Weigh in Wednesday

Wednesday 4/30/14

What does a bag of sugar and Carter have in common?  Besides being very sweet they both weigh 5 pounds.  Carter has been doing very well with his feedings.  He was increased to 44 mL every three hours.  Today Katie got to feed him and Catherine provided us with a lot of great information on how to position him, watch for his cues and tricks of breaking his powerful suck when we have to give him a break to breath.  It was amazing to see Carter's focus on feeding today when he realized that he was going to get to have a bottle.  He was very alert during the entire process and at times his suck caused him to make a noise with his mouth that was so loud he would startle himself.  He is getting one bottle on day shift and one on night shift.  The remainder of the time his feeds are on a pump through his NG tube.  After his feeding today I got to hold him for awhile until we had to come home.  His oxygen saturation has been doing well even off the Lasix and caffeine.  Way to go little man!!

9 weeks old

4/29/14

Today Carter turned 9 weeks old.  He has had a good day.  He took 32 mL of milk today during his bottle feed.  Catherine, Carter's Speech Therapist created a guideline for Carter's cues and positioning during feeds that are a big help to us and I am sure the nurses.  They increased his total feed to 42 mL now.  He has been off the Lasix now for a couple days and today they took him off of the caffeine.  As long as he stays stable off of those two medications Carter will only need to focus on suck, swallow and breath during feedings.  Katie and I took turns holding him tonight which is made a lot easier since Carter only has EKG wires and an O2 saturation monitor to navigate around.  Tonight Katie and I tried to practice our blanket tucking for swaddling and based on Carter's reaction we need more help.  Plenty of time for that but for now enjoy your new picture.

4/28/14

Monday, 4/28/14

Carter has been doing well today.  He had Speech Therapy earlier today and had his bottle taking 19 mL before he started to breath to quick and had to stop.  We will be going over tomorrow to work with Speech Therapy and learn more about his feeds.  Carter had his eye exam today and he is stage 0 ROP which is an improvement from his last exam.  We are one step closer to a normal exam.  When the exam is done Retinopathy of Prematurity is recorded based on Zone, Stage and Plus Disease.  I attached a link that describes the different levels.  He had his electrolytes checked today also and his potassium was at 5.5 since he was getting supplemental potassium with the Lasix.  Since the Lasix has been stopped it will likely go back to normal pretty quickly.  And lastly Mary at my work has been very excited to know what Carter's length is so after careful measurement he is 17 inches long now.  He has grown 4 inches the past 9 weeks.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001618.htm

Shots Sunday

Sunday, 4/27/14

Carter is doing well today.  He had his bottle feeding at noon and did well.  He drank 15 mL of milk and then took the rest in his feeding tube.  During rounds they have decided to stop his Lasix and then in a couple of days stop his caffeine to see how he does.  Carter is getting some 2 month old shots today, Hepatitis B, pneumococcal and the Hib vaccine (Haemophilus influenzae type B).  The pneumococcal helps to prevent pneumonia and the Hib helps to prevent infections that are caused by that bacteria such as meningitis and epiglottitis.  Poor little man, luckily he will not remember them.  They do put a little numbing cream on his leg to help though.   He currently weighs 4 pounds 14 ounces so he is gaining nicely.  He is also still doing well with his occupational therapy and will have speech therapy tomorrow, which he is looking forward to.

March of Dimes Saturday

Saturday, 4/26/14

As thousands of babies across the country this morning awoke to alarms sounding, feedings starting, diapers being changed, temperatures being taken and parents praying for hope millions of people came together across 700 communities and 50 states to walk 3 miles and raise money to find ways to helps babies thrive and be healthy.  Katie and I took to the streets of Orlando at Lake Eola this morning with the NICU Baby Steps team from Florida Hospital Childrens made up of amazing staff and other families who have been a great support to us over these past 9 weeks.  It was a great experience and we can't wait until Carter can walk it with us next year (or be pulled/pushed).  

