Monday, June 30, 2008

Hunter took in his entire bottle without an episode today at 8 AM. They tried again around midday and he was too tired. His 5 o'clock feeding was different. He did it once more. Yeah! This is so exciting and such a huge hurdle. I am so proud of him. His strength amazes me.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Hunter is at 4 pounds, 4 ounces. He is 17 1/2 inches long. Last week he was only15.75inches long. Oh my! He is so precious. His cheeks and face is filling out more. I will have to post new pictures soon.

Hunter tried the suck, swallow, and breathe again today with his feeding. This is such a huge hurdle that he has to overcome. He did better today than he has been doing. He was able to coordinate the suck, swallow, and breathe twice without choking. He got exhausted after 15 minutes. If we had to give Hunter a grade, he would have got a C-. To mommy, he was a superstar. He never got this far before. This is such a huge step in the right direction. I have his first bottle that I will save forever.

Friday, June 27, 2008

I haven't written for a couple days because there isn't too much to report. Things are moving at a snails pace.

They tried to wean the flow of air pressure today on Hunter's cannula. His lungs weren't ready and they had to turn it back up. It was worth a try.
He is getting his formula through a feeding tube right now. He has crossed over to the 4 pound club. He is weighing 4 pound 2 ounces.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Gosh, Hunter is on the brink of being in the 4 pound club. Yes, my little man is almost a 4 pounder. His weight was 3.159. Yes. It is .001 pounds away from 4 pounds and depending on how he moved he would cross over to 4.000 pounds.

On to something new, Hunter ear drainage did come back as a postive staph. They are not treating it right now because there is no inflammation present. The doctors and nurses will watch it closely for any changes. We are hoping it clears up on its own.
Feeding from a bottle is still a challenge for Hunter. They have decided that they are going to dip his binky in formula three times a day. They don't want to stress him out with bottle feeding him right now.

Monday, June 23, 2008

The biggest hurdle that Hunter has to overcome is his feeding from a bottle and not a feeding tube.

It takes 25 muscles coordinating together to learn how to breathe and swallow your food. These muscles are underdeveloped in Hunter. This is completely normal for micro preemies to have this problem. Before today, they were trying to feed Hunter every couple days. He has problems with his heart rate and oxygen levels dropping. They are going to start trying to feed him every day now. They will continue to do this until he learns how.

We still aren't sure about the drainage in his ears. The neonatologist is stumped. It doesn't have any characteristics of an infection. They have a culture sent down to the lab and we don't have the results. They might order an ear, nose, and throat specialist to come and look. Right now, they are watching it closely.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

The daytime nurse spotted that Hunter had some drainage coming out of his right ear today. They cultured it and sent it down for lab work. It could be another infection. We are crossing our fingers.

Hunter got his first bath from his Mommy today. I wanted to say that he enjoyed it. But, ha...he threw a fit. I love hearing him cry. I know that sounds awful. But, when you have a son that was hooked to a respirator for the first two months of his life; it feels good to hear him make noise. He wasn't able to cry hooked to a respirator.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Hunter is still doing well on his nasal cannula. He has not needed the help of the CPAP for a day and a half.

He also received his first set of vaccinations today. The nurses thought it was funny because he did not fuss like a normal baby. He stared at his mobile and was quiet through the whole process. Hunter was probably thinking, "Is that all you've got". He is my superstar.

Hunter weighs 3 pounds 12 ounces now. He is growing.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Hunter has been on the nasal cannula for 24 hours now. He has not needed the CPAP.

We are hoping for the best and praying that his lungs can handle the extra work of a nasal cannula.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Hunter had eye surgery two weeks ago. We had to wait a "couple weeks" to know if the surgery took or not. If not, it would require more surgery with the possibility that Hunter could go blind due to his prematurity. If the surgery worked, he could live a normal life.

This Wednesday marked the "couple week" mark. We just got the news.

Hunter's eyes took to the surgery. His right eye is completely normal. His left eye still has "slight" abnormal blood vessel growth, but nothing to be alarmed with. He can tell that the left eye is taking a little longer to heal, but it is healing. He is sure that when he checks him next week, his left eye will be as normal as the right. Tim and me are both nearsighted. Besides the risk of "normal genetics", Hunter has beat another obstacle. His eyes are going to be fine. He conquered retinopathy of prematurity.

