Posted Feb 17, 2007 9:03am

Since this is the beginning of this special website for our very special little boy I will take some to time to recap all the events up to this point.

January 29, 2007
We went to the doctor to have some things checked out because I had become nervous about the health of the pregnancy. Unfortunately, to our surprise, the doctor found that my body was not holding the baby inside well at all, so he immediately admitted us to the hospital. That evening I had a "rescue cerclage" procedure to help hold the baby inside. We were absolutely blessed with the success of this procedure. The plan was to stay in the hospital from this point forward until our little Peanut was born. Our hopes were to remain for 10 weeks so our baby could reach 32 weeks gestation.

February 10, 2007
Everything has been going well overall. We have had some ups and downs physically, but emotionally we are doing quite well. Late in the evening I began to have some contractions and bleeding. The nurses gave me Brethine to stop the contractions and it worked.

February 11, 2007
The contractions and bleeding have continued. I have been given Brethine several times today, and the contractions stop for a while then start again. Finally early in the afternoon it was decided to move me to the labor and delivery floor and start Magnesium to put a stop to labor. Labor continued despite all efforts. At about 5:00 p.m. it was decided that our little baby was going to be born and a C-section was going to be the safest for him because an ultrasound revealed that he was breech.

At 5:31 p.m. our little Peanut came into the world. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 1/2 inches long. He was at 24 weeks gestation.

February 12, 2007
Peanut has made it through his first day of life. This is awesome. The doctors say he is extremely critical but stable, and we will have to take everything on an hour-by-hour basis.

February 14, 2007
Peanut is doing well. His ventilator settings are set at about 25% oxygen. He breathes above the ventilator at times, and rides the ventilator at other times. His blood gases have been looking good. We received news from the doctor that the ductus in his heart has closed. This is a great blessing since they were giving him medicine to close it, and if it didn't close surgery would be required.

February 15, 2007
Peanut has a real name now. His name is Ryan Andrew.

I have been discharged from the hospital today. It is terrifying to think of being 30 miles away from from my little boy instead of just a 5 minute walk.

February 16, 2007
I was able to spend the day at the hospital so I could be close to Ryan. He has had a good day. All of his statistics have remained within normal limits. He is still positional, meaning his oxygen levels tend to fall when he is repositioned. I was able to touch him during one of his position changes, and he tolerated the change well. I would like to believe my presence made a difference. He has still been losing weight and is now down to 1 pound 3 ounces. I talked to the doctor today, and she said that all babies including tiny premature babies lose up to 20% of their birth weight. She said she would be more concerned if he was actually gaining weight because it would probably indicate he was retaining fluids. We received more good news today. They did an ultrasound of his head yesterday to detect any bleeding in his brain. The results came back normal. Yea!

Posted Feb 18, 2007 10:12am

We spent the afternoon and evening with Ryan yesterday. He had a really good day. I got to take his temperature, and I got touch him more than I ever have before. He responds to our voices, and he acted like he was trying to open his eyes when I was talking to him. The nurses say his eyes could open at any time. He is still very positional, and seems to a have a favorite "spot" for the ventilator. His O2 sats fall if it is not in that spot. Ryan's temperature did climb up to 100.5 yesterday afternoon which was cause for a little concern. They did blood work and, thankfully, everything came back normal. They did a lot of minor adjustments to the temperature of his bed, the temperature of the humidified air in his tent, and other adjustments. His temperature came down, but then it came down too far, so they began adjusting things again. It's all a very delicate balance. We were very grateful to find that the temperature was not because of an infection.

This morning we talked to the nurse. She said that Ryan had a good night. He gained another 3 grams. Praises to God for all our good days and our good reports. Today at 5:31 p.m. Ryan will be 1 week old!

Prayer Requests: Please continue to pray for Ryan as God leads you. We don't have any specific requests this morning. Please add to your prayer list a little one named Kenzie. She was born yesterday morning. I'm not sure her gestational age, but she weighed 1 lb. 9 oz. We met the family of this little one about a week ago, and each of our families has been praying for and keeping up with the other. I imagine we will become close friends over the next few months. Please also pray for the nurses and doctors. We have been blessed in amazing ways by the nurses and doctor that cared for me during the 2 weeks I was in the hospital, and we continue to be blessed by the nurses and doctors taking care of our son. God is using these very special people in very special ways, and I want to ask his blessings to be upon them. One last thing, please take to time to give praises to God because he is the Giver of Life and the one through whom all miracles happen!

