The Blood Sugar Chase

Dear Samuel,

Today was another good day......Momma and I came down and did a little photo shoot for you (I'll post another page after I edit them) but for now, here is one unedited.

The only thing that the nursing staff has been fighting with for the last 24 hours was your Blood Sugar. It has been fluctuating from low to high and back again. Finally, this morning they slowed down the game of giving you insulin and then switching back to sugar water and it seemed to stabilize your blood sugar (Around 150 is where they want you to be....you were spiking at 300 and dropping all the way down to 50). 

Your bilirubin was up again today, so they brought back the "bili" light (This time your eye covers had sunglasses on them). Hopefully, this will be one of the last times we have to have the Bili light because you had 2 more BM's and that will help get rid of all that bilirubin. 

They also upped your food intake today as well to 6 cc's every 3 hours. Now we just need you to start getting bigger and stronger....We need to PUMP...you UP! 

Also had one more blood transfusion tonight because of all of the blood draws they have been doing. Your hemoglobin was around 11 (which is about twice as high as momma's right now). All in all the transfusion went well. 

Overall the doctors are amazed at the progress you keep making. Keep it rolling buddy! 

Love, 

Mom and Dad

Everybody Poops

Dear Samuel,

What a HUGE day you had! From our perspective, two really BIG milestones.

1. BM (Poop for the layperson)
The doctors were beginning to get concerned that you had not a BM yet and upped your suppositories to try and help things along. Well, apparently it worked because your nurse said it was a pretty big one.

2. Weight
At your weigh-in this morning at 2:00 a.m. you were back to your birth weight of 1 pound 6.2 ounces!

I think both of these milestones may have something to do with the fact that you are now receiving 5 ccs (milliliters) of breastmilk every 3 hours (up from 3 ccs).

We did have a Scare today too. This morning as the radiologist was reading your X-ray, they called up to the NICU nurses to alert them that they saw something in your lungs and that it was possible that lung could collapse. As soon as that happened your vitals started to drop. The nurses started suctioning some "gunk" out of your lungs, moved you around to get some further X-rays and started prepping to put in a chest tube. As the new X-rays were being looked at by the radiologist they weren't able to see the gunk in your lungs anymore. As the day wore on the nurses left the equipment for the chest tube in your room to ward off any "evil spirits" and so far it seems to have worked. They also started some Chest PT (essentially a little massager/vibrator) to break up the gunk in your lungs. Ever since that little scare this morning, your vital stats have been great and you have been resting for most of the day.

Here's a picture of when your Mom and I came to visit tonight.

Never thought I would be so happy for someone to poop, but I guess that's what happens when you become a parent. Sam, we are so excited and proud to be your parents and looking forward to the journey ahead. You have defied the odds so far, let's keep it going.

Love,
Mom and Dad

Home (For some of us)

Dear Samuel,

It was a big day for Momma today. The doctor told her she could go home today....which is bittersweet. We are able to sleep in our own bed tonight and see your big brother Isaac. BUT we have to leave you at the hospital. I think we are beginning to realize just how hard this is going to be.....

Not much change for you today. They let you take it easy today because of your day yesterday. Your weight came back up a little to 1 pound 5.9 ounces...so almost back to your birth weight. During "Rounds" this morning your doctor decided to tweak some of your vent settings which seemed to do the trick with stabilizing some of your O2 stats.

They also decided to up your feedings of breast milk to 3 cc's every 3 hours, which is great! You still haven't had a "BM" but they are encouraged that they can hear digestion in your stomach.

We were able to do some more "hand hugging" today and you grabbed momma's finger with your tiny little hand. I'm glad I thought to grab my phone to catch this precious moment:

We came back down to see you tonight and not much change (which we like). The only thing is was that your Blood sugar is a bit high. They started you on some Insulin this morning, which is supposed to bring your blood sugar back down, but it's only kept climbing. 

Otherwise, you looked really peaceful today and it looked like you were getting a lot of rest. 

Looking forward to sleeping in our bed tonight, but always thinking of you buddy. Sleep tight. 

Love, 

Mom and Dad