Cheers for Hunter! Yea!!!!

Hunter has also been doing really good on his nasal cannula. They don't want to push him. So, they are going to keep it the same today. He will stay at 9 hours on cannula 3 hours on CPAP. This is a rotation 9 hours, 3 hours, 9 hours, 3 hours = 24 hours.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

After Hunter's disappointing morning yesterday, he did really good with his nasal cannula yesterday during the day and night. They have bumped him up to a 9 hours on cannula 3 hours on CPAP rotation.

Go Hunter!!!

He has gained more weight. He is up to 3 pounds 6 ounces.

Monday, June 16, 2008

This morning was a little disappointing. Hunter had a hard time with his nasal cannula. They had to put him back on CPAP. He did really well for his six hour stretch during the day. The night time was hard. It doesn't look like they will be changing him over today. I will know more later and will write about it.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Hunter went to 6 hours twice a day on the cannula.

The doctor said that if he can go from 2 PM to 8 PM, then 2 AM to 8 AM on the cannula, they will consider moving him strictly to cannula. He would be off the CPAP. He is more comfortable on the nasal cannula. He does not like the CPAP.

I think I mentioned this before, but the nasal cannula is the least amount of support that they give. He would be on 2 liters of pressure and they would slowly decrease that to 1/2 a liter before he came home. I am preparing for him to be on the nasal cannula when he comes home because of his chronic lung disease. A miracle may happen and he may not need it. For now, I am preparing myself. If that is the case, it would only be for up to one year, possibly less. Periodically, we (Hunter and me) would need to stay the night at St. Joe's where they would study him on the nasal cannula. They would eventually ween him off.

He is up to 3 pounds 4 ounces. They increased his feeds today to 1 ounce, every 3 hours.

Grandpa Finally Holds Hunter!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

After 75 days, GRANDPA FINALLY GOT TO HOLD HUNTER!!!



Because of Hunter's condition, they only allowed parents to hold Hunter. Hunter has stabilized enough. After much anticipation, grandpa had him in his arms. Wow, that was really nice to see.

The doctor told me that Hunter is on the home stretch today. This is given that he does not have get any infection, which could set him behind. She said not to expect Hunter home by his due date, but shortly afterwards.

He still remains on 3 hours twice a day on his nasal cannula. Although, the very feisty respiratory therapist (she is awesome) tried to push for 6 hours twice a day. The doc's didn't go for it. We are hoping soon! They don't want to push Hunter and have him go backwards. It's all baby steps at this point.

Friday, June 13, 2008

The only change to report today is that Hunter is now on 3 hours of nasal cannula twice a day. This is an extra two hours of time on the cannula.

They tried to feed him by a bottle today. This is for the first time. He was still not ready for that. He did suck on the nipple twice, but when it came to swallowing that was a different story. Hunter turned blue. It was not pretty. He destated pretty bad. This meant that his heart rate dropped and his oxygen levels went to a very low rate. Of course, the nurse was right there and was able to get things stabilized. It was scary. This is normal for micro preemies. It is a big hurdle they have to get over. They will continue to work on it, but not right away.




Other than that, he is doing good. Daddy got to hold him today. Mommy was being generous. Hunter has a surprise on Sunday (Father's Day). I just can't say anything and let the word out now.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Hunter is hanging out in his crib doing well. He has been able to maintain his own body temperature. He has also gained weight. He is up to 1420 grams (3 pounds 2 ounces). Gosh, I can't wait for him to come home. We still have awhile to go, but I am so excited for him to be with me. Patience ... Patience ... Patience.

Isolette be gone

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Hunter's main goal is to gain weight and get off CPAP.

They increased his calorie intake to 27 calories yesterday. This is up from 24 calories. Sometimes preemies don't tolerate the rise in calories because its an oily substance. Hunter seems to be doing well. He has not gained any weight yet.

They are also increasing his time on nasal cannula. He will be on cannula 2 hours 2 days a time. This is up from 2 hours one time a day.