Posted Feb 19, 2007 8:20am

Ryan had a good day yesterday. The doctor has added lipids to his nutrition regimen which is given via IV. He gained about 9 grams and now weighs 573 grams. That is about 1 lb 4 oz. Other than that nothing changed yesterday. It was a good day.

Last night was also good for our little boy. The only thing the nurse had to say this morning was that his blood pressure was running a little low at times and they might start him back on dopamine to help regulate that better. He is so tiny right now that he can't regulate much of anything on his own.

For those of you wondering about Ryan's size get a tape measure out and here are the measurements they took right after he was born:

Weight: 670 g, 1 lb 8 oz
Head Circumference: 21.5 cm, 8.6 in
Length: 31.5cm, 12.6 in
Stomach Circumference: 18cm, 7.2 in
Chest Circumference: 17.5cm, 7 in

Posted Feb 20, 2007 9:35am

Ryan had a pretty good day yesterday. They went down on the ventilator rate, but a blood gas came back "not good", so they had to go back up on the rate of the ventilator. He has been doing well on just 21-25% oxygen, but for some reason last evening he was needing about 30%. We aren't for sure why he is suddenly needing more oxygen, but a nurse did tell us that it is pretty common for the oxygen needs to fluctuate. Ryan's weight yesterday showed a loss of 11 grams, so he is back down to 1 lb 3 oz. again. This is another thing we are unclear as to why it happened. I hope to talk to the doctor about it today. They took his umblical arterial line out yesterday which we knew was eventually going to happen, but now they have to stick his heel for every blood test. It absolutely breaks my heart. Last night they did a blood gas and during the heel stick he just cried and cried (of course with the ventilator you can't hear him). The nurse ruined the first blood sample, so about 10 minutes later she came back and stuck his little heel again. We had to leave. It was just too hard. He is supposed to have a PICC line inserted sometime soon. This is a type of central line that will start in his arm or leg and travel up and into his heart. I really hope that they will be able to do blood draws from this new line.

Now, I'm going to have to vent a little...Last night our little peanut had a nurse that I 100% did not care for. I left the NICU crying like I haven't cried in a while, and I spent most of the night praying over my son for his protection. Here is why I don't like her...Ryan only has "touch times" (times when we can actually touch him and be a part of his care) every 4 hours. The NICU is "closed" from 6:30-7:30 for shift change. When we went in for the 8:00 touch time we walked in the door at about 7:40 and the nurse had already completed everything except sticking his heel. I was furious. We only get to be there for 2 of his touch times, and Wade only gets to be around for the last 1 at 8:00. I talked to the nurse about waiting for us, and her excuse was the RT was standing there and she needed help. I know that the RT stays all night, so the RT could have come back 15 minutes later. I asked the nurse about his higher O2 settings, and her response was "that's the way it was when I got here." He was satting around 98-100% and ALL our other nurses have made sure to adjust his O2 settings so he sats between 83-93% explaining that higher concentrations can be damaging to his body, especially his eyes. The nurse talked down to us, and wouldn't volunteer any information. When we told her we were leaving for the night she said "ok". I called during the middle of the night. Again she offered no information, and when I finally got her to tell me he was doing fine, I said "thank you". She promptly hung up without saying anything! I don't know if it is appropriate to pray that Ryan NEVER has this nurse again, but I sure hope he doesn't.

Prayer Requests: Please pray that Ryan gains weight, and that we can get some information as to why he lost weight again. Please pray that the procedure for placing the PICC line goes well without any complications. Please pray an extra prayer that God guard him from infection. One of the biggest risks with a PICC line is infection. Plese pray for Wade and I. Our emotions are on a roller coaster. Please start praying about Ryan's ultrasound of his head. This will be happening tomorrow. They will be looking for bleeding in his brain. Pray that we get another good report. Please also continue to pray for Kenzie. Last we heard she was still doing well.
Thank you for all your prayers!