Carter is doing well today.  He had one little desaturation this morning but is doing well off of oxygen.  He drank 30 mL (1 ounce) of milk this morning which is awesome!!!  They did decrease his feeds that go into his feeding tube to go in over 60 minutes instead of the 90 minutes that it was going in over before.  He also got his Lasix today and still remains on caffeine.  Tomorrow he will get more of his vaccinations.  

No Carter pics today but here are a couple from our walk this morning.

2 Months Old

Friday, 4/25/14

Happy 2 months old Carter!!!!  He is doing great today.  He did well with his bottle feed today taking in 15 mL before he fell asleep.  It's tough work.  He will get another bottle on the night shift.  His breathing has been doing well without the oxygen.  He had an OT session today where they working on his neck positioning to keep him more supine with his head midline to help round his little head out.  Well enough of me writing enjoy these great pictures of our little champ!!  In the morning Katie and I will be walking in the March of Dimes walk at Lake Eola in Orlando.  We are looking forward to meeting other parents and enjoying the successes of the March of Dimes.

Whoa I'm on a lion!!

Where did my hands go?

Happy Birthday to me!

Bottles Up

Thursday, 4/24/14

Carter had another successful bottle day.  He drank 22 mL and did well.  Katie was even able to try the bottle feed today.  The Nurse Practitioner said that he has progressed quicker than they thought given how premature he is.  They will start giving him 2 bottles a day tomorrow.  He is a good burper too in case anyone was wondering.  The feeding takes about 30 minutes since he takes 5 sucks then rests to breath before he continues.  He is up to 40 mL per feed so whatever he doesn't take in the bottle they give the rest through his NG tube.  He has continued to do well without supplemental oxygen however he has had some desaturations the lowest being 84% but with some re-positioning he comes back up.  His weight today was 4 pounds 11 ounces.  What a big boy!!!!  I decided to one up my bottle picture promise and instead am sharing a video.

Carter's Big Day

Wednesday, 4/23/14

Carter's first bottle feeding was a BIG success.  He drank 20 mL and did great today (THANK YOU Catherine)!!!  That is almost 1 ounce.  He was able to regulate his breathing nicely and will now get one bottle feeding per day.  He will remain on his every 3 hour feedings through his NG tube for the remainder of the time and eventually they will begin to increase the bottle frequency.  If you thought that was great news like we did then you will love this next bit of news.  Carter was taken off oxygen today!!!!  They removed his nasal cannula at noon and he has been doing great!  We just spoke with the Nurse and she said he was saturating at 98%.  Katie and I are so thrilled and proud of him.  You all continue to bless us with your prayers and support and we are so grateful.  Thank you and I promise you a picture of Carter sucking a bottle soon!      

8 Weeks old

Tuesday, 4/22/14

Today Carter is 8 weeks old.  He is an amazing little boy who continues to show great strength and courage.  Today we talked to Dr. Lugo and he says that tomorrow Catherine the Speech Therapist will start trying to bottle feed him.  This is very exciting a huge step in his feeding process.  In addition if he continues to do well with his breathing they may do a trial of taking off his nasal cannula to see how he does without any supplemental oxygen.  We held him tonight for a couple hours and was quite comfortable, sleeping about the entire time.  He seems to love his new room since it is very quiet.  We also had our parent group meeting tonight and met many new parents.  We heard a lot of remarkable stories and shared our own.  This weekend we will be walking in the March of Dimes walk for babies at Lake Eola and are very excited to take part in something that does so much for all babies and children.  As Carter's music box begins to play and Katie tucks him in for a restful night enjoy a couple pictures of our hero!

Preemie steps into Baby steps

Monday, 4/21/14

Carter is reaching big boy status over the past week with going into an open air crib and his improvements with his lung function.  They weaned him again today down to 0.5 L/min and the Nurse Practitioner told us that if he does well on this the next couple of days they might get him off oxygen completely.  This improvement has been seen since they started him on the every other day Lasix.  He is also doing well with his Speech Therapy and sucking.  There are hopes that he will be able to begin bottle feeding within the next couple of days.  He was sucking quite well on his pacifier tonight so much so that it was tough to break his suck to get it out of his mouth to give him a chance to focus on breathing.  Right now he is multi-tasking; sucking on the pacifier with the hiccups and grunting in between.  His weight is steady at 4 pounds 7 ounces.  Grow little Carter grow!!

