Cream of Potato Soup

Evan moved to another part of the room today...the NICU is reportedly the busiest it has been in years with 20 babies currently there. But he's happy as ever. Today he had a really good day. His feedings are up to 16 ml of breast milk every three hours, and he was very alert today and squirming around. The only bleak spot was that his iv was leaking while we were there, so nurse Sherri had to move it to the other arm. We went down to the parents lounge while she did that, because I would not have been able to handle it. Speaking of which, we didn't know about the parents lounge, but it's pretty sweet. It's just for the NICU, and has a bathroom, couches, a tv, microwave, fridge and phone. Anyway, when we came back we found him in decent spirits, and Dad got to hold him and feed him before he drifted back off to sleep. A nice quiet night with our little man.

Posted by jenny at 07:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Infection update: Not in the spinal fluid (thank God, but I think the spinal tap made E very pissed off yesterday morning), antibiotics have been started and feedings have resumed. Another major crisis averted, hopefully the antibiotics will take care of things. He was certainly much happier last night when we were with him, and acting much more like himself. For example, nurse Sherri kept trying to position him on his side, and as soon as she would turn her back he would wiggle himself on to his back again. That's our boy. And he was very happy to be held by Dad for the first time in three days. We left him sleeping peacefully, much more comfortable than the previous day.

Today I'm heading down in the mid-afternoon, courtesy of Jackie. She and Granny Mary Jane have been my primary transport so far, and I really appreciate it. It makes me crazy not to be able to drive, but I'm thankful that I have friends and family so willing to help out. It makes things easier on us, and it helps me so much to be able to spend time with little E every day. I'm one happy mom.

Posted by jenny at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Little E's got a little infection in him, which is probably what made him all tired out yesterday when we were there. They did some more blood work, and started antibiotics last night, which should take care of things pretty quick.

The doctor (who called me at home at 9:30p - how often do you see that) wasn't overly concerned about it, but wanted to do more tests anyway - including blood, urine, and spinal fluid.

After the call, we were a little bummed out. We both hate for him to be pricked all the time, and I think we both wish we could do more for him.

Overall though, the doctor is very pleased with his progress. He's up to 10cc's every 3 hours of food, and seems to be much happier in his new enclosure. Mom and I visit every day, and each day we get to do more and more.

It's quite a change from early on, when we really couldn't do anything. Now, we're checking temperatures, changing diapers (do you know they weigh every one?), playing with him a little. It's almost starting to feel like we're parents. Then we go home and it doesn't. It's very strange.

I hope he kicks this infection soon and keeps growing. I want to take him home!

Posted by Mike at 02:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm tired today. Small E had a rough day too...they moved his iv from his foot to his right hand and did some bloodwork, which I'm sure worked him up into quite a tizzy. So he was a little down today. But on the whole, he is still doing well, especially with his feedings. Did you all enjoy the new pictures of our handsome boy?

Posted by jenny at 08:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our little family - 1/28/02

Posted by Mike at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Evan is one week old today! I spent most of the day with him down in the NICU, and we had a good time together. I got to change his diaper, feed him and hold him, and it was really nice to do all those "mom things". Unfortunately, that meant dad didn't get to hold him when he came after work, but we'll rectify that tomorrow. He's doing really well, they upped his feedings again and are going to increase them again at midnight. He should start bulking up in no time.

I also talked to the neonatalogist today. He told us E has a small heart murmur, which is not uncommon or cause for concern at this point...if it does become a problem they can close it with medicine. So, not too bad. He also wants to schedule a "care conference" with us and the social worker for early next week. Those are usually held every two weeks or so while a baby is in the NICU, and the doctor said that if things go well this may be the only conference we need to have. So that's the doctor saying E might be home in 2-3 weeks. Sweet.

P.S. I'm wondering if I should take down the "belly cam" or show you all a picture of my big scar. You probably don't really want to see that, huh? Too bad we can't put an "E cam" in his crib and watch him 24/7.

