Happy Halloween!

One of the nurses here at Evergreen made costumes for all the preemies in the NICU.  What a beautiful gift to us families wanting so badly to have a "normal" life.  We're proud to present our littlest pumpkin in costume! Happy Halloween.

 The wonderful nurse Robin (minion) and physical therapist, Jan (banana) with Wyatt.

A "Real" Mom

When your baby is born, you take him home.  
When your baby cries, you pick him up and hold him.  
When your baby wakes up each morning, you put another cute outfit on him.
When you want to hold your baby, you do.
When your baby is hungry, you feed him.

These are all things we can't do do.

I don't write this to make you feel bad for me but rather to emphasize an exciting little part of our day today.  Yesterday, one of the nurses told us we could bring a blanket from home to the hospital for kangaroo care time.  Up until this point, we've needed to use a hospital blanket that is kept in a warmer so that Wyatt doesn't lose his heat being outside of the isolette while he's held.  He is now maintaining his body temperature well.  Last night, I washed 6 blankets trying to decide which one to bring.  Today, I got to hold my baby in a regular baby blanket like "real" moms do and it was so special.

More of the Same & EPO

Feed.
Sleep.
Grow.
Repeat.

That's what Wyatt does well.  

On Sunday nights, they measure his length and the circumference of his head. Both are up!  And, drum roll please, TWO OUNCES overnight!  He's up to 2 pounds, 12 ounces.  He continues to breathe at almost room air on two liters. We can't wait for him to move to one.  The closer he gets to this, the sooner he'll be able to feed.  I got to hold and I attempted some selfies (shown below). He loves to grab anything (often his feeding tube - yikes!) and when I hold him, he often grabs my necklace, the string of my sweatshirt, or my finger. He held my finger for over an hour today.  I love these sweet moments with my sweet boy!

In contrast to all the things he does well, producing lots of red blood cells is not one of them.  Today the doctor started Wyatt on a round of EPO (click here for more information) - a medication that should increase his red blood cell production. He will receive this shot 3 times a week.  

Up Again!

Back in the gaining game!  Wyatt was up 10 grams today, bringing him back to 2 pounds, 10 ounces.  Hooray!  I was a little worried he'd be down again with all the calories he exerted having a bath yesterday but no!

And, he's down to TWO liters on his O2 machine.  He was at 6 just days ago.  Amazing progress.

He was held by Daddy again today and loved it. (I always take pictures of him but when I hold, he's at work so I don't have as many pictures of me holding.)

Bath #2!

Wyatt is still breathing at almost room air on 3 liters but he's down 20 grams today (back to 2 pounds, 9 ounces) but we anticipate that may be because he's down in his oxygen flow and breathing is a lot of work!  We're sure he'll put those grams back on in no time :)

He got to have his second bath AND be held by Dad so it was an exciting day!

A Good Run

Wyatt has had a few really great days.  He continues to gain weight, weighing in a pound over birth weight at 2 pounds, 10 ounces now.  His feedings have increased slightly so he's receiving 24 mL (up from 22).  He has been breathing so well that he has now moved from 5 liters of air to 4.  And 3!  Being able to be off all breathing apparatuses (or at least down in the flow) is important as he moves toward feeding (without a feeding tube). 

5 Liters!

Just when I think I can't do another day in the NICU, I can.  Wyatt has had a great couple of days and we're thrilled!  He's up to 2 pounds, 9 ounces, almost a pound up from birth weight.

They started him on the flovent inhaled steroid and that coupled with his growth and weight has him breathing so much better already!  He's moved from 6 liters on the nasal cannula to 5 (a goal we're excited he has achieved) and was sitting close to "room air" all day even down to those 5 liters.  We're hoping tomorrow is the same story.

Daddy got to hold our little peanut today and although he still looks small against Matthew, he's really filling out as you'll see in the other pictures!

We Believe

Maybe you believe in God.  Maybe you don't.  Maybe you believe in a higher being or have faith in something greater than yourself.  We do.  

Modern medicine is amazing.  Evergreen Hospital is spectacular.  The nurses and neonatologists are fantastic.  

That said, there are a lot of reasons Wyatt shouldn't be with us right now and there's only one reason he is.  

We believe God's hand has been and always will be in Wyatt's life and that is why he is here.  We're so thankful to live for a God who loves and protects us, strengthens us and keeps us.  And when we think we've been given the impossible, the hardest, more than we can handle, we haven't, because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

We love you, miracle baby.

Still Growing!