Posted Feb 21, 2007 9:31am

Ryan had a good day yesterday. He was up and down on his O2 concentration needs throughout the day. He weighed 545 grams which is down from 561 yesterday. The doctors are keeping track of his weight and at this point seem unconcerned.

I actually got to hold my little baby boy yesterday. We did kangaroo care, which is skin-to-skin holding, for about an hour. It was the most precious time. I can't even begin to describe it. I will post a couple of pictures as soon as I can. (For some reason the website today is being a little difficult; I've tried uploading pictures 3 times now with no success).

Today is the day Ryan will have another scan of his brain. Our prayer is that he will once again have no bleeding. I'm not sure when they plan to place the PICC line in, but it could also be today.

Posted Feb 21, 2007 12:25pm

Ryan extubated, pulled the ventilator off, himself this morning. The nurses warned us that it would probably happen a time or 2. They caught the incident early and put him back on the ventilator within minutes. Today they are going to start feeding Ryan through the tube that goes directly into his stomach. We are excited about this, and are in hopes that he will start gaining weight again with the added nutrition. His ventilator settings have gone up again to a rate of 50. The settings are based on his blood gas readings, but we don't really understand why the ventilator settings keep needing to be increased. His blood sugar has also be running high, and he has needed insulin pretty regularly for the past day and a half. Again, we don't really know what is going on to cause this need, but we hope to talk to the doctor about some of our questions today. Ryan is going to be receiving blood today.

Thank you for all your prayers. Please continue to pray our little Peanut. A lot of things are happening today, and we desperatly need God to touch everything that is being done.

Posted Feb 22, 2007 8:30am

Yesterday Ryan had a fairly good day. We are starting to get into a roller coaster pattern of ups and downs which is extremely exhausting for Wade and I. It's hard to know how to feel. Ryan's O2 concentration needs varied all day yesterday from 30-50%. They are up to 50 bpm on the ventilator rate. The doctor explained that chronic lung diseases begin to manifest themselves around this time, and the ventilator settings often reflect those complications. Ryan's insulin levels were up and down throughout the day, but they mostly were on the high side for which they gave him insulin frequently. The doctor said that it could be a sign of infection and that they had sent the ventilator tube that came out yesterday down for cultures to see if he has any infections. They were also going to do some blood work this morning to look for signs of infection. Ryan gained weight yesterday. He gained nearly 60 grams, and we have been told numerous times that they like to see very small increments of weight gain. Large weight gains in short periods of time indicate fluid retention or other problems. He got his PICC line yesterday. He did well through the procedure. Unfortunately they will not be able to draw blood through the line, so he will still have regular heel sticks. They also said that if he needs to receive blood they will have to put in an additional IV line for that. They took out the IV line that went through his umbilical cord. They started feeding him milk through his NG tube directly into his stomach. He seemed to handle the first feeding well, but the second feeding he didn't tolerate as well. The nurse said the doctor may decide to stop feedings and try again later. He is being fed 1ml over a 2 hour period, and he gets fed every 6 hours. The head ultrasound was postponed until today.

Posted Feb 23, 2007 9:45am

12 days old.
605 grams.
Ryan had a fairly good day yesterday. His ventilator support was adjusted and readjusted quite frequently, and he was much more "touchy" with several de-sats throughout the day. He received blood again. He is tolerating his feeding well. The nurse this morning said that really he is not being fed, but rather they are putting food in his stomach to help stimulate his gut. He did have a bowel movement. His blood sugar ran high throughout most of the day, so they started giving him a regular insulin drip through his IV as well as an extra dose of insulin as needed. He did have his head ultrasound which praise our Great Healer it came back normal. He doesn't have a bleed in his brain!