Posted by jenny at 08:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Just back from visiting Evan. He's in a new bed now, one of the covered isolets, which he really seems to like because it blocks out most of the noise of the alarms and other babies in the room. He's also looking much more handsome, since he's got only a small nasal canula in for oxygen and his little feeding tube, and you can see his whole face and all his hair. He's much more comfy and happy in his new digs. We brought in a blanket to put over the top of his place to block out the light a little, and we also put a picture of ourselves inside so he could see us when we can't be there.

The new bed is good too because it has those little portals on the side that we can open and stick our hands in to touch him. It's also easier to get him out to hold him, which we're allowed to do each time we go in now. It's super sweet. We got a bonus today because we were there for his vitals, and the nurse let me take his temp myself...he was very cooperative. We also got to give him his feeding....3 ccs of breast milk through his tube while we held him. It was nice. We felt more like parents.

When we go back tomorrow we'll take some more pictures of how things have changed. Check back for a new Evan gallery soon!

Posted by jenny at 07:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm glad to be out of the hospital and back home. My stay at Hamot was lovely, I can't say enough about the caring nurses and attentive staff there, and I return with a nice incision in my deflated belly and a little hole in my heart about leaving our baby behind. I wish Evan could be home with us, but he really is getting the best possible care in the NICU. So until he comes home, we'll go see him every day, and take him the milk I've been pumping so that he can grow big and strong. I really think it won't be too long before he's ready to come home...he's a tough little guy and won't take any crap from anyone!

Holding him last night was the most amazing experience of my whole life. For us to be sitting there, with the life we created in our hands for the first time was so perfect. I was thrilled at how quickly he calmed to our voices, as if he remembered all the nights we had spent together before he was born. He knows us both, curling his fingers around ours and peeking out at us through half-closed eyes. I could have sat in that rocking chair for hours, and I can't wait until we get to be with him again.

I wish I was feeling stronger so I could prepare for his homecoming. But doctor's orders are still strict bed rest (I guess preeclampsia can bite you in the ass for about two weeks after giving birth, and we don't want that) so I'm just going to take it easy. I'm not able to move too fast anyway.

Thanks to everyone who has been keeping up with us here over the past week, and thanks to those of you who sent e-mails of congratulations and encouragement to Mike during what had to be one of the hardest weeks of his life. It's nice to have the kind of support system that we do, and it makes times like these easier. We are very lucky to have such wonderful friends and family, not only here with us but all over the world.

Posted by jenny at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are a few life-defining moments that you get to have, and tonight, I think, was one of them.

Tonight was the first time we got to hold him, and damned if he didn't calm right down, even peek out at us a few times. He's so light, he feels like you're holding only the blanket.

It was a time like this that made all the sickness, the long days, the time in the hospital, the doctor trips, the diets, the everything so worth it. It was so amazing, I can't even explain it to you.

He's doing good today. They stopped feeding him for today after he still had some food from yesterday was still in his tummy, and he's been swallowing some air, so they want that to subside, he gets a little squirrely when he gets that way. Actually, he gets squirrely all the time. The nurses (and us) think it's hysterical.

We feel better about leaving him there having held him, knowing he still needs us. Jennifer is home now, sifting through all the email she hasn't gotten to in the last week. We'll have a quiet night, and a quiet day tomorrow and head back down and see how he's doing. Each day, he does a little better.

Posted by Mike at 08:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

End-day update:

He's still in the same bed, which they've covered with saran-wrap to keep a draft off him. They think that was upsetting him. They hadn't, as of 9pm, moved him to an isolet yet. He was tanning, as we were calling it, and was doing well. He looked much more relaxed, though he gets really squirrelly when he needs changed.

He's been eating every three hours since yesterday, which is great.

He was resting so well today, that we really didn't get a chance to hold him today, though we hope to this weekend.

We had a steady stream of visitors today, including Jenny's boss and co-worker, pretty much all of Fishtank Creative, my mom, Jenny's dad and mom, her aunts, my aunt, Mikaele Tim and Aidan, Lisa...It was a a high-traffic zone, which is great but tires Jennifer out greatly.

She should, by all accounts, come home tomorrow.

