on the blood cultures...but they sent a sample of his boogers to the lab and it showed bacterial growth quickly.. so there is definitely something going on in there.  This is actually a good thing because it means it will help the Dr.'s narrow down what type it is and how to treat it.  I dont know much about it yet..but we are hoping that the antibiotics they started him on yesterday have already been working on it.

Overnight, Collin's temp became cold so they have his bed heating up right now to help him.  In preemie babies its common when they are sick to not run a fever and actually run cold instead.  Because his body is concentrating on other things, like fighting the bug, he naturally gives up energy on other things like breathing and heating himself!  So, thats why its so important for him to be where he is right now.  He keeps getting doses of sedatives because every time it wears off he is very active..we have already noticed that he looks better and his ventilator setting has already dropped and hes starting to pick up breathing again, and not just riding the vent.  So, we are on the road to happy and healthy again :)

updates

Not much is known right now... the 24hr mark for his blood cultures showed no growth.. but the last time he was sick the germs didnt show themselves until 72 hours! so its hard to tell what can be going on with him... the only clue is that his boogers are green, meaning it is most likely common cold type stuff.  He was started on general antibiotics yesterday hoping to catch the germs before it gets any worse.  It obviously is only attacking him respiratory-wise because he is still quite active and fighting hard.  They have had to give him sedatives because he flails his arms and they are worried he will knock out his breathing tube...and history says he will!  
He had another cranial ultrasound just because it had been over a week, and its another thing to check.. we didnt get the official reading yet, but the Tech said he thinks it looks better than last week :)  
We hope this bug passes quick.. its just tough for us because we got that little taste of freedom.. being able to hold him and put him down in a crib, dress him etc...  when he gets sick all of those things get taken away.  He can no longer, eat, cry, wear clothes, be held ... its tough :(   But, if it is just a cold this should all pass in a couple days!

Yucky day.

Collin has had a pretty lousy day today. Last night Collin was having a lot of breathing spells and his heart rate kept going down. Finally he had a bad enough spell that they decided to re-intubate him. The doctor's are checking him for any and all sorts of infections. They've stopped feedings and he's just on fluids for now. He's also being pumped full of antibiotics to stave off bacterial infections. The doctors have sent in a couple of blood cultures to test but those take at least 24 hours to manifest. He had a lumbar puncture done to test is spinal fluid for signs of meningitis, but thankfully those tests look clear. Collin's also clear from RSV and the flu which is common for this time of year. Later today he's getting a chest, and abdominal xray, and another ultrasound on his head. The doctor's want to make sure that the ventricles in his brain haven't ballooned out again. His doctor said this is very unlikely because his blood counts are so good, but they're leaving no stone unturned. If all goes well, Collin could be back off of the vent in a couple of days. Hopefully by then we'll know the cause of this setback and take care of it. For now he's been taken out of his crib and put on a heating table, so still no isolet which is good. He's still in an open environment. Right now he's not in clothes but he's nice and swaddled and sedated pretty well. We'll keep you posted.

monday

The big news of the day is that Collin tried breast feeding for the first time!  (Sorry no photographs ;) haha!)     (Thanks to nurse Elaine for showing us how to breast feed)  Since he is still very tiny and doesn't know quite what he's doing yet, they had me pump first so that little to no milk would come out, so he could learn to latch and not get drowned in milk!  He did pretty well and they ran his feeding through the nose tube at the same time so he can start relating the full belly feeling to the sucking motions he is doing!

Collin is still doing a lot of time hanging out under the bubble to give his little nose a break..he's having more frequent apnea today,  so they will have to suction his nose and hope that works.  Its such a catch 22 because every time they suction is causes further irritation and swelling, but if they don't do it he gets full of boogers!

Other than the nose stuff he is really doing great!  Everyone here is impressed with his steady weight gain and every nurse that walks by his room does a double take at his crib and they all come in and congratulate him for moving up in the world :)

New Bed!!

We also forgot to tell everyone!  This morning when we came in we were surprised to see that Collin was in a big boy bed. Since he's getting so chubby he's regulating his body heat pretty well on his own. No more isolet! He now has a big boy crib!

Santa!!

Since Collin and the other babies here at the NICU are so special..and the fact that they wont be home for Christmas.. Santa decided to drop in early and pay a visit!!  :)    Collin's stocking was full of new clothes and blankets and a new pal, a monkey named Congo!    He even got his picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus and they delivered a special book, 'The Spirit of Christmas' that was donated by a family that was once in our shoes with Twins Lennon and Charlie!


Here he is with Santa and Mrs. Claus for his very first Christmas Photo :)










Collin and his special toy from Santa!