Yesterday was a very difficult day for us. For the past several days we have not received horrible news about our little boy, but the updates are always riddled with a little bit of "not so good" news. We keep hearing terms like chronic pulmonary disease, he needs more ventilator support, he needs more oxygen, he de-sats without even being touched, his blood sugar is too high, etc. After several days of hearing these "not so good" reports and rairly if ever hearing of a little progress we were feeling a bit hopeless and helpless. Fortunately we were able to spend a little time with the doctor and after visiting with him we left the hospital feeling much better. The doctor said that stress can cause elevated blood sugar, and Ryan is in a lot of stress from simply being very premature. Preemie babies also don't tolerate sugars very well, and his fluids contain sugars, so they are going to wean him from some of the sugars. He explained that Chronic Lung Disease indicates that there is scarring in Ryan's lungs. Babies can have mild to severe cases of scarring which can lead to mild to severe problems. At this time we have no way of knowing how much scarring Ryan will have. All we know is that there is some scarring, and he will need ventilator adjustments to accomodate that scarring and loss of elasticity. The doctor said that new lung tissue will grow and hopefully overtake most if not all of the scarred tissue. The doctor explained that our biggest concerns at this time are 1)his brain--bleeding in the brain is a very major concern 2)his lungs--managing his ventilator support to accomodate for the scarring in his lungs 3)infection--he is at high risk for developing an infection because his immune system is very underdeveloped. Because of his risk for infection he is limited to only visitors from the immediate family. We hope all of you will understand this decision, but we cannot take any chances with bringing any kind of infections into the NICU.

Posted Feb 24, 2007 9:19am

13 days old
668 grams
Ryan had a pretty quiet day yesterday. Quiet days are good days. They didn't have to go up on the ventilator settings. His oxygen needs varied throughout the day from 30-45%. His blood gases were normal. They adjusted his IV fluids and the amount of insulin he receives through the IV, and his blood sugar levels remained within a normal range for most of the day. Most exciting yesterday was the fact that Ryan opened one eye!

Prayer Requests: Please continue to pray as God leads you. Please also remember Kenzie and her family. Her mother developed an infection before Kenzie was born. Now the infection has spread. Kenzie's mom is in ICU. Please also remember Taylor. She was born around the time that Ryan was born. She was a twin weighing 1lb 1oz. Her twin sister has already passed away. Taylor has 2 mild bleeds in her brain, and she had to have heart surgery yesterday. This family, as well as all the families in the NICU, need a miracle of God's healing power.

Posted Feb 25, 2007 11:21am

14 days old--2 weeks!

Ryan had a good day yesterday. They were able to go down on the ventilator rate setting to 45. He ranged in his oxygen needs from 30-45%. Both of his eyes are open now! He tolerated his handling time very well without any drops in his heart rate.

This morning the nurse said Ryan had a good night. She said he had only one episode where his heart rate dropped and needed some assistance. They went down on the ventilator rate setting to 42 this morning. He graduated out of the humidified tent, and now he is just lying in the warmer. Our next step will be into an incubator/isolette. We don't know when this will happen, but they have told us it is a very good thing to graduate into an isolette.

Kenzie's mom might get to leave the ICU today, but she still has a very long recovery time in the hospital. Kenzie has been doing well. They have been riding the roller coaster with her care needs over the past week also.

(I've added a few pictures from yesterday)

Posted Feb 26, 2007 9:18am

15 days old
607 grams
Ryan had good day yesterday. He had a few episodes where his heart rate and O2 sats dropped. They have started to feed him every 3 hours now instead of just every 6. He gets 1.6 ml of milk at each feeding. They re-taped his ventilator tubing, and they replaced his NG tube yesterday. Overall he is doing pretty well.

Posted Feb 27, 2007 9:03am

16 days old
Ryan had a fairly good day yesterday. His oxygen needs were increased from the previous few days to about 40-60%. He had several episodes where his heart rate and O2-sats dropped. He and I did kangaroo care yesterday. He handled it very well. He didn't handle being put back into the bed and his heart rate and O2-sats dropped pretty low. They have started feeding him every 3 hours. He gets 2.1 ml through his NG tube with each feeding. He is still receiving IV nutrition. He is still under the billi lights.

Posted Feb 28, 2007 11:27am

Posted Feb 28, 2007 11:27am

17 Days old! Yay!

When Peanut was born at twenty four weeks we were told to prepare for a roller coaster ride of ups and downs over the first few months of his life. That is what it seems like at times. Some days bring stress and concern while others bring some comfort and relief. His oxygen needs are always varying but what we always like to see are lower setting on the ventilator. His lungs are a great concern as the steroid shot given to help them develop was administered the morning before he was born, which was less than 24 hours of time for him to absorb the benefits of it. Please pray for his lungs to progress and that any scar tissue which exists will be replaced by healthy tissue. We are thankful that he has not had any bleeds in his brain, and we are thankful that he has not had to deal with any infections. At this point he seems to be progressing slowly. This is good. His skin has really developed a lot since he was born. His hair has even become a little fuller. In fact, he's a hairy little bugger all over. Thank you for your prayers and comments. We read and look forward to these words of encouragement every day.

