Collin's cranial ultrasound showed no change.. He is stable for now. The Dr.'s will keep a close eye on him by measuring the circumference of his head and he will get another ultrasound in 24 hrs. The bleed that he had on the left side ventricle is essentially blocking the flow of spinal fluid from his brain through spinal chord and back up. Since there was no change in size by ultrasound, that means the fluids are flowing enough to keep it stable. The worry is that the flow could stop and cause a fluid build up and pressure. We are hoping that the blood will reabsorb and no longer cause an obstruction. This can happen, but it is unlikely that it will happen quickly enough because it was a significant size bleed. If there is a change in size on his next ultrasound they will most likely send him to Boston for treatment. Let's keep our fingers crossed that he stays stable, and will fix this problem quickly!
The blood in the belly issue is all settled now.. it was definitely just irritation from the feeding tube. They pulled it back slightly so it's not so deep into his stomach. He has not shown any other signs of irritation, so he is able to start feedings again today :)
He looks very happy today, and was making very cute little sounds as he had the hiccups :)
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
One Week Old
Today started out well, but we got our first round of 'not-so-good-news' ...
Collin was doing really well this morning.. They started him on 3.5ML feedings... BUT in the afternoon he aspirated some blood :( they did an X-ray and could see that his feeding tube is still in the right place and his belly looks good..So they think he just got a little irritated from the tube. To fix that problem they gave him some medicine to coat his belly and they are going to hold back on feedings until tomorrow to give him a break.
Collin's Echocardiogram came back and it showed that the ductus is still open but it is smaller than before.. they will re-do this test in 3 days, hopefully it will be closed by then. If it's not they will give him another round of Indocin. If it does not close after the last round of indocin its very possible he would have to get corrective surgery to close it.
They did a 2nd cranial ultrasound check on monday to look at the bleeding they saw from his first check. He did have a hemorrhage in his brain on the left side, which was a grade 4. This can cause many complications for Collin, but the worst part is that we wont know for quite some time if it had an effect on him. Before it was not showing any signs of swelling. But after his last scan it showed increased ventrical size (called hydrocephalus) it means that the hemorrhage that he had caused a blood clot and is blocking the flow of spinal fluid from his brain down his spine. The reason this is dangerous is because it can swell and push against healthy brain tissue and cause damage. It is possible for this to clear up, but
If the extra fluids have not drained on their own it can cause damage to the grey matter area of his brain. Obviously we want to avoid that.. so to treat it he would have to get a reservoir drain because he is too small for a shunt. If that happens he would have to be transferred to Boston Children's. Because, even though our NICU is wonderful, they aren't able to perform that procedure here. We are going to have to wait and see what the results of his next cranial are and what the neurologist says.. let's hope and pray that it clears up, we will take it as it comes. He has just been doing so well, it was hard to hear that he may have a set back.
The good news for the day was that Jason was able to hold Collin for the first time and did Kangaroo Care for about an hour :) Collin seemed very happy and relaxed. He raised his hand up and was touching Jason's beard, we think he liked the feeling!!
Collin now looks settled for the night he is all snuggled in and still looking like an adorable little piggy nosed boy :)
Collin was doing really well this morning.. They started him on 3.5ML feedings... BUT in the afternoon he aspirated some blood :( they did an X-ray and could see that his feeding tube is still in the right place and his belly looks good..So they think he just got a little irritated from the tube. To fix that problem they gave him some medicine to coat his belly and they are going to hold back on feedings until tomorrow to give him a break.
Collin's Echocardiogram came back and it showed that the ductus is still open but it is smaller than before.. they will re-do this test in 3 days, hopefully it will be closed by then. If it's not they will give him another round of Indocin. If it does not close after the last round of indocin its very possible he would have to get corrective surgery to close it.
They did a 2nd cranial ultrasound check on monday to look at the bleeding they saw from his first check. He did have a hemorrhage in his brain on the left side, which was a grade 4. This can cause many complications for Collin, but the worst part is that we wont know for quite some time if it had an effect on him. Before it was not showing any signs of swelling. But after his last scan it showed increased ventrical size (called hydrocephalus) it means that the hemorrhage that he had caused a blood clot and is blocking the flow of spinal fluid from his brain down his spine. The reason this is dangerous is because it can swell and push against healthy brain tissue and cause damage. It is possible for this to clear up, but
If the extra fluids have not drained on their own it can cause damage to the grey matter area of his brain. Obviously we want to avoid that.. so to treat it he would have to get a reservoir drain because he is too small for a shunt. If that happens he would have to be transferred to Boston Children's. Because, even though our NICU is wonderful, they aren't able to perform that procedure here. We are going to have to wait and see what the results of his next cranial are and what the neurologist says.. let's hope and pray that it clears up, we will take it as it comes. He has just been doing so well, it was hard to hear that he may have a set back.
The good news for the day was that Jason was able to hold Collin for the first time and did Kangaroo Care for about an hour :) Collin seemed very happy and relaxed. He raised his hand up and was touching Jason's beard, we think he liked the feeling!!
Collin now looks settled for the night he is all snuggled in and still looking like an adorable little piggy nosed boy :)
Monday, November 7, 2011
New nose plugs for baby
Everything is well so far today! Collin just got his CPAP out and they switched it for the smaller nose prongs.. called a nasal canula.. They are much more comfortable and he seems happy!
