Back on the Blue Light Special - Happy 1 Week Birthday

Noah is one week old today. He is doing quite well. They have put the blue lights back on him, he was getting a little jaundiced again. So he's got his shades on and is taking a tan.

He is loving laying on his belly and if they put him on his back he gets all fussy about it. Mommy and Daddy sang happy birthday to him. His wonderful Nurse Nicole also said how great his stats are when he is facing the window (he's wanting to go hunting and fishing already). Tiffanie is finally back tonight and will check his weight and give him another bath. He might actually be about 2 lbs 13oz?

Pa Gary came to visit for a little while and brought me some smoked sausage we had made - gotta love Mamou sausage.

1 week birthday video below. We brought some monkey bread to the nurses from Noah.

To all my peeps in Pod 6

Whatzup! Noah is giving his little peace sign.

They removed his IV today but it was just for blood samples and some data collection. However this is a big step because that shows how stable he is at this point in time. They were going to remove the tube (extabate) and put him on the CPAP machine (Through small tubes that fit into the baby's nostrils, called nasal CPAP, this machine pushes a continuous flow of air or oxygen to the airways to help keep tiny air passages in the lungs open.) Stef changed another diaper and we brought over some blankets from home for when they change his sheets.

NO MORE BLANKETS

We are going through Noah's gifts and clothes and such and washing and finding places for things. He has a TON of blankets so if anyone reading this will be buying things for Noah, we are good on blankets and probably ok on preemie clothes as well.

Belly flop

Noah is on his belly now. They are hesitant to put little ones this age on their belly because their muscles are not completely developed yet. However they flipped Noah over and he loved it and kept on breathing and eating like before. That's right he loves mom's milk and hasn't had any issues with it at this point. They still have the souped up IV but the colostrum is now helping him gain weight and immunities also. They weighed him again and he was 2lbs 13oz. Still doing well. He technically made 29 weeks today.

We brought another blanket for him to use over his incubator - it's an awesome LSU one that was won at a church auction in Henry. Paw Paw Pedo and Pa Gary were going back and forth to try to win it, all for a good cause.

Home Matters

I got to cook last night!!! Nanna (Susan) restocked our fridge. Most of the items were thankfully eaten by our house sitter or had gone bad, so she got us the standard foodstuffs. So I was able to make a great chicken alfredo with spinach and roasted tomatoes. Good Stuff. We are trying to get back on our schedule so we ate early.

Here's a photo of Papa with Noah:

It was almost as good as the meal Nanna and Papa (Susan and Tommy) got us in the hospital for our last night. A five course meal with petit beef tenderloin fillets. Here's Stef getting ready to dig in.

Noah had another great day - 5 days old

Everything is going very well. We just visited for a while with Granny, and Angelle and Kate showed up. We assisted in giving him a bath. This is about his third bath so far. He doesn't get dirty in the NICU incubator so it's more for dead skin cells and stimulation.

Stef helped changed another diaper and is almost as good at me at changing him ;)

He is doing well on Mom's milk and they are impressed with Stefanie's production. They put it in this little machine and it pushes it directly into his stomach.

He opened his eyes big for Angelle and Stef and in their "awwwww how cute" moment they didn't take a picture. Oh well.

Here's a little insight into his breathing machine. They are weaning him off of it steadily. Down to 15 breaths a minute from about 50 per minute. He averages a total of 70 breaths per minute so he is taking about 55 and the machine is giving him 15 - very good for his age. This is just machine video with me explaining. The big green hills are machine breaths and the smaller red hills are his breaths.

Somebody loves his Granny

Every time Granny (Janet) would talk to Noah his little eyes would move behind his eye lids and his eyebrows would raise up. Too cute.

He has only opened his eyes once that I have seen and it was barely a squint. As soon as I can get a photograph of that I will.

His PDA has gone away!

Well not totally and maybe not forever, but for now the PDA is "tee tinsey" (that's how Dr. Hixon put it) and should continue to close up on it's own. {For those of you not up to date on the PDA - it's an extra artery/valve near his heart that is typical with preemies but causes problems with lung and blood interaction.}

They are going to start feeding him some of momma's milk. And by start, I mean 0.5 ounces over a 24 hour period. His stomach is about the size of this letter O.

They are also going to attempt to wean him off of the ventilator over the next few days!!

Photo of his chest X-ray (I am pretty sure I was not supposed to take this picture). See the wires and tubes? They are mostly external.

Granny (Janet) came up today to help us with washing, cleaning and other random errands that have to be completed while Stefanie is in bed for a while.

3 lbs?

So today Noah was weighed and the scale told us 3 lbs not once, but twice. Weird. We'll find out what that's all about tomorrow. He might have gained that much weight already but WOW!

Also tomorrow is an ultrasound to see if the Iburprofen closed the shunt which Dr. Smith did not hear today so it may have been effective. They are going to call us to go watch the ultrasound.

Coming home was not a horrible experience - so far so good. We visited tonight for a while so it was made easier.

Stefanie is pumping better and better.

Another Dirty Diaper

AND I CHANGED IT!!!!! Look at me GO! (It was 3 AM so cut me some slack on my first try:)

The nurses (who are thankfully very awake at 3 AM) made me take off my wedding band and took pictures after putting it on Noah's arm like a bracelet.

It's dirty diaper time

. Stef got to help change his diaper and take his temp tonight. He had a total of 8 grams of urine- right on par!

