As Big as Your Head!

Dear Samuel,

It's been a few days since I last wrote, so I thought I should send an update. Not much has changed since Monday so this might be short.

Your nook looks a little big....

Your weight is up to 3 pounds 1.6 ounces! Feedings have been bumped up to 27 ccs per feeding!

So far you have been regulating your body height very well and your isolete has been turned to 28 degrees Celsius (Pretty much room temp). We are hopeful you can be moved to a crib over the weekend (or sometime in the near future). It would be an absolute HUGE milestone, because it would mean that when we come to see you we can pick you up without having to take you out of your isolete. Needless to say, we are pretty anxious and excited for this to happen. 

Your O2 has still been at 1 Liter per hour and anywhere from 25% to 32% for the past few days. 

You had labs today and they found that your hemoglobin was down just a bit BUT they did not want to start a transfusion because you are now starting to produce your own red blood cells. Because of this, they won't start a transfusion because they want you to keep doing this on your own! 

Tonight, when we were there you really seemed to be interested in your pacifier as evidenced by the pictures above. Then when we put you back in your "home" you actually held your "paci" in your mouth! 

It was definitely tuckering you out....hope you fell asleep and stayed asleep....you need to make some more gains! 

Love, 

Mom and Dad

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

Useful Info

Dear Samuel,

Today has been another good day so far. All of your numbers have been Rock solid. The nursing staff keeps telling us how amazing it is that you are doing this well. Just so you know, we want to keep hearing that.

As far as updates, there isn't a whole lot to report. You have been "eating" 1 cc of breast milk every 3 hours now and also having it swabbed on your cheeks to help with oral care (If you were Napoleon Dynamite, I think you would probably say "My lips hurt real bad!").

Otherwise, the blood transfusion you had last night went really well and they still have you under the Bili light. I took some video of you moving around a little bit last night.

There's actually more news with your mom today. She decided that it would be best if she got a blood transfusion too, as her hemoglobin was down to 5.4 (Apparently normal is around 11?). Other than that, she has been doing great. When we went down to see you this morning, she was able to walk down the hall by herself (which is pretty impressive for having a number that low). Our doctor had a hard time believing us actually......

So, because of this blood transfusion, the doctors want us to stay another day/night. It looks like we will be here until Wednesday now....well, we will be here regardless just not as a patient.

Also, some useful info for all of your family, friends and well-wishers. Right now, the only people allowed to visit you in the NICU are me and your mom. This might not change until this weekend. Your doctor says it beneficial to have a quiet environment with little to no stimulation, especially in these first few days. Another restriction is that any visitors have to be over the age of 18 and cannot have any cold or flu like symptoms (So that means you won't be able to meet your older brother Isaac for a while.....don't worry though, he's plenty busy with Thomas the Train).

We are at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, WI.
Samuel's Room # (NICU): 5763
Betsy's Room #: 5860

Psalm 127:3-5 - Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate. 

Status Quo....sort of

Dear Samuel,

Today was about maintaining the status quo. All of your numbers (Heart Rate, O2, BPMs) were well maintained and in the range we want throughout the day. However, we did have some new stuff pop up today.

Late last night, the doctors and nurses (who are awesome by the way) put you under the "Bili" light to help with your bilirubin. There is no cause for concern for jaundice, but they wanted to be proactive. The pictures turned out kind of cool with a blue glow.

This morning, there was some talk of taking you off of the ventilator and switching to a C-Pap. Which, in my opinion, is a great sign. It was just talk though because you aren't quite ready for it to come out yet. Later on in the day, you started getting tuckered out from all the breathing you've been doing on your own and they had to put your ventilator back up to 40 breaths per minute.

Another thing that happened today was we had to give you a blood transfusion, since your hemoglobin was starting to dip a bit. This went well and you didn't have a negative reaction to it.

The doctors decided it was time to put a feeding tube in today too. So, unfortunately, you have another tube going down your mouth BUT you were able to begin taking in breast milk to start helping you grow.

You had a wet diaper today! Yes, we're excited about that because not only was it 18 cc's it means that your kidneys are working great!

Your Mom is doing great too, bud. She's one of the toughest women I know....she hasn't hardly had any pain killers (I think it's the German coming out in her) only Ibuprofen. The other stuff makes her sick, so she just doesn't take it. She was up and moving around today and isn't hooked up to a pole anymore. I have to say......you, me and Isaac are pretty lucky guys.

Sleep tight little one.

Love,
Mom and Dad