Lightning Round

Dear Samuel,

Not a lot of change today (If this continues to be the case, I may skip a night or two).

Weigh-In you are back to 2 pounds 2 ounces!

You continue to have your "alarms" (de-sats), but have been MUCH better since you had your transfusion. That's what the staff seems to be chalking this all up to; is low hemoglobin and acting your age (somewhat typical in micro premies).

Al of the tests have come back "clean" so far from Friday morning. The 24 hour mark of the blood culture came back negative (and hopefully continues to come back negative), as well.

Overall, you've had a much better day today than Friday. Wish I could say the same about myself. Remember how Mom and Isaac were sick last weekend and I was healthy as a "horse". Yeah, that may have caught up to me....

Have another good night buddy.

Go Pack Go,
Mom and Dad

Party Time! (Excellent)

Dear Samuel,

Two! Pounds!

Unfortunately, the rest of the day wasn't so exciting.......

In the past few days you have had an increasing amount of de-sats. They chalked this up to the RSV at first, but now they aren't so sure. Today, the doctor ordered a blood transfusion, as your hemoglobin was low on your blood gas. They also drew some more blood for a culture to see if there may be another infection. It's not the fact that they think anything is wrong, but they just want to make sure they aren't missing something by believing the RSV is the cause of your issues. 

So, you have another IV in your arm again, but at the moment you don't have anything going through it. Just a precaution. 

You also have a little catheter in to try and get a urine sample. They want to see if there is any bacteria in your urine. Of course, you keep spoiling any sample because you happen to do a certain something else (It involves the number 2). So, as of yet, they have not been able to get a reading on this. 

When I was down to see you tonight, the nurse told me that all of the "initial" tests came back clean. The number they use to see inflammation/infection was low (which is good). 

Your O2 levels were around 30% for most of the day, but went as high as 40%. I'm hoping they won't have to take that level up because of all of the de-sats. The good thing is, that you seem to do really well at 30%....when you remember to breath. 

So, I guess all things considered it wasn't THAT bad of a day. One cool thing was that you were able to suck on a pacifier today. Momma gave you one today when you were getting your IV put in. This will come in handy later on ;) 

Hoping you can get some sleep tonight, buddy! 

Love, 

Mom and Dad

Short and Sweet

Dear Samuel,

Today was an awesome day. Because it was so awesome, I'm really tired...so I'm going to make this somewhat short.

Your infection. Gone.
Disclaimer: For the most part, its gone. We are past the 60 hour mark of having a negative culture. They are still keeping you on antibiotics for another 7-10 days though just to make sure we completely got it.

Your breathing. Like a Champ.
You are still on the CPAP machine and doing really well. When we there tonight, you only had about 5 to 10 de-sats...which, compared to the other night is a complete 180. You WERE on 60% O2 though, which is up a bit but your RR (Respiration rate) is down to 20 (When you were on the vent this number was up around 40 to 50).

Blood Sugar. Stabilized.
They took you off of your insulin drip today, because your numbers were reading in the mid 100s (Tonight was around 130).

Hemoglobin. Well, not quite sure but I bet it's up.
You had another transfusion today, because your Hemoglobin had dropped to around 9.0. I have a feeling this may be helping with your O2 saturation levels as well.

If you have a good overnight, your Mom may get to hold you again. We are praying that you do.

See you bright and early buddy.

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.