Sleepy Baby

When we went down to see Lewis this morning, we noticed his back looked a little different. Early this morning a resident Dr. came by and removed Lewis's bandage on his back and replaced it with gauze. Everyone seemed to be pleased with how his back is healing. Good job, buddy!

Lewis's feedings also continue to increase. His last two feedings were at 55 mL and next he will be at 60 mL. He is still having some trouble chugging all that milk. Tonight for instance, we got off the elevator and heard him crying in the nursery. We got in the nursery after scrubbing up and started his care. We started the bottle before we changed his diaper. He drank maybe 25 mL and was fast asleep. I think I'd be pretty tired too if I was laying on my stomach drinking warm milk. So we took a break from feeding and changed his diaper. That didn't really seem to wake him up much (see pictures below). He drank a few more sips before he gave in and shut his eyes for the night. They had to use the feeding tube to get the rest in his belly. Hopefully once he gets used to the amount that needs to go in his stomach he will start drinking it all. I'm sure he will.

Today we also made a trip back to our house. We've been making a list since we got to the hospital last Tuesday. So we drove back to Muskegon, spent about an hour at the house, and then headed back to GR. It was kinda nice to take a break from the hospital - although we missed Lewis a lot while we were gone. I'm so glad we don't have to make that drive every day! One of the things on our list was some clothes for Lewis. So Lauren went upstairs to the nursery and walked into a surprise - someone had decorated the nursery! My mom told me who did the decorating - thank you G/G Schone and Aunt Ella! We can't wait to get Lewis home and take some pictures in there!

Until then - here's some pictures to hold us over:

Slurping it down for about a minute until....

.... he falls asleep.

And even a diaper change won't wake him!

Chomping away on his pacifier while asleep... haha!

Day 5

Aside from a midnight pumping - we got a pretty good nights rest last night. And from the sounds of it, so did Lewis. Aside from a few short outbursts, he was pretty quiet all night.

Lauren's milk has started to come in pretty good, too. Its enough to keep him on the milk instead of formula now. When we went down to help feed him, Lewis was already awake and the nurse was changing his diaper. He had a pretty messy diaper (and continued to mess his dirty diaper as the nurse was changing him). We let her finish it up - hahaha. They had him taking 30 mL of milk this time. We fed him his bottle, but he didn't quite down the whole bottle. He kind of fell asleep before he was finished. The nurse checked with Dr. Kinney who said they may need to use a feeding tube to make sure he takes all of his food. We were pretty discouraged with this. All we want is for him to get better and then we get a little setback - he won't eat all his food.

So after we finished our visit with Lewis, Lauren and I went to grab some lunch. Lauren was so hungry she was shaking. I think it's the calorie output in the milk that made her so hungry - but she ate a lot at lunch, probably more than she ever did when she was pregnant! (And in case you were wondering - Lauren OKed this paragraph)

After lunch we headed out for the first time since Lewis was born. We made a trip to the mall so Lauren could get some better nursing clothes and also to the store to pick up some snacks and things.

We missed his 5:00 care but called in to see how he took his food. He downed it like a champ! We made it back to go to his 8:00 care time. We noticed right off the bat that he didn't have an IV in anymore. The nurse told us that they were trying to move his IV but could not get a new location to work. Dr. Kinney wrote it up to leave the IV out and to increase his feedings by 5 mL every 6 hrs. We did the usual: temp, diaper, and weigh. Before we fed Lewis the nurse went ahead and put a feeding tube in. Since he has been a little iffy with his feedings and they are going to be increased kind of quickly, she wanted to put it in. It ended up being ok because he didn't finish his 35 mL so they gravity fed him the rest. I'm still not quite sure which is better - no IV or no feeding tube. I guess we'll have to take what we can get now. We're going to go say goodnight to Lewis before we head to bed. Keep praying for the little guy - he's doing pretty well but still needs some help. Thanks - we'll talk tomorrow!

1 Down - 1 To Go

So this morning we were down bright and early to see Lewis. We stayed down long enough to be involved in his 8:00 care. We got to do the whole routine - temp, change diaper, and feed. Overnight they increased his milk intake to 10 mL so that was good to hear.