Big Day/Night

Sunday 4/20/14

So I haven't had many days where I have given two updates however today Carter was moved to the Level II NICU!!!!  This is a huge step for him.  Since he was decreased down to 1 L and he tolerated it well with few desaturations Dr. Lugo felt that he is stable enough to be moved to the Level II from where is has been the past 8 weeks in Level III.  We spoke with his new nurse tonight who was able to hold him for a while and she said is he doing very well.  The Level II NICU is much like the Level III in terms of the nursing staff and the close attention that is paid to their respiratory status however they are able to focus more on his feeding requirements as they begin to focus on his sucking and swallowing since the babies are a lower acuity.  We know this is a great positive step for Carter but at the same time it is difficult to leave the unit and nurses that have been so implemental in Carter's progress.  We will still see many of them but we are forever grateful for their knowledge and skill over the past 8 weeks.  

Tonight Carter weighed in at 4 pounds 7 ounces.  He also saw Catherine his Speech Therapist today who provided more amazing insight into Carter's communication for feeding.  For those of you that may follow our blog and have little ones with feeding issues I included some great resources that will shed some light on cues and communication with your babies.  One particular organization is Feeding Matters who have developed a program to assist parents and medical professionals in overcoming feeding issues for babies.

https://www.feedingmatters.org/

https://www.youtube.com/user/popsiclecenter

  

Happy 1st Easter Carter

Sunday 4/20/14

Waking up this morning was an amazing feeling knowing that we are so blessed to be wishing our little Carter a Happy 1st Easter.  When we came in he was wide awake and ready to be held.  The Easter Bunny made his stop in the NICU and brought Carter his 1st Easter Basket filled with gifts like a new book, some pacifiers and plush toys that he will get to play with eventually.  Spending the day in the NICU wasn't necessarily the way Katie and I imagined our first Easter or holiday with Carter but we are so blessed that he is here to share this Easter.  Carter has made us realize that the best gift in life is actually something that you cannot buy off of a shelf or order online.  It is a feeling, a love that you share as a family for one another.  This Easter make sure that in the midst of all of the candy, the egg hunts and whatever tradition that your family has you take a moment to allow yourself to feel what your family means to you and all the riches you have in the form of love and what god has given you.  As promised here are some egg-celent Easter pictures that Carter asked that we share with all of you!!  Much love from the Hoffman family!!!

How low can you go Carter?

Saturday, 4/19/14

Carter is getting prepared for his first Easter tomorrow and will have some cute pictures for you all to enjoy.  He had more Occupational Therapy today and did well with it.  The Occupational Therapist gave him a belly massage and flexed his knees to his chest today as an added therapy to help his bowels move a little better.  He has been 36 hours without a stool so Dr. Lugo has also ordered a suppository, sorry Carter.  He has done well with his breathing today and was lowered to 1 L/min, the lowest that you can go on the high flow nasal cannula.  He is at 25% oxygen concentration so the next step will be trying to wean the concentration to about 21%.  So far he has done well however he did have one desaturation into the 60's since he was lowered but he compensated by increasing his breathing and after a minute or two he got himself back above 88% saturation.  Carter, Katie and I wish you all a great Saturday and hope the Easter Bunny is good to you tonight!

Active Friday

Good Friday, 4/18/14

Carter started his Friday off being held by Daddy for a couple of hours.  Dr. Lugo and the medical team did their rounds and gave him good reports.  He has continued to do well on the Lasix and today was his last dose.  Looking back at his trends they made the decision to place him on Lasix every other day so that they could continue to prevent a build-up of any fluid as his breathing improves.  He will get supplemental Potassium since this medication has a tendency to cause the kidneys to get rid of potassium.  They were able to reduce his high flow nasal cannula to 1.5L/min today and he has done well with this.  He does continue to have some reflux but luckily the effects of that do not last too long.  Carter was seen by Speech Therapy today and Occupational Therapy.  Speech Therapy taught us many interesting things about the importance of offering him a pacifier as opposed to giving it to him.  We learned different signs to be aware of so that we know when he is ready to receive the pacifier.  One of the things that we have to watch for is his breathing since sometimes his desire to suck will overcome his desire to breath so he will literally stop breathing while sucking.  Overall the Speech Therapist said Carter is showing very good communication signs of what he wants and has well developed reflexes such as rooting and bringing his hands in toward his face while sucking.  Once they can wean his oxygen they will begin to attempt oral feeds and move his oral gastric tube into his nose to his stomach.  I included a very interesting article written by the Speech Therapist that is seeing Carter, Catherine Shaker.