1:25pm
This just in! He does not have to have the bilirubin lamp any longer! Hooray for no more blue light. This is an advance and means that his jaundice has improved to the point that they are satisfied. Give thanks!

Posted Mar 1, 2007 10:17am

18 days old!
638 grams

Ryan had a pretty good day yesterday. He did have several "episodes" where his heart rate and oxygen saturation dropped. They gave him a blood transfusion (10ml) yesterday morning, and he did much better after receiving it. He had less "episodes" and his color pinked-up. We sure will be glad when these "episodes" are no more. It gets pretty scary when you see his oxygen drop down into the 40's and his heart rate drop below 100. They haven't made any changes on his ventilator settings although he is requiring more oxygen to keep his O2 sats between 83-93. Yesterday he needed 50-60% all day, and this morning he is still at 54% oxygen. It was just a day or so ago when 30-40% was all he was needing. They are now feeding him 2.6 ml every 3 hours and he has been tolerating the feedings well. His digestive/intestinal system is still working well. I actually got to change a poopie diaper a couple of days ago. Ryan had another brain ultrasound looking for bleeding in the brain this morning. We probably won't know the results until tonight or tomorrow morning.

Prayers and Praises:
We thank God for his everlasting presence. Even when we feel alone we know He is near. We thank you for all your prayers. We have been truly blessed. We are thankful that Ryan has had no major setbacks. For being as small and early as he was when he entered this world he has been spared many problems and is doing quite well by God's grace alone. Sometimes I find myself in an emotional whirlwind simply because my son is doing quite well while other babies in the NICU are not. The only thing I know to do is to give thanks to God for blessing us so tremendously through all of this and to pray fervently for the other babies and families who are suffering. (So many things just don't make sense.) Please continue to pray for Ryan as you feel lead. Pray that he will begin to need less oxygen. Pray that these "episodes" will be a thing of the past and that he will suffer no lasting harm from them. Pray that his brain scan results are clear of any brain bleeds. Please pray especially for Taylor. Taylor's kidneys need to start working. She hasn't been able to pee for over 3 days now, and things have been very tough for this sweet family.

Posted Mar 2, 2007 8:31am

19 days old!

Ryan is back under the bili lights because his bilirubin level went back up again yesterday. He started receiving breathing treatments yesterday, and he seems to respond well to them. Yesterday his oxygen needs were about 56% or higher for most of the day, and for some reason his oxygen saturation remained in the low 80s most of the time. They did not adjust any ventilator settings other than the amount of O2 delivered. He had his brain scan yesterday, but we don't know the results yet. Last evening the doctor said Ryan's urine output was decreased, so he was given some lasix. The doctor explained that decreased urine output is not something they like to see, but it is something that can happen. He said the reasons for decreased urine output could be anything from an infection to a number of other problems.

Posted Mar 3, 2007 8:25am

20 days old!

Ryan's urine output was better yesterday. The results from his brain ultrasound were normal! Ryan and I did kangaroo care. He did fairly well with everything except the transferring from bed to me. They did not change any of the ventilator settings yesterday, but Ryan did require a lot more oxygen throughout the day. He needed 60-70% oxygen to keep his O2 sats in the normal range. They re-intubated (put new ventilator tubing down) Ryan yesterday morning. We visited with a couple of nurses about the increased oxygen needs. They indicated that it is something that is somewhat expected. Unfortunately oxygen is a medication and with all medications come side effects. The side effects of oxygen is lung tissue damage, so it becomes a very delicate balancing act to keep the tissue damage to a minimum while providing Ryan with the much needed oxygen throughout the rest of his body. As new lung tissue grows and develops we hope to see the oxygen needs decrease.

Posted Mar 4, 2007 9:24am

3 weeks old!