We've got a great evening planned - lay in bed together and talk. And watch tv. Nothing in the universe sounds sweeter right now.

Thanks for everyones notes and support this week. It's been a long, hard week on us and all the emails, calls, and visits have meant the world to us. From the three of us, Thank you!!

Posted by Mike at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mid-day update:

He's still doing well, fussy as ever after diaper changes, etc. I just hope he isn't stressing himself out too much.

They're moving him today to an isolet, one of the covered booths. Not because he's doing poorly, but because a lot of noise stresses him out, and we works really hard to calm down. The isolet will keep most of the noise out and allow him to chill and grow.

He also has a little bit of jaundice, but he'll get a little light treatment later and that shouldn't be a big deal.

Other then that, all is okay. Jennifer is feeling good, had a shower today and took her dressing off. She is getting around good, but tires pretty quickly.

This afternoon we'll get to hold him. I'm excited, to say the least.

Posted by Mike at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sorry for being a little weird yesterday. I feel much better today, after having a good talk (and cry) with Jennifer, and a good talk with my mom. He's doing really well, and things are just going to get better.

I guess the emotion and stress of the last few weeks finally caught up with me, and I freaked. I look at it now this way: he's doing well. If he wasn't, and had more extensive problems, the amazing doctors and nurses would have found them by now. They do blood tests often, x-rays, and someone is always just a few steps away from him. I think he just needs to grow a little. I hope that's all it is.

Jennifer was up and around much more today. She walked twice to the NICU, and she and I spent some really good time with him today. I got to hold him, actually cradle his legs close to him. He would push on them, but he really seemed to settle down while we were there, even peeking out at us a few times.

They were changing his diaper while we were there, and let me tell you, he didn't seem to like that a whole lot. He was flailing all around, which is good, and crying. That's a nice sound to hear. He also took his first dump. I was proud :)

The other good news is that he started eating tonight, eating 2 cc's of mom's breastmilk at 6 pm and again at 9pm. They'll keep on that schedule now, and the IV and breathing help should come out this weekend. That's when we'll also get to hold him. That will mean a lot to both of us.

Jennifer will get to shower tomorrow (we're both excited), and should come home either tomorrow afternoon or Friday morning. We're both excited for her to come home. She needs to sleep in our bed, in our place, and wear her clothes (well, any clothes would help at this point). Our next goal will be to get Evan home safe and sound, and most importantly, healthy.

Click here to see a picture of Evan and I, taken yesterday by Aunt Jo. She can't wait to buy him a bike, but I think its a little early yet.

Posted by Mike at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Day 2:

I arrived at the hospital today to find Jennifer out of bed, in the chair having lunch. This is a very good sign. She's much more alert today, but sore and still weak and sleepy. She slept much of the afternoon. She's getting better slowly.

Evan is doing decently. He's off the main ventilator, and now has one helping him in his nose. He had the hiccups while Jennifer and I were there, and he was breathing fast. The nurse said that was because he's tired and stressed out, and the hiccups and the fast breathing are signs of him trying to relax.

I'm not sure how to feel about the whole thing. I'm glad that Jennifer isn't sick anymore, and her blood pressure is good, but I don't know about Evan. I'm so glad he's out of the stressful situation, but we've thrown him right back into another stressful situation. He's so small, and I just want him to be okay, and grow some meat on his bones, and I want to hold him and bring him home. I want to read to him and watch football with him, take him to his first baseball game.

I don't know if I should be with Jennifer the entire time, or with him. I usually spend a few minutes at a time there, should I spend longer? There isn't much I can do for him, which kills me. I'm pretty overwhelmed right about now.

Tonight, I read a few websites just full of horror stories about preemies and the NICU and all the setbacks that we're up against. The optimist in me says he'll be fine, he just needs to grow. I say there's nothing wrong with him, other then we took him out 8 weeks too early. The optimist says hey, they haven't found anything wrong with him, save for the breathing stuff, but it could be much much worse.

The other side is filled with the what-ifs and the scary things I've read other people have gone through. I never wanted him to start like this, I wanted him to arrive in March on schedule, be big and happy, and come home. Now I have no idea when he'll come home.