http://shaker4swallowingandfeeding.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/shaker-cue-based-feeding-using-the-infants-communication-as-a-guide-neonatal-netword-2013.pdf

Movin on up

Thursday, 4/17/14

Carter has officially moved from an isolette to a crib!!!  He has done well with it and maintained his temperature.  The Lasix is doing its job and his breathing is so much improved that they have reduced his flow of oxygen to 2L/min requiring only 25% concentration.  He is still a little puffy but this should improve.  He has one more dose of Lasix to go.  He had occupational therapy today and we got to learn different techniques to help relax his muscles and keep him happy.  I think I may have learned something too to help my tension headaches, thanks OT Kelly.  Mommy got to hold him today for 2 hours and Nurse Lyndsey gave him a bath before we arrived today which she said he loved.  She also put him in a new outfit that she couldn't resist because it said "pinch me" with crabs on it (see a pic of him showing off his butt crab below).  I have also included a few pictures of the work I have been doing on Carter's room.  I have been busy drawing and painting.  I still have an elephant, tiger, frogs and foliage to paint.  

Wednesday April 16

Wednesday, 4/16/14

Carter has had a good day today.  His feeds were increased to 36 mL and are still going in over 90 minutes.  He has continued to have some reflux issues that hopefully will get better soon as they reduce the flow on his nasal cannula.  He is on 2.5 L/min anywhere from 26%-30% concentration.  We are hoping that as they reduce the flow his reflux will improve since they say that the high flow plus the tube has a tendency to allow reflux to occur.  He was placed back on Lasix today for a 3 day course because they were concerned about the puffiness that we started seeing on Sunday.  We may start to see a little weight loss like last time but he has been gaining weight quickly so much of it was probably fluid.  He was 4 pounds 6 ounces tonight.  He is still in his convertible isolette and maintaining this temperature well. 

7 weeks old

Tuesday, 4/15/14

Let's play the game what's missing with the picture below.  The answer will be at the end of the post.  They continue to wean his oxygen flow and he is now down to 2.5 L on about 28% oxygen.  He has been breathing a little fast but seems to be tolerating it well.  He seems to be a little gaseous today and grunting a lot which doesn't help his breathing since he tends to stop breathing to grunt.  And don't worry he is not constipated, we can attest to that.  He is up to 33 mL every 3 hours on his feeds.  His weight last night was 4 pounds 5 ounces.  The goal at the end of the week is to start to begin to teach him to suck better so that transitioning from a tube feed to a bottle will be easier.  So back to the picture below.  If you guessed the top to his isolette you were correct.  Little Carter started to get too warm so they popped the top off of his convertible.  After having him out for a little while his temperature was 97.1 which is lower than the 97.3 that they would like it to be so we will see how long his top gets to stay off.  

Time to Shine

Monday, 4/14/14

Carter has continued to do well on his 3.5 L/min so they have decreased his flow to 3 L/min.  The medical team said that they are hoping to decrease his flow by 0.5 L/min every other day as long as he tolerates it.  They are being more aggressive with his oxygen weaning to challenge him.  He will be having a blood gas daily while they are weaning him.  They are also going to keep him in his isolette for a while longer so that he isn't using his energy to maintain his temperature.  They only plan on moving him to an open air crib if his temperature starts to increase too much.  He had his follow-up eye exam today and it was stable.  He is still a stage I retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) but they told us not to be concerned about it.  They will do another follow-up exam in 2 weeks.  We are excited for this week because we know Carter will make a ton of progress.  Preemie strength always prevails and it is amazing to watch him grow and learn to master processes that we take for granted everyday like breathing, digesting and swallowing.  