Ryan had a pretty good day yesterday. He actually looked better than he has in many days. His color was pink, and he just looked healthy. We also noticed that his movements are starting to smooth out a little. Previously his movements have been extremely jerky because of his underdeveloped nervous system. He actually moved in ways that reminded us of a normal little baby. Ryan is now receiving 4 ml of milk every 3 hours. He is tolerating his feedings well. His oxygen needs yesterday ranged from 70-75% and we noticed his pressures on the ventilator went up a little to 17. Ryan graduated to a new size of diaper. The smaller size actually still fits him, but he squirms so much they were afraid it might leak. The new size looks huge on him. He was able to come out from under the bili light again. They will continue to monitor his bilirubin, and he may go back under the light several times before he is finally free of it for good. He still has his "episodes" every time he is handled.

Prayers: Please continue to remember us. Pray for little Kenzie. She has a yeast infection in her blood and is having some intestinal problems. I don't have a recent update on Taylor. I haven't seen her family in a few days.

Posted Mar 4, 2007 9:21pm

704 grams

Ryan had a pretty good day today. His 6:00 blood gas came back bad, so he was extubated (ventilator tube removed) this morning then reintubated (ventilator tube put back in). His tube had some junk built up on it. His O2 sats improved after receiving a new tube. Yesterday he averaged about 70% on his oxygen needs, and today he averaged about 55%. That's a pretty good improvement. However, he was very positional today and needed constant attention to keep his O2 sats within an acceptable range. He also didn't like to be touched by anyone. Even when I touched him he had his little episodes. That makes me a little sad. I would love it if my touch made everything go in a positive direction. I guess sometimes my touch is comforting, but sometimes any touch is irritating to him. The nurse today did an unofficial experiment with Ryan today. She found that he seemed to have higher Oxygen saturations when she and the RT were standing by his bed and discussing things as opposed to leaving him in silence. She suggested we bring him some soft music to play in his bed or for me to read a story and record it for him. All this said, when we went in to see him before leaving for the evening he did better with us not talking and dropped his O2-sats when we talked. So we will take some soothing sounds for the nurses to play for him, and perhaps sometimes he will be comforted by them and other times he can enjoy the peace of silence.

Prayer Requests: Ryan has an infection in his lungs. They have started antibiotics. Everyone is hopeful that the infection has been caught in the early stages. His blood work has not shown any indication of infection. Taylor is not doing well at all, and the family is very discouraged and heartbroken. Kenzie's kidneys aren't working well and she is retaining fluid. She also has an infection in her blood. Stacie (Kenzie's mom) is going to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow. She was actually able to go see Kenzie today for the first time in a couple of weeks.

Posted Mar 5, 2007 11:08am

Ryan had another bad blood gas this morning, so he was once again extubated and reintubated. We haven't talked to the doctor about all of this yet, but the nurse said it could be related to the infection in the lungs or an upper respiratory infection. I'm not sure if these infections are one in the same or there is a possibility of 2 separate infections. Hopefully we will know more later. The nurse said he has been "all over the place" with his oxygen saturation and oxygen needs today, and he has been pretty restless.

Posted Mar 6, 2007 8:52am

23 days old!

We talked to the charge nurse last night about whether Ryan has 2 infections or just one. She said that from what she could tell he only has one infection. We were glad to hear this. Ryan's oxygen needs fluctuated through the day yesterday. At times he needed only 50% and other times he needed close to 100%. Last night we saw the scariest of his "episodes" during his handling time. His oxygen dropped into the 20s and his heart rate dropped into the 80s. This was scary for us and even alarmed the nurse caring for Ryan. Before we left for the evening we learned that he did the same thing again spontaneously with no one even touching him. It seems to us that he is dropping a lot lower during his "episodes" and he is having them more often. Ryan is tolerating his feedings well, and they have increased his amount to 5 ml every 3 hours. He has gained a little weight and is now above his birth weight at 1 lb 9 oz. We are thankful for his little progresses. Sometimes the setbacks are so overwhelming and concerning that we forget to remember his little bits of progress. We are very thankful that he is tolerating his food and growing. His movements are much smoother, and he can make some really cute expressions with his face. We sure do enjoy these little things.