I don't know, I'm probably rambling. I'll put it this way: I'm scared to death of all this stuff, but I put on the positive front. I've had to be there for Jennifer, so I've kept this inside. Sorry, just a little frustrations.

Back to the good news: I took some pics today. Click here for a few pics.

Posted by Mike at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Let's hope its not tomorrow" - famous last words indeed.

I got up this morning not expecting today to be anything special. I got up, went to work for awhile, fully expecting to get the call from Jennifer that today was not the day, the protein didn't go up all that much and she was going to have some lunch.

I got my work done that I needed too, and as I was just about to FTP the website up to test it, my cell rang.

It was Jennifer, scared and crying. It was happening in 1 hour. I freaked.

I hopped in the car, started calling people like my dad and sister, letting them know that its time and that in a short few hours we'd have a baby.

I arrived as they were prepping Jennifer. She was scared, as was I. When she gets scared, along with the medicine they're giving her, she starts to shake. I'm sure we'll look back at it and laugh now, but at the time...

She went in to the OR first, as I got dressed up. After a few minutes, at 12:57pm, Evan Michael was born.

He was crying, which was a good sign, and they cleaned up off. I held his little hand while they worked on him, talked to him for a moment. They showed him to Jennifer and promptly took him away.

They sewed Jennifer up (she was awake during the entire C-section), and she was off to recovery. Eventually she made it back to the room, and spent the rest of the drifting in and out of pain-killer induced sleep.

I went and saw him, and its amazing how small he is. Here is a picture. That's my dad's hand there next to him.

I spent the rest of the night tending to Jennifer, catching a nap, and shuttling people down to the NICU to see him.

He's 3 pounds and 1 oz, and hopefully will put on some weight soon. He's breathing on his own, but has a little help from the ventilator. His lungs are sounding good, and the NICU nurses think he'll come off the ventilator tomorrow (Tuesday). I'll keep things up to date here, so keep checking back.

Thanks for all your notes, emails, phone calls, prayers, etc. We need all the support we can, so please keep me, Jennifer and Evan in your thoughts.

I'm wiped out, off to bed.

Posted by Mike at 12:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If its Sunday, that means its football time, and Jennifer and I (and Cops) watched the Steelers pretty much spank the Ravens. Good game. It went much better then I expected.

Anyways, today was somewhat quiet. We had visitors all day, starting with Jo early in the morning, her dad and brothers, her mom, my folks, even Beth's sister Jen.

At midnight, she's off food and liquids, and an IV was started in case tomorrow (Monday) is the day. It will all depend on the protein numbers that we get back tomorrow afternoon. If they're too high, out he comes.

We're nervous, to say the least. Let's hope its not tomorrow. I don't think it will be, but what do I know. My guess is it will be later in the week or the weekend.

Guess we're going to need a name.

Posted by Mike at 12:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our flippant tone about the baby arriving early and being no big deal was smashed rather swiftly by the neonatologist.

She stopped by tonight to detail the many dangers that our baby will face if is his born this week, teechnically his 31st (they don't count it as a week until it's complete. We count the next week at the start of a week.). She went though complication after complication, including heart problems, lung problems, brain problems, problems staying warm, problems with stopping breathing and brachiocardia (the A's and B's she called it, apnea and brachiocardio). It really served as a wake up call, that even if he's born early, there may be some struggles.

All we really hope for is that the steroids have helped with the lungs, and the protein level stays down enough so that we can last longer then the upcoming week. Every day longer we go with him in there is one more day he has to grow and keep developing.

So things we're a little quieter at the hospital tonight, as we thought about the struggle ahead. For as much as I can't wait for him to arrive, I'd almost like it better if he stayed in there just a little longer.

A week and a half would be great.

Stats:

Well Well what a few days of activity.

Jennifer was admitted to the hospital Thursday for her preeclampsia. Her blood pressure remained really high and her protein was still really high, so in we went.