Today was a big day for Lauren - she was discharged from the hospital today! Now we're just waiting for one more person to be discharged so we can go home. They didn't kick us out of the room at a certain time though. That was nice because the Renucci House starts check-in after 3:00.

We didn't get over here exactly at 3:00 though, we were down hanging with the cool dude again for a while. He wasn't a very happy camper this visit. After he was done eating he started crying and didn't want to stop. It was frustrating for all of us since we just wanted to pick him up (and I'm sure he did too.) An occupational therapist happened to be in the nursery helping another baby and came over to show us some things. Since he's laying on his stomach he doesn't get all the necessary movements normal babies get. She showed us some exercises to do with him - holding his head and hips and gently rocking back and forth, holding his shoulders and hips and gently bouncing up and down, and again holding his shoulders and hips and rocking him side to side. Wow what a difference that made. Doing the head/hips one quieted him down instantly. He didn't mind the side to side one either. He didn't really care for the bouncing too much. The therapist explained that that was a new movement for him and he just wasn't use to it - in time he will get used to them. These movements are supposed to stimulate brain function and neuropaths. So we'll be doing these on a regular basis from now on.

We finally got all checked-in around 5:00 at Renucci. Pretty nice place: comfortable rooms, attached to the hospital, nice kitchen area with food available, ... We're very happy we were able to get a room here.

Shortly after we got settled in, our friends Kevin and Sarah stopped by to meet Lewis. We took them down to the NICU for a visit. He was sleeping most of the time we were down there but he peeked out to see his new friends a few times. We love showing him off (have I said that before?)! After visiting with Lewis we went up and had some dinner with Kevin and Sarah in the cafeteria.

After dinner we went back down to see Lewis for his 8:00 care. When we got down there the nurse said he woke up a little early because he was probably hungry. She had already done most of the stuff. We got to help weigh him again. He weighed 8 lbs! Must be because they increased his intake to 20 mL. We fed him again and then headed back up to the room. We're planning on heading back down one more time to feed him again tonight at 11. Then it will be time for some good rest.

Here's a couple pictures from today:

Day 3

More milestones to report today!

While I was in visiting Lewis with my parents, Dr. Kinney (one of the neonatologists) stopped by for an exam. He decided it was time to start feeding Lewis with a bottle! Our nurse said that she would feed him around 2 this afternoon. So we planned our day around that.

Lauren had a visit from her doctors today, too. They said that they will be discharging her tomorrow! Once she's discharged we'll head over to the Renucci House where they have a room ready for us. It will be nice to still be so close to the hospital.

The new grandparents and aunts had their final visit with Lewis around noon before they headed back home to Illinois. I'm glad everyone was able to make it up here to meet him.

So back to Lewis - we went down around 1:45 so we could be there to help with his care and feed him. Lauren and I switched jobs today. She took Lewis's temperature and I got to change his diaper (although it wasn't dirty). We also got to put little socks on his feet! After all that he was ready for some food. Lauren took the bottle and started to feed him. The nurse helped prop him up a little bit since he has to eat on his stomach. Dr. Kinney wants him to eat 5-10 mL/serving. He was able to down 5 mL his first feeding! He'll get the hang of it soon and be slurping down all he can. All that food in his belly made him a tired little dude. After he ate he went right to sleep. We were both pretty tired too so we took his lead and went up to the room to take a nap ourselves.

We went and visited Lewis one more time tonight - during his 8 pm care time. As we were walking in the nurses were just finishing up changing his IV location. Next was fun task of removing the old IV from his head. He did not like that at all and certainly let us know! He calmed down pretty quickly afterward. Then it was time to take his temp, change his diaper, and weigh him. I took his temp, Lauren changed his poopy diaper, and I got to hold him up so we could weigh him. After we got all that done, it was my turn to feed Lewis. He downed another 5 or so mL of milk. He did good today. We stayed with him for a little bit after his care and then headed up to the room for the night.