And the most exciting news just came in, they are opening the top of the isolette and keeping it open for two hours. Hunter might be able to move from the isolette into a crib. This is a big, big move. We will see if his body temperature can handle it.


It is so scary when they want to make changes. You never know how his body is going to react. So, again - I catch myself holding my breath and waiting. Talk about anxiety provoking. But, this is where my faith in God has to come into play. God has brought us to it, he will bring us threw it.

UPDATE: HUNTER DID GO INTO A CRIB FOR THE FIRST TIME. A COUPLE HOURS OF BEING OUT OF THE ISOLETTE AND HE HIS STILL MAINTAINING HIS OWN BODY TEMPERATURE. KEEP PRAYING THAT HE CAN MAINTAIN. IT IS NICE TO SEE HIM WITHOUT LOOKING THROUGH THE TOP OF THE ISOLETTE.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Hunter was weighed late last night. He was still holding at 1365 grams or 3 pounds and a smudge. They are increasing his calorie intake.

He did well on the nasal cannula today. Instead of keeping him on it for 2 hours; they added an extra half an hour.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Hunter is pretty mellow and sleepy today. I got up to the hospital at 9 AM and got to hold him. He did well on nasal cannula for two hours.

They increased his feeding to 28 cc’s. He was getting 26 cc’s.

He had a follow up head ultrasound. In the very beginning of his life, he had brain bleeds. They are known as IVH. They want to make sure that is healing without complications. The results are in and everything looks well.

Hunter’s eyes are still puffy and bloodshot from the surgery.

I spoke to the neonatologist today. The main goal in the next couple weeks is for Hunter to gain weight and convert over to nasal cannula. We are praying for him!

Friday, June 6, 2008

Hunter is a day post surgery and doing well.

He is off the respirator and back on CPAP. He was held with nasal cannula for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. He got fussy and they decided it would be better to put him back on CPAP. He started to destat. This is where his oxygen levels start dropping.

They started his feeds again today. They started him on breast milk and will slowly increase him back to full feeds.

We won't know anything about the condition of his eyes for a couple weeks. They are puffy and red, as expected. This is normal.

For the most part, he is having a good day!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Hunter handled nasal cannula today for a little over two hours.

The day became long after this.

The eye surgeon came in today around 12:30 PM. He didn't like what he saw when it came to Hunter's eyes and wanted to do the surgery immediately. He said he would be back around 3:30 PM.

The NICU staff prepared the procedure room. They also prepped Hunter in the meantime. Hunter had his surgery. It lasted for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. He did fine through the procedure. He is out of the surgery. They had to paralyze him and put him back on the ventilator. They hope to start lowering the settings and getting him off within the next couple days. They will also have to slowly increase his food intake. The poor little man is not eating right now. The surgery won't allow it.

Hunter was resting when I left the hospital.

We had to get it done. If not, Hunter could've went blind. For more information on his condition, you can google Retinopathy of Prematurity.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

We had good news/bad news today. I am going to start with good news.

Good news is...they tried Hunter on the Nasal Cannula today. He did really well and tolerated an hour and a half. His oxygen level, heart beat, and respiratory level stayed well. He also gained weight. He is back to to 1360 grams. This converts to 2 pounds 14 (almost 15) ounces.



Bad news is...they checked Hunter's eyes again today. The retinopathy of prematurity is getting worse. They are bringing in a surgeon to look at his eyes. This will be a set back for him. He will have to go back on the respirator for that. His feeds will also have to be reduced and winged back up again. It sounds like ROP can be fixed with surgery, as long as it's caught in time. Hunter's appears to be caught in time. It is pretty common with preemies born at Hunter's gestation and weight. In addition, his surgeon is supposed to be the best in the area.

God is still Hunter's #1 Physician.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Hunter is recovering from a set back on Saturday. His CPAP is back to the original pressure it was before the set back. He has been all over the board today. His oxygen levels have been too high or too low. He is keeping the nurses on there toes with all the adjustments.


He wasn't able to get his vaccinations on June 1st because of the boost of steriods he got on Saturday and Sunday night. They will have to wait a couple weeks for that.
Hunter's weight is down a little bit from the highest he recently weighed. He was 3 pounds and a smudge and he is down to 2 pound 12 ounces or 1260 grams.