Steady Sunday

Sunday, 4/13/14

Carter has maintained himself well on the 3.5 L with a concentration anywhere from 26%-30%.  We had him out of his baby cave for a little more than 2 hours today.  He was a bit cranky today and has been sleeping well since he was placed back.  He also looks a little puffy today but Dr. Mirza said that clinically everything looks good so they will just watch for now.  His isolette was turned back up to 28 degrees Celsius since he was a little cool last night.  They will likely be placing back down to 27 degree Celsius today and hopefully in a day or two he will be able to go to an open air crib.  I must admit I'm not in a rush about getting into an open air crib since I have a sense of security with the isolette protecting him from germs.  That being said the staff is amazing at always washing their hands and using sanitizer!!

Katie and I also got news that my sister Melissa has spoken with the Daytona Beach Cubs our local Class A-Advanced baseball team and on Thursday, May 1st they will be doing a benefit to help raise funds for Carter.  Our niece Kerrington will be proudly singing The National Anthem before the game.  Tickets must be purchased through my sister Melissa Heller (her Facebook page has more details) in advance and a portion of those sales will go to Carter.  I believe the tickets are $7.  If we sell 100 tickets you all will get to see me through out the first pitch and my back.  Grateful and blessed are only a couple of the many words that we feel on a daily basis for the support you are showing us and Carter.  Hope to see you all there!

Four-ging Ahead

Saturday, 4/12/14

Happy Saturday Everyone!  I held Carter until 11 pm last night and when we left him he was chugging along with his 26% oxygen at 4 L/min.  This morning when we arrived we were met with more great progress.  Carter has been reduced down to 3.5 L/min and his feeds were increased to 32 mL every 3 hours because.........he is now FOUR pounds!!!!!!  Very excited to hit the four pound mark.  Even more excited that he seems to be tolerating the decrease in the flow of oxygen.  They are keeping a very close eye on him though because they know how he is about big changes.  During his feed today he got to practice sucking on his pacifier.  He did well with it but after about 3 minutes was done.  In order for us to begin bottle feeding he has to be off of the high flow nasal cannula so we are really praying that he continues to wean from the oxygen without difficulty.  We are so proud of his strength to burst through these obstacles.  Keep it up little man!

Sweet Dreams

Friday Night, 4/11/14

Reflux Friday

Friday, 4/11/14

Carter is sleepy today.  He must have partied all night to celebrate with his reduction in oxygen to 4 L.  He is on a slightly higher concentration today than yesterday up to 28% but no concerns about that yet.  He is feeding well but still having reflux.  He seemed to be on a roller coaster of desaturation today with his feeding.  Reflux commonly causes desaturations during the feedings.  They do not treat the reflux with any medications but instead they try to make his isolette more at an angle or place him on his right side.  Extending the pump time that the milk goes in at also helps.  Hopefully this reflux will gradually improve with time and as his belly gets adjusted to the higher feeds.  Just a quick update for now.  We will see if we have any photo ops for later.

Thursday Fun

Thursday April 10, 2014

Carter had quite the surprise for us today when we walked in.  His flow was reduced to 4 L and he was on only 22% oxygen saturating at 90%.  He is showing off for Mommy and Daddy and we love it!!!  On top of that he was increased to 30 mL of milk every 3 hours.  Time to grow some more.  We have him out of the isolette right now and Katie is holding him.  It is the first time we have had him out holding with clothes on without doing the skin to skin.  This is important for the time being as he tries to regulate his own temperature.  We have also been told that if he continues to regulate his temperature over the next day he might go to an open air crib over the weekend.  

 In preparation for learning to feed from a bottle we have to start getting him to suck on his pacifier, so far so good.

