Happy Haldoween!

That's not a typo, that just Jake. Today is Halloween of course and Jake's school (day care) went on a parade to the Admin offices at Luke's hospital. Jake dressed up as a Power Ranger. Afterwards Jake, Grammy and I went into to see Luke for Halloween, where we were later joined by Wendy & Gramma. Incidentally this could be the last time Jake gets to see his little brother until he comes home. To protect the babies, the hospital closes the NICU from November to March. We're trying to think of a good way that Jake can bond with his little brother without seeing him. Any ideas?



Luke is doing great. When we saw him, he was getting some 'tummy time.' I guess he really likes laying on his tummy, it really relaxes him. I guess the little guy is pretty active when he's on his back.

The big news was that he got his first taste of his momma's milk today...granted it was only 1cc, but it's a start. Once the hole* closes up in his heart, they can feed him more. Hopefully he'll digest the milk properly - sometimes preemies have a hard time with it.

He's pretty much off all of his meds now, except for the caffeine to help his heart. Yeah, they give him a shot of Starbucks every morning to keep his heart going. His oxygen levels and isolette humidity are pretty much atmosphere right now, which is really good.

*NOTE: some folks were concerned about the reference to the 'hole in the heart' comment...here's Wendy's reply, "The hole in the heart is normal. It allows oxygenated blood to flow back and forth between the chambers while the baby is not oxygen dependent in utero. Under normal circumstances, the hole closes upon birth when the baby takes its first breaths of oxygen...Since preemies have little lungs, they rarely are able to take in enough oxygen necessary to close the hole, thus the need for medication (ibuprofen) to do it for them. If the medication doesn’t work, then surgery is required, but our nurse assured us that it is a very short and routine surgery and is really no big deal!"

Achoo

Today was a good day. Luke got his belly button tube removed, which means he'll get to start feeding soon (once the hole in his heart closes up). They also reduced the humidity and temperature in his isolette which means he's getting better at regulating his body temperature. Finally, he should only have one more day under the Bellirubin lights. All of this is leading up to the time we get to hold Luke. I CANNOT WAIT TO HOLD MY SON!

Tonight was rough for us. Jake really wanted us to stay home with him so we could play together with some Halloween stuff. He has been awesome throughout this whole ordeal and has been very accomodating. It's going to be a challenge for us to balance between spending time with Luke at the hospital & Jake at home.

If you are wondering why I titled this entry "Achoo" it's because I heard Luke's first sneezes...they were really quiet, but unbelievably cute.

Here's some video of Luke stretching while sleeping.



Cheers,
Colin

The First Few Days...Tuesday

Wendy got out of the Hospital today...one day ahead of schedule. Wendy is doing great. It's really great to have her home feeling good after two weeks in the big house (more on that later). She's really had a crappy past few months so it's good to see her normal again...except that she's slow and has to roll into and out of bed due to the C-section. She'll be fine in 6-8 weeks.

Nothing too exciting happened with Luke today. He's been under the Bellirubin (sp?)lights pretty much all of the time. These lights help keep the jaundice at bay. His "levels" are improving daily so hopefully he doesn't need the lights much longer. Basically the lights consist of several hundred blue & purple LED's that look like a Light Brite toy (but this one probably costs $10,000).

Every visit is a little frightening..his chest heaves in and out so deep, it just breaks my heart. It's tough to look at him sometimes...I don't know why, it just is. Do I feel like a bad dad because I feel that way? Yes but I try not to let it bug me. I'm just glad I get to be in his presence, I hope that he knows who I am, that I'm there, and that I'm in love with him.

I pray constantly that Jesus will keep him safe, help him grow, and guide his care team.

The First Few Days...Monday

Monday was pretty cool, I took our Doctor friend Tracy in to see Luke. Tracy works in a PICU in Iowa and serves as the unofficial family Doctor to Wendy's group of girlfriends. She was very impressed by Luke's progress - we even got to see him extabated (sp?), which is the medical way of saying they took his breathing tube out. I guess it's pretty good that they were able to take it out so early...although they reminded us it could go back in at any time. Tracy also said his blood gasses looked great which is some magical doctor way of telling how healthy someone is.

I also got to change Luke's diaper today. This was probably one of the scariest moments in my life. I have Essential Tremor which makes my hands shake. My biggest fear is having a tremor freak-out and hurting my son. Fortunatley everything was OK and he's suprisingly resilient. He also had his first poop. Very cool!

Wendy got a hall pass from her hospital today. She got to go see Luke for 2 hours. It was pretty cool to see her and Luke really bond for the first time. Wendy is an amazing mom.

Cheers,
Colin

The First Few Days...Sunday

SUNDAY, October 26

Wendy started contracting again early Sunday morning and I got the call around 4:30am to come in. When I arrived, her contractions were about 3 minutes apart. The On-Call Doctor soon came in and pronounced that Wendy was in delivery mode. We rushed her upstairs for a "stat-section" (emergency C-section). Fortunately Wendy's real Doctor (the best OB in the world, imho) arrived just in time to make the cut. Lucas was born at 6:04. The Mole (which I'll discuss later) was extracted with no signs of invasion into Wendy's uterine wall.

Once Luke was out, the Transport Team prepped him for the drive to his new home. Around 8:30am, the Transport Team brought Luke in so we could see him for the first time. My emotions were a mix of shock, fear, pride, and most of all love. I was expecting this weird looking baby, but he looked normal...small but normal. His skin was red and he had lots of fine blond hair all over his body, which is perfectly normal. He also had a full head of hair, just like his big brother Jake. Overall he was a very cute boy, once you looked past the nest of tape, wires and tubes attached and inserted into his body. I can't wait to see him without tape!

My son and my wife were OK.

Cheers,

Colin

Welcome

Well here it is, my first, and possibly only blog. I decided to create this to document the life of my new son Lucas, aka "Luke" or "Luky Luke" who was born on October 26...about 13 weeks early. My wife had an interesting pregnancy (that I'll describe in future posts) that unfortunately caused the premature delivery. Fortunately Wendy is doing well now and Luke is living the NICU life. He has a bunch of awesome doctors and nurses that are giving him around the clock care. With any luck, we'll get to take him home in mid January.
Birth Length: 12 7/8"
Birth Weight: 2lbs 11oz
10-29-08 Weight: 2lbs 8oz

Cheers,

Colin