It has been 3 weeks since Wyatt has lost any weight!  He's up to 1140 grams today - 2 pounds, 8 ounces!  He'll be a pound over birth weight any day and is well on his way to 3 pounds.  

As the doctor noted this morning, more weight means more lung tissue which makes breathing easier.  And with breathing his primary challenge, this is great news!  He has started an inhaler breathing treatment now that he receives twice a day (fluticasone) in an effort to give his lungs the boost they need.

His head is larger than last week, up to 26.5 c (24.5 last week) and he's longer, measuring 36.2 cm (up from 34cm last week).  We're happy to be "stuck" in this growing pattern!

No surprise with the weight gain, he is on a new fortifier but still 30 calories.  This is a routine change because of his size!  He's still receiving 20 CCs of milk with that fortifier.  Yesterday I got to feed him a little milk through a syringe while he was warded with more milk for sucking and swallowing the milk.  This is a great first step to that tough preemie sequence of suck, swallow, breathe!

Growing like a weed!

Wyatt was up SIXTY grams (that's 2 OUNCES) from yesterday to today.  He's now weighing in at 2 pounds, 6 (and a half!) ounces and we're so proud.  They've increased his feedings to 20 CCs from 18  so we'll pray he continues to tolerate his feedings and grow!

When speaking about Wyatt, the doctor defined him well as "slow and steady."  This is definitely true for his lungs.  One of the last major organs to develop, this is certainly obvious with our little 27 weeker.  He's doing as well as he can but will likely require a steroid treatment (prednisolone) in the coming weeks to boost his lung development.  We're prepared for this and not discouraged but thankful there is something that can help get Wyatt to the next step (which will be 5 liters of flow on the nasal cannula - down from 6 - for those medicine-background-readers!)

Daddy got to hold yesterday and today (my turn comes tomorrow!) and this continues to be the utter highlight of our days.

Day 31

Today I didn't want to be a NICU mom.  

Although Wyatt gained 20 grams (yeah for 2 pounds, 4 ounces), he had a tough day.  He had many, many de-sats and just didn't seem like he could get settled.  He pulled his feeding tube and nasal cannula out more than once and I only got to hold him for about half an hour because of his de-sats.  It wasn't my favorite day.  

Near the end of the day, he did settle in, his numbers looked better, and the nurse asked if I wanted to try holding him again.  And there I sat, holding that little miracle in my arms for two and a half hours.  All is right with the world.  

Birthday Boy

You're one month old!  Although the traditional, trendy, adorable monthly onesie stickers wouldn't work on you for a variety of reasons (stickers are larger than you, you don't wear clothes yet, we don't have preemie sized onesies...), we still managed a few photos.  

The one at the end is more important, though.  You are a miracle, Wyatt. We are so thankful each day that God protects you, strengthens you, and helps you grow. We can't imagine our lives any other way than the way it is right now.  Happy birthday to the love of our lives.  Our hearts have never been so full.

Our Little Feeder-Grower

Care rounds this morning proved similar to last week:
Wyatt...

• is still feeding and growing.
• receives sodium (to restore the electrolytes lost from last week's lasix), vitamin D (routine), caffeine (to help his lungs), and iron (also routine).
• is still on 6 liters of air through the High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC), breathing at almost room air (26% most of the time) with the occasional de-sat.
• doesn't breathe quickly which tells us he's NOT in distress (good news!)
• receives 18 CCs of breast milk plus 30 calories over each one hour feeding.

So Fresh and So Clean

What a day!  Wyatt was up 10 more grams, hitting the 1,000 gram mark (still 2 pounds, 3 ounces) which is very exciting around the NICU.  He also turned a month old and had his first bath!  

He LOVED his first bath.  We took a little tub with warm water and put it in his isolette.  All of his cords were removed except the HFNC and in he went!  We didn't get water on his head or face but otherwise, he was cleaned and enjoyed his first bath, not a tear was shed!

The Littlest Pumpkin

Our littlest pumpkin (see the last picture) had a great day.  As a "feeder grower", he did just that.  He's still eating like a champ and growing like one too.  He's up an entire OUNCE today making him 2 pounds, 3 ounces.  In other news, he had a great day in terms of breathing and everything else you could hope for a 4 week old 2 pounder!  They tell us that once he reaches 1000 grams (he's 990) that he'll be ready for a bath.  I never thought I'd be so excited to bathe something.  Probably because he is a someone :)  A very special one.

Thanks for the hat, Julie!