When the respiratory dr switched it out they put some saline drops in his nose; We laughed our heads off because Collin had a sneezing fit and it was so cute. He now looks like a little piggy because it squishes his nose :)
When the respiratory dr switched it out they put some saline drops in his nose; We laughed our heads off because Collin had a sneezing fit and it was so cute. He now looks like a little piggy because it squishes his nose :)
in other news.. he is off phototherapy again his bilirubin went from 6.5 down to 3.3 Also, he handled his feeding so well they upped him from 1 ml to 2.5 :) AND I got to change his first poopy diaper!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
November 6th- First Kangaroo!
Collin is continuing to do very well on room air, and still has the cpap. He is handling the colostrum feedings very well, but we are waiting on him to make a poop! heheheh.
His Bilirubin count rose slightly so he spent most of the day today under phototherapy lights.
We will know for sure after his echocardiogram.. but both the nurse and the neonatologist listened to his heart today and neither of them could hear a murmur, so we are hoping the ductus has closed!
Best news of all today was that Collin was ready to start Kangaroo Care :) ..Kangaroo care is skin to skin contact between baby and parents! So, for Mommy's birthday she got to hold him for the first time!!
It took 2 nurses and a respiratory specialist to move Collin from his isolette to my chest! ..It's crazy with all of the wires and breathing equipment and took awhile to get him settled in. It was the best feeling in the world :) He is nice and snuggly and warm! I thought waiting over 10 hours to meet my baby was bad...waiting 5 days to actually hold him was very hard. But, the best birthday present i've ever received was holding my tiny baby for the very first time! (Thanks to nurse Kelly for making it happen!!)
His Bilirubin count rose slightly so he spent most of the day today under phototherapy lights.
We will know for sure after his echocardiogram.. but both the nurse and the neonatologist listened to his heart today and neither of them could hear a murmur, so we are hoping the ductus has closed!
It took 2 nurses and a respiratory specialist to move Collin from his isolette to my chest! ..It's crazy with all of the wires and breathing equipment and took awhile to get him settled in. It was the best feeling in the world :) He is nice and snuggly and warm! I thought waiting over 10 hours to meet my baby was bad...waiting 5 days to actually hold him was very hard. But, the best birthday present i've ever received was holding my tiny baby for the very first time! (Thanks to nurse Kelly for making it happen!!) First Feeding
I was able to give Collin his first feeding tonight!! Even though it was through his feeding tube it was awesome! It makes me feel good to be able to give him some colostrum (milk)..it's one of the only ways I can help him right now. They are going to feed him a tiny amount (one ML) every 3 hours... totaling a whopping 8ml's a day. Yay for hungry baby :) This doesn't really give him nutritional value..it is more just a way to get his digestion tract started. Its very common for micro-preemies to have issues with digestion, so we hope this goes well. He is getting all the nutrients he needs from a special fluid made for him sent by IV.Saturday, November 5, 2011
Photos from Saturday
Successful Milkage!! 
Daddy trying out some medical attire!
haha.. baby spread eagle, just hangin' out
Collin's little buddies watching over him
Today was excellent! He is doing so well breathing on his own! He is getting some much needed rest from all of the hard work and excitement the last few days. Its hard to explain to people just how tiny Collin really is, so to give some perspective we placed our wedding bands over his tiny foot. And in the other picture you can see the red little toy..it is a beanie baby!
Saturday Morning
Daddy had his first day back to work today and wasnt happy about it! But he will be up later today to visit.
Collin is doing so well today! He still has the CPAP in his nose for the extra push of air just to remind him to keep on breathing. But, he is doing so well he is officially OFF oxygen!!!! He is now breathing room air. Later today he is getting his UA line taken out..which was a tube going into his belly button, used for taking out blood samples. He doesnt need to have as many samples taken, so they don't need that line anymore. The down side is they will now have to keep poking needles into his heels for testing, so he will have bruising on his feet for awhile.
The best news of all today is that his echocardiogram results came back and the PDA (ductus) is now very small. They will be giving him 3 days to see if it can naturally close without extra medication, and they will do another check on Tuesday to see if it has closed.
Unfortunately we found out that Collin suffered a brain hemmorhage on the left side of his brain, which is very common for these tiny babies..we dont know much about it, but he will be getting some cranial ulrasound scans to get a better idea of what is going on and what we can do about it.
That's all for now, we will probably write again tonight after Daddy visits
Collin is doing so well today! He still has the CPAP in his nose for the extra push of air just to remind him to keep on breathing. But, he is doing so well he is officially OFF oxygen!!!! He is now breathing room air. Later today he is getting his UA line taken out..which was a tube going into his belly button, used for taking out blood samples. He doesnt need to have as many samples taken, so they don't need that line anymore. The down side is they will now have to keep poking needles into his heels for testing, so he will have bruising on his feet for awhile.
The best news of all today is that his echocardiogram results came back and the PDA (ductus) is now very small. They will be giving him 3 days to see if it can naturally close without extra medication, and they will do another check on Tuesday to see if it has closed.
Unfortunately we found out that Collin suffered a brain hemmorhage on the left side of his brain, which is very common for these tiny babies..we dont know much about it, but he will be getting some cranial ulrasound scans to get a better idea of what is going on and what we can do about it.
That's all for now, we will probably write again tonight after Daddy visits
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