Bubble Boy

Collin had a pretty great day today...He spent plenty of time cuddling with Mommy & Daddy :)   His breathing seemed to be a lot smoother today, he does still have the occasional spell though.  He is getting put under a little "bubble" for a few hours a day that is giving him humidified air to help with his dry nose problem!  We thinks it looks like he's preparing to be an astronaut :)


Late tonight we got to see him get weighed again and he was 1900 grams = 4lbs. 3 oz!!!   His feeds were upped again now 32 mls every 3 hrs  ..hungry, hungry hippo!

First Big Tubby!!

Today was a very busy day for little Collin. He had a visit with Uncle Seth, Grammy & Grumpy and then Nannie and Pop-Pop at night. It was also Collin's first real tub! We weren't too sure if he would tolerate it well, seeing as he can get cold really fast. Turns out he loved it. He only cried a little bit when we first put him in the water, but he relaxed pretty quick. Now he's a nice clean little man, and smells like baby magic (awesome)!

We're thinking Collin might have a little red in his hair also! It's still hard to tell, but looking at it in sunlight and after his tub it's looking like strawberry blonde. We'll see....Collins feedings are still at 30 ml every 3 hours and he's weighing in at 3 pounds 15 ounces! 1 ounce short of 4 pounds. What a fatty! :)

Here he is all shiny and new! 

Thursday Update.

Well, there hasn't been anything too exciting happening with Collin and we're okay with that. He's still pretty boogery from the canula but the nurses are keeping an eye on him. They also started him on iron everyday to help his blood and muscle growth. The nurse practitioner gave us a little more information about Collin's hernias today. His umbilical hernia is normal and could cause him to have a slightly outy bellybutton. His other hernia is one that we're going to pay attention to. It's in his lower belly. Apparently when his "man parts" descended, a little bit of bowel came down with them. This is also a common thing, it's not causing him any pain or anything. It could eventually cause some blood flow problems down the road, so when he's around 6 months or so he may have to get it operated on. Thats still a maybe though, and even if he needs it its a quick surgery. Other than that his breathing is still great, and he's handling his food well. Right now mommy's holding him and he's lifting his head!

BIG BOY!

Collin has officially doubled in size from his original birth weight of 1 lb 14 oz.. he is now 3lb 12 oz!!

He's been much better the last few days, starting to act like a 'big' boy!   Breathing has been a lot smoother, but his nose is giving him some trouble.. The air/oxygen flow constantly going through his nose makes it very dry and he gets stuffed up with boogers. They can clean out his nose but it becomes very irritated and is prone to nose bleeds :(   so for now they are putting saline drops in there to keep it moist and then suctioning will be less irritating for him.   He's really been enjoying wearing his clothes and being swaddled :)  Feeds are still being tolerated beautifully..and he's resting up, trying to get bigger & stronger!!

eye exam

Collin had an eye exam today... I have heard from the nurses for over a week that eye exams are awful, and they suggested I not be in the room.. But, my curiosity, plus the fact I would like to be there for Collin if he's upset led me to choose being there for the exam!  Myself and his nurse Melissa included were very delighted in how amazing he handled it!  Barely even cried, tough guy!!   The ophthalmologist (eye doc, Dr. Gold)  says that his retinas are under-developed which is typical for his age, seeing he's not supposed to be here yet!  .. But, they look excellent otherwise!  He will have a follow up in 2 weeks to see how he's developing!   Since they need to use eye drops that make the pupils dilate very large Collin needs to be in darkness for the rest of then night, so I am unable to take his picture today! (Sorry! we know you guys like pictures!)

Collin's whole day has been very smooth with breathing etc... hoping he is able to come back off of the temperature probe before Sunday so he can wear clothes again.. BECAUSE>>>  Santa is coming!!! :)  Collin will be getting his picture taken with Santa & Mrs. Claus for his first christmas!! And, I'm hoping to put him in his little Christmas outfit! :)    Also visiting this week is his Auntie Aubrey all the way from South Carolina!  :)  We are in for an exciting week!

yucky day....

Collin had a bit of a yucky day today :(   he was having some breathing episodes, and drops in oxygen levels.. after checking his blood, his red blood cell count was low so they gave him a transfusion.  He has gotten better since, but seems to be wiped out..  He has not been holding a good temperature, so for now they put a temp. probe back on him so the isolet will warm him as needed.  He will have a second transfusion tonight and hopefully that will get him back to normal, happy and breathing great!   Its normal to have some set backs and a bad day here and there.. he's been doing so well all week and needed a little break to relax.. who can blame him?!  On a positive note..  he had lots of visitors today and he's feeling the love :)   his continuing to gain weight and eat well, and overall doing really well for the stage he's in!