Here's some pictures from today:

Day 2

So day 2 started pretty early for Lauren. The nurse came in a 0400 to get her out of bed and have her take a lap around the floor. Maybe it's because she works at night and doesn't realize what time it is, but I didn't think 4 was a very good time to go for a walk. Just me. After Lauren's walk we got a little bit more rest before deciding it was time to get up.

We called down first thing and talked to Lewis's nurse. She gave us the rundown of what happened over night. Lewis was breathing well enough that they decided to take out the breathing tube. Great news! By the time I called Lewis had already had some visitors - orthopedics and urology. They were just stopping in to see him and how he was doing. We'll probably be spending some more time with those doctors once Lewis is out of the hospital. Lewis also went in for a CT scan early this morning. Dr. Foody reviewed the results and said everything looked good! Dr. Mann also stopped by to take a look at his back. He was happy with how things were looking today!

Paster Joseph and his wife Miriam stopped by today to see us and Lewis. They talked with us for a bit in Lauren's room. Then we took them down to see Lewis. We like showing off our baby! Pastor Joseph prayed over him. We really appreciated them coming by!

We stopped in to see Lewis a few times throughout the day. Since he was still on pain meds from the surgeries yesterday he was pretty sleepy. He did open his eyes for us a few times though! Our last time down there tonight the nurse let us help with his care. The first thing we did was take his temperature. That was my job. I pulled his little arm out a bit and took his temperature from his armpit. Then it was time to change his diaper. Lauren got to do that. Since he was cathed and hadn't pooped, his diaper was clean, but they changed it anyway! Then it was time to weigh Lewis. The bed he lays in has a scale built in but you have to zero out the bed before he's weighted. That means someone has to pick him up to zero the bed. Lauren got to do that too! It must have been a great feeling - picking him up for the first time! Lauren said she'll let me do it tomorrow.

Oh, we also went to a NICU pizza party tonight! Our guest speaker was a nurse from infection control. Exciting stuff! It was free pizza though so I couldn't turn that down.

Anyway, we're both pretty exhausted tonight. I can only imagine how much more exhausted Lauren is. She's feeling better and better, though, as time goes on. We'll keep the updates coming!

Here's some pictures from today:

Lewis with his shunt (and blonde hair)

Lauren changing Lewis

Lauren holding Lewis

Family photo #1

Lewis's notes!

Lewis Miller

What a day!

Our day started at 0400 this morning when my alarm went off. I called the hospital to make sure everything was on schedule. I didn't have the direct line to the Labor & Delivery unit so I just looked up Spectrum on Google to get the phone number. Someone answered right away when I dialed the number - "Emergency Helicopter..." WHAT? Why Google posts that number for the hospital is beyond me. The guy was very pleasant about the whole thing saying that they get those calls all the time (I wonder why). Anyway, I finally got the right number - everything was on schedule. So we hopped in the car at 0430 and made our way to GR.

We got to hospital right on time, around 0530. They showed us over to the Birthcenter and got us in a room. They got Lauren all ready with IVs and the works and then had us sit there for the next hour and a half. Luckily one of the pastors from Kainay (Pastor Chip) dropped in around 0600 and hung out with us for a while. We were thankful for that because we would have just going crazy waiting in there by ourselves - the nervousness, the anticipation, ... We were happy to have some company. Our parents showed up a bit later, around 0715. They got to see Lauren before she was taken into the OR. While everyone was in the room Pastor Chip lead a prayer. Then Lauren was taken over to the OR to start the show.

I had to stay behind in the room while they gave her the anesthetics. Once they were ready for me, they brought me in. I sat up by Lauren's head along with the anesthesiologist. He was very nice. He gave us the play-by-play of what was going on the whole time. Once it was time to start delivering the anesthesiologist told me I could stand up to see the baby. That was probably one of the coolest things I have (and will ever) see. First the top of the head, then the whole head was out, then his torso, then his legs, then there he was. Baby Lewis was here! They took him to the table next to us to work on him - he started crying. Thats the best sound I've ever heard. Because of the opening in his back, we were not able to hold him at all after he was born. They did bring him over so mom and dad could give him a kiss though! Awesome! After that he was whisked away to the NICU.