It's now Saturday afternoon, and even though her blood pressure has come down, the protein keeps rising. The doctors says that this will probably be the week Cops is born, whether we like it or not. :)

He's 32 weeks, but with the steroids they've given him for his lungs, he should do just fine. He's a trooper, I bet. Jennifer remains in the hospital, and will stay there until she delivers. It will be by C-section, but we really don't have a choice about it. The hospital days are long and boring, but luckily we've had a stream of visitors, which has broken up the monotony.

Thank god for family, as mine has helped greatly with the laundry and help getting the house in shape.

When he arrives this week, Cops will probably stay in the NICU for a few weeks, or at least until he's 5 pounds. He's 4 right now, which we discovered in his sonogram yesterday.

He's also cute, if I don't mind saying. He's got is mother's nose.

Well, back to the hospital, I'll keep you all posted.

Posted by Mike at 04:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, it's official. Confirmed by my doctor's office today, I have preeclampsia. Read all about it--it's not a nice thing to have. They found it because I have protein in my urine, quick reflexes, and my blood pressure is creeping ever higher. So far they have recommended that I stay on the low fat/no salt diet, drink a lot of water, and stay off my feet when possible. I also have to start going to the doctor twice a week (instead of once every two weeks, which is normal at this stage). I have a feeling that before long I'm going to be on bed rest. I'm really scared about this, and I'm worried that things are going to get worse. Keep me and Cops in your thoughts over the next nine weeks...I can't wait til this is over.

Posted by jenny at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This weekend we finally bit the bullet, and bought some baby things besides clothes. We met Mike's folks for a day of shopping in Mentor at the Babies R Us, and since we're not having a shower, they were very generous and helped us to pick up a few essentials for Cops. We got a stroller, car seat, baby seat, diaper pail, bottles, diaper bag, bath stuff, and all kinds of other little bits for baby comfort. It was fun and tiring, and we had a great time going through our loot today. Mike's mom is even sewing us our crib bedding out of some really cute Peanuts baseball fabric that we found. Things are really coming together. Now we just have to get the room set up and we will be ready for our little guy to come home.

Posted by jenny at 07:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Unfortunately, at this moment, low-fat diet is not working. Ow this really really hurts.

Posted by jenny at 03:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I suppose it's time you all were updated on the general health of me and Cops. Well, since the first of the year, we've had two overnight hospital stays (love the Hamot nurses) and two office visits stemming from some severe upper abdominal pain. This is the same pain I had earlier in December, at which time the doctors told me I had a gigantic uterus. The hospital was an interesting place...they have really awesome maternity suites, but we were stuck in a shoebox sized room at the end of the hall because I wasn't actually in labor. I had many blood tests, sonograms, an IV, shots of some drug to stop the contractions I was having, and constant fetal monitoring, but I didn't start to feel better either time until I vomited out my soul. Turns out I have gallbladder problems, including some nice sized stones and thickening of the wall. I also had some early symptoms of preeclampsia, but those seemed to have leveled off a bit so I'm allowed off of bed rest for the time being.

Not too much can be done at this time, as surgery could cause me to go into labor. I've been put on a strict no/low fat diet and hopefully this will keep the pains away and allow me to go the next 10 weeks without any more pain. Granted, that has me eating bran flakes and wheat bread, but if that stops me from having any more late night visits to the hospital, I'm game. Mike has been really supportive and helpful, and I couldn't have done this without him. He held my hand during all the yucky procedures, got me a new gown when I puked, and has been waiting on me hand and foot since I got home. I know this past week has scared both of us, especially when we realized something was wrong and we didn't know how to fix it. But we pulled through, and I feel like we are stronger for it. Something like this really makes you appreciate your health and the love of your family, how they would do anything for you. I'm lucky, and for now I'm going back to bed to rest.

Posted by jenny at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In honor of the baby's arrival, I bought Iron Monkey on DVD from eBay. It's a version from Hong Kong, but its still cool. I'll watch it with headphones on Jennifer's stomach. He was kicking Bruce Lee style all weekend.

Remind me later to post about the fun weekend spent in the hospital. That was a blast.

Posted by Mike at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)