First Outfit!

Collin can wear clothes now!!  yay!!

No more CPAP!!....again!

When we came in to see Collin today we were shocked to find that he didn't have the CPAP anymore! Now he has the nasal canula again which is much more comfortable for him. He's so happy, he can move his head around freely and he doesn't have that big thing on his face. We're excited because it's much easier to move him around and hold him. The nurses told us that we can freely take him out of his isolet (bed) by ourselves now. We just finished changing an astounding poop (with a smell that can't even be described) so he's digesting well.....definitely no problems there! He's up to 29 ml of milk every 3 hours, and he's up to 3 pounds 5.6 ounces! Collin is doing so well so far, we're both very proud of our little monkeyman!

photos

here are some updated photos our the stinky little man :)sleepy, sleepy..

check out the double chin!!!

Listen for hiccups!

There is no image on this video because it was very dark in Collin's room... but if you listen you can hear his hiccups and a little cooing at the end :)

monday

Collin is doing pretty well! .. He finished his round of steroids, which the dr. said will take about 48 hours to leave his system.  They will be monitoring him closely over the next few days and see how his breathing patterns are once he's no longer on the meds.  The goal is to get him moved to a nasal cannula, and eventually off oxygen completely.. but this could be a pretty long process.  The Dr.'s do not want to rush him off CPAP because it could be too difficult for him and we would like to avoid being re-intubated! His settings/rates will be lowered slowly everyday until he is essentially breathing on his own, at that time he would be swapped to the cannula so he can have light oxygen as needed.. If for some reason he has a setback and needs to go back to the vent more steroids would be given to him, and the wait would start over again.   Some exciting things are in store for Collin in the coming month, like learning how to feed, and getting to wear clothes for the first time!!  It all depends on his progress, but we are very excited for these moments to come!

All Swaddled up!

Collin is doing pretty great on the CPAP.. he is a little fussy and irritable though today.. it could be that he's not too fond of the prongs in his nose, or his body's reaction to the steroids.. So we think he had "roid-rage" lol.. thankfully he's finished his doses, so hopefully he will be in a better mood tomorrow!  He LOVES being swaddled, all nice and cozy and we both got to hold him today :)  It was so nice to hold him like that and stare at his little face!  

No more tube!!

Collin was removed from his endotracheal tube today..and put on CPAP :)   He is adjusting very well!  His blood gas showed that he is actually oxygenating better today than yesterday, so he's loving it!!  The down side to it, is that it very easily pops out of his nose, because he's a wiggle worm! It is very easy to put back in so its not too much of a problem for his nurses.  The upside to it all is its better for his lungs..and he is now able to cry, which also helps build strong lungs :)  His crying is very quiet and raspy because the tube caused irritation and inflammation in his throat.  They are giving him steroids to reduce the inflammation. He is breathing very well, but when listened to through the stethoscope he had slight wheezing so they are going to start giving him albuterol treatments..its just like taking an inhaler and will help open up his lungs and make breathing even smoother for him! He is also getting chest p.t every 6 hours to help loosen up any mucus which he will be able to cough now without the tube!  Feedings are still going great 26mls w/ 26 cals per ounce.. weighed in @ 3lbs 3.2 ounces today .&. We want 4 lbs. or more for Christmas :)

Video!!/ One month update

Hi Everybody!  I'm one month old today! :)

Collin is one month old today and continuing to amaze the nurses with the crazy amount of poop that can come out of such a tiny person! lol  He is continuing to gain weight and is now 3lb 2.6 oz :)  His feedings are still going well he is now getting 26 ml's that are infused with 26 cals per ounce!  He had a follow up echocardiogram because they can still hear a light murmur, but it showed that the pda-ductus is still closed!  He also had a follow up cranial ultrasound that showed slight absorption of the blood and a decrease in size of the ventricle!!  Slowly but surely his little brain is healing itself and we couldn't be happier!! :)   Collin's ventilator rate was dropped slightly, and he seems to be adjusting pretty well.  He does have a few episodes where he stops breathing for a moment due to apnea.  As he continues to grow and lungs develop further the occurrences should decrease and hopefully go away with time.  There is talk about possibly giving him steroids to boost lung development, but they like to not intervene with medicines if they don't have to.  They are trying to wean him off slowly and see if he can do it on his own without having to give him medication.  So far so good..his rate is now @ 18 with an average of 28-30% oxygen. Which is really good, 21% is regular room air :)  so he's almost there!