Eat up

Wednesday, 4/9/14

Carter has had a good day today.  He has started to tolerate his decrease to 4.5 L/min a little better however he is requiring upwards of 30% concentrated oxygen.  Slow progress but progress nonetheless.  He has continued to tolerate his feeds and he was increased today to 29 mL every 3 hours.  His weight today was 3 pound 8 ounces so he is gaining nicely.  I have also figured out how to remove the requirement of being Google member in order to make comments to the blog so many of you that have had some trouble you should be able to finally make comments without issues.  I have been working on Carter's room.  As many of you know I like to draw so our Safari theme includes some monkeys, elephants, giraffe and tigers.  I will show you all pictures once I get painting.

6 Weeks Old

Tuesday, 4/8/14

Carter's Blog is a little late tonight because I was so excited to get to Orlando to see him I forgot my laptop.  By the picture below though you can tell it was worth the wait.  This is Carter's first picture in non-hospital clothes.  Tonight they let us put him in his own clothes.  He seems to like them.  They use to wait to allow the babies be in outside clothes until they were in an open air crib however they recently changed this to allow them to wear clothes while still in their isolette as long as they can regulate their own temperature.  He has done well today and remains on 4.5 L/min on the high flow and is anywhere from 25%-30% oxygen.  Since he has to maintain his saturation at 88% he hasn't been below 24% concentration much.  His weight tonight is 3 pounds 7 ounces (he's actually 3.68 but we are going with 3.7).  Tonight we also had our every other week NICU family support group.  We met with someone from the March of Dimes in preparation for the walk at Lake Eola on 4/26/14.  In addition, we shared stories with our NICU family on how all of our little ones were doing.  I would ask you all to extend an extra prayer to a family in the NICU tonight for their little boy.  They have had a rough day and when one of our NICU families are affected it affects us all.  So say an extra prayer for Baby C.  

I also want to say a big HUGE thank you to our local Chick-fil-a, Steven, Buck and Brooke and everyone that came out to support us and Carter.  It was so wonderful to talk and meet everyone who has been following our story.  Many people were family, friends and co-workers but we also met a lot of great people who we have never met that were so gracious to share their stories and offer their support.  You all are amazing, and truly define what a community is.  Thank you!

Chick-fil-a Monday

Monday, 4/7/14

Carter has been doing well today.  He is 3 pounds 5 ounces and tolerating his feeds well.  He has been doing well on his 5L/min of oxygen and responded well to the Lasix so the medical team is decreasing his flow to 4.5 L/min.  They are going to take it very slow this time around since it took him so long to recover from the last decrease.  We did get the results back of the eye exam.  He does have Stage I Retinopathy of Prematurity.  The good news is that the majority of these cases resolve on their own.  Another eye exam will be done in 2 weeks.  We will keep you posted.  We are not going to get to see him today which is tough however we will get to be with many great people who have been supporting us all along.  Tonight is the Chick-fil-a for Carter night at our local Chick-fil-a.  A number of weeks ago the Manager there called my sister Melissa and wanted to help so he offered to host this night.  Thank you Steven!  We so appreciate you and your staff tonight as you bring together people for Baby Carter.  For those of you not able to attend we feel your prayers everyday!  

Taken yesterday, very snug Carter.

Time for clothes

Sunday, 4/6/14

Carter is doing well today.  He is on 25% oxygen and saturating at about 90%.  He had a couple desaturations overnight but after some suctioning he did well.  His weight today is 3 pounds 4 ounces.  Since he has maintained his weight over 1500 grams the past couple of days he is ready to start wearing clothes.  Pretty exciting to lose one more wire in his isolette since he had a temperature probe attached to him the last 6 weeks.  He is doing kangaroo care with Mommy right now and loving it. 

Today I would also like to provide you with some things to think about.  Each year more than a half a million babies are born prematurely (<37 weeks gestation).  Over the past 25 years the prematurity rate has increase 36% in the United States.  In addition, prematurity is the #1 cause of death in newborns.  Although November is the official month for premature awareness it is important to realize that a premature birth occurs once every minute in our country.  On Monday night 4/7/14 from 5pm-7pm our Ormond Beach Chick-fil-a will be graciously giving Baby Carter a portion of their sales.  Katie and I are so grateful for the love and support of so many.  Through our blog you all have learned our story but please do not forget that there are over 500,000 stories like ours across our country.  As you pray for us please also pray for other families and babies that have to experience the struggles of preemie life.  