Lauren was put back together and they took her over to the recovery room. When Lauren was ready, they took us up to the NICU to see Lewis. When we got up there he was lying quietly on his side just looking around. Lauren spent most of the time holding his little hand. They brought the new grandparents and aunts two at time to see Lewis. While we were there Dr. Mann (the plastic surgeon) stopped by to take a look at Lewis's back. We got to take a good look at his opening - pretty much what we expected. After we finished talking to Dr. Mann they took Lauren and me up to her room.

Shortly there after, around 1115, they called and had me meet Lewis and a nurse down in the pre-op holding area. Since Lauren was pretty much immobile, I went down by myself. I met with the anesthesiologist and with Dr. Foody (the pediatric neurosurgeon). They both explained how the surgery would go before they took him in. The plan was to perform the shunt surgery first and then the closure surgery immediatley after. Once they took him in we were playing the waiting game. They were pretty good about giving us updates on the surgery. Lauren's nurse came in and told us that the anesthesia went well and he was ready for surgery. A nurse called our room to let us know that the shunt surgery went well and they were getting ready to start the closure surgery. Then Dr. Foody called to let us know that his part of the closure surgery was finished and everything went great. A little while after Dr. Mann called to tell us that he had finished the closure and Lewis would be headed back to the NICU shortly. So thats where we are right now. We're waiting until he's ready for some visitors.

Please keep Lewis and Lauren in your prayers while they recover and that we can get home as soon as possible! Here are some pictures from today:

6-8-10

Well, again, it's been a while since we posted last. A lot has happened in the last month and a half. I finished up my Navy annual training (AT) and got back home April 24. I set that up with a couple friends from school. It was nice to catch up with them, hadn't seen them in a long time. After AT, they went to the Bahamas and I went back to work - something's wrong with that picture. Oh well.

So on to baby news. Lauren started going to the Dr. every 2 weeks starting mid April and weekly starting mid May. Each visit was accompanied by an NST. During one of the NSTs the nurse yelled over from behind the screen, "Lauren, can you feel your contractions?" Lauren and I looked at each other - "No..." The nurse showed the results to the Dr. who decided Lauren should head next door to the hospital for further testing. So we got to spend that afternoon in the hospital, yay! The only thing that really came out of the whole hospital visit was nervousness. Everything was fine with the baby and these "contractions" were nothing more than a little stress from excess amniotic fluid. So we left a little shaken but glad that everything was still ok. Since then we haven't had any issues and they tell us that baby is looking good! He's right in the 50% for weight, he's moving around a lot, and, for some strange reason, he has the hiccups about 5 times a day. We had an ultrasound today and they showed us that he was practicing his breathing skills. He's going to need them come Tuesday. Oh yea, for those of you that haven't heard yet - Lauren is scheduled to have the C-section on Tuesday, June 8. Everyone has been asking us what his name is. Up until this past weekend we've had to tell everyone that we didn't have one yet. Well now we have a name...but you'll have to wait until Tuesday to find out what it is. Ha.

Everything is ready for the little man to join the household. His room is all finished, we have tons of clothes, diaper bags are packed, car seat base/infant carrier in place, ... We've had everything finished up for about a week now. It's been kind of strange. We were used to always having something to work on around the house. The last week we've just been relaxing. I guess we will enjoy the last bit of relaxing we can get this weekend. I think that will end very shortly. We're ready though. It's been a long 9 months: Lauren finding out she was pregnant while I was out sailing on a tug boat, the excitement of a new addition to the family, finding out the little man has SB, meeting all the doctors, connecting with new friends who have been in our shoes before and helped us out immensely, realizing everything will be just fine, getting ready for the big day... And now, that big day is only 4 short days away. We can't wait.

Finally, my best friend and his wife just welcomed baby Carson on May 28. Congratulations Jason and Tasha! We'll get the boys together ASAP!

PS - Here's some pictures

Lauren and I (5/30/10)

Baby Room Pics