Finally caught a Carter smile on camera!

Weekend Work-Out

Saturday, 4/5/14

Carter has been doing well today but since he has turned 32 weeks gestation he now has to maintain his saturation at 88% instead of 85%, so needless to say we have heard the alarm beeping all day.  We have established that his back is not a happy place however during his first Occupational Therapy session today they said that they need to try and get him to lay more on his back so that they can have his head be more midline and less on his sides to prevent a pancake head.  They will be working with him 4 days a week.  His weight today was 3 pounds 3 ounces.  He received his last Lasix dose yesterday and probably will not be peeing as much so should start gaining weight again.  His Vapotherm (high flow nasal cannula) is still at 5 L and he has been requiring anywhere from 24% - 28% oxygen to keep his saturation level above 88%.  We have noticed that he has been more awake yesterday and today which makes him difficult to leave.  We are so blessed to have Carter in our lives and so blessed to have all of you thinking and praying for him and us as we continue through our journey!

 

Finally Friday

Friday 4/4/14

Friday has finally come and we are very excited to spend another weekend with Baby Carter.  We have good reports today.  The Lasix has continued to work well.  He got his last dose today and we have seen improvements in his lung functioning.  They do not like to keep him on the medication too long because of the potential side effects.  He is still on 5L but his oxygen content is down to 23-25% whereas it was all the way up to 34% earlier in the week.  They have ordered labwork for Monday so that they can monitor his electrolytes since the diuretic has a tendency to make him pee them out.  He did lose a little weight and he is at 3 pounds 3 ounces as of last night's shift.  The picture below is how Carter gets fed right now.  His milk is on a pump over a period of 90 minutes.  The milk looks a little yellow because they add a liquid vitamin to it called polyvisol that has iron in it.  The other picture is a very peacefully resting Baby Carter.  May you all have a great start to your weekend!

Thursday 4/3/14

Carter has had a better day today.  The Lasix that they have been giving him caused some weight loss but today his oxygen requirements were less than they had been.  He managed to get his feeding tube out again today but it has been replaced just in time for an increase in his feeds to 28 mL every 3 hours.  Katie and I are excited for another weekend to get to spend with him.  Tomorrow he will be 32 weeks gestation and another day closer to be bigger and stronger than he is today.

Preemie Steps

Wednesday, 4/2/14

Carter and I just finished with kangaroo care.  He did well through it and only had a couple desaturations.  He actually sounded the high alarm more than we have seen him do but he has been consistently on 30%-34% oxygen concentration.  As always it was amazing to hold him.  They started him on Lasix today which is a diuretic.  He will be on that the next three days.  They think that he may have some fluid that could be contributing to his increased need for more oxygen.  We are hopeful that this will improve what we have been seeing since last Friday.  We have been telling him about all of the prayers and love that is being sent his way.  He has been pretty awake since we have been here today which has been nice.  It has given his great grandma who was with us today some time to talk to him and see him do more than sleep.  He does weigh 3 pounds 6 ounces today but we are expecting to see that drop now that he is on Lasix.  His first diaper since the Lasix just weighed in at 50g which is significantly heavier than most of his diapers (14-20g).  Also, Carter got a new baby cave last night, it's identical the his other isolette but they have to switch it out every so often with a clean one.

5 weeks old

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Today Carter is 5 weeks old.  He weighs 3 pounds 4 ounces.  He has had a couple rough days with his breathing however the medical team has told us to not worry and remember that he is still only 31 weeks gestation.  He has required more oxygen and is up to 30%-34% but remains on a flow of 5L.  It is frustrating to see him not continue to progress like we saw him do the past couple of weeks since the steroids but the nurses have been very supportive and informative.  His blood gases look good and clinically he has been doing well.  We have to remind ourselves frequently that his lungs are not prepared to have to be breathing at this point in his life.  It's a test in patience and a reminder to look at far he has come since February 25th.  Katie is doing kangaroo care right now and enjoying it as I know Carter is!