Then he dropped off into dreamland. See the REM sleep motions?

It's official - we get to check out.

So we are going home tomorrow but will be back multiple times daily to check on Noah. It's going to be hard leaving him in the NICU for about 7 weeks but he had GREAT nurses who have volunteered to be assigned to him whenever they are working. Tiffanie and Nicole are his nurses and they are awesome. We live so close we are sure to be here alllllllllll the time.

If anyone who hasn't called and talked to Stef yet and wants to call tomorrow night, that would probably be a good time, she'll need the camaraderie to help her through the day. We are probably gonna head home about 14:00 hours or so (hospital time is military time).

Breast pumping is going great as well. Like Keri Landry always said to Stef "Yo' kids ain't neva' gunna go hungry!"

Momma's Got Milk.

This is Stef.....This is Stef on drugs

This is my Stefanie!!

This is my Stefanie on Drugs!!!

Any Questions?

Video!!!

The blue light is for bilirubin breakdown - he has a little jaundice. He just got a bath so he's a little jittery. His nervous system is still in "creation" mode so he gets the jitters at times.

Update from the Doc

These NICU doctors rock! They are consistent with their phone calls and always make sure you totally understand. Sooooo, Doctor Angelle Barry just called with the update on Noah. He is doing very well, his breathing is good and they will not have to move him to an occilator. He is being taken off of antibiotics since his cultures came back negative!!! AWESOME! He will continue to be fed through his umbillical cord. His bilirubin levels look good as well so he is being taken off of the light blanket but will stay on the overhead light. He will not need a trasfusion as his blood levels are stable. His next cardiograph (ultrasound) will be on Tuesday afternoon and they are going to call us to be there for that. At that point we find out if the PDA (see previous post) is closing up or not.

3 days old

Stefanie and I went to see him this morning (and bring some milk to freeze). All seems to be well and his numbers from a little blood work this morning at 06:00 look good. He is now consistently at ambient air O2 levels - which is awesome. One of his suitemates, Baby Rose, wasn't there this morning but we don't know where Baby Rose went (they can't tell us). We are assuming baby Rose graduated to the Special Care nursery which is where Noah will go before heading home with us (still many weeks away).

His nanny Patrice is coming by today with Ashely, Aunt Margo and Maw Maw Dee. We are looking forward to their visit as well as seeing Aunt Annette, Uncle John and Nina this afternoon.

Pod 6 is Noah's Ark

So he's in Nursery 6 which is also called Pod 6. So Pod 6 has become "Noah's Ark". The nurses are awesome in the NICU and even made little decorations for his incubator.

Hey Noah you have a PDA! and it's not a blackberry.

So Noah has a PDA - patent ductus arteiosus. There is a small duct that is used in the womb to tranfer blood to the lungs and when babies are born at term this duct is shunted off and never functions again. Since Noah is only 28 weeks along this duct is still functioning and it's making his lungs become flooded with blood, he's okay with it while on the vent but his lungs are not functioning like they should; leading to some instabilities in his blood O2 and CO2 content. They gave him his first dose of medicine which should relax this smooth muscle tissue so that Noah's body will shunt it off.

Day 1 of Noah's New World

So all the gradparents are now in town and we are having a grand time visiting. Wait who am i kidding, we are exhausted and if we wouldn't be talking and excited about Noah and sharing experiences we would probably fall asleep standing up (or in Stef's case, laying down). Stefanie is still on bedrest because of the C-section.

Paw (Gary) and Granny (Janet) brought boudin and cracklins for me to munch on and I am sure I saw Noah drooling when he smelled the cracklins on my breath! As if there was any doubt he was a coon-ass.

Nanna (Susan) and Papa (Tommy) have been so awesome. We didn't have anything for a preemie since we were assuming an October Birthday so they starting getting items that we will need. Stefanie was also waiting to see what nursing outfits she liked best so it was a mad rush to get everything for her as well.

Noah is HERE!!

He made it!

Mercury Rising!

Stef here:

My pressure have gone up someone and my urine collection had 4+ grams of protein in it. My liver and kidneys are still doing fine and the baby's heartbeat is consistent as ever. At 2:30 AM Sat night (well actually Sunday morning) I had some strong pain on my right side. Our nurse Lane (we loved Lane) hooked us up to the fetal monitor and evidentally I was having small contractions. She rushed us to labor and delivery after we signed an epidural conscent at 3:17 AM Sunday. I was hooked up to a lap band monitor which was watching for contractions and Noah's heartbeat. All was well 8 hours later. We heard LOUD and clear that you were having hiccups! It was so cool and Richard was excited to hear it. At about noon we were sent back to Med OB and our nurses there were so happy to have us back! However they checked Noah's amiotic fluid levels and they were down even more. We are going to have another ultrasound Tuesday 7/22 when Dr. Holden-Parker gets back. In the meantime we have met two of her partners Dr. Brown and Dr. Breaux who are both very nice!

Going Home!!!?????

Dr. Diket (sp?) from maternal-fetal medecine came today to let us know that my blood pressures have been great and I could quite possibly go home next Tuesday if I Promise, Promise, Promise to stay on bed rest. I'm not comfortable with that at this point. I'd rather be here at the hospital if something happens so we'll see what my next 24hr urine collection shows on Monday morning.

Med OB day 2

Luckily Someone is watching over us and Stef's cousin is a resident on rotation here and since Stef is her patient, we have a really comforting Dr to talk to who gives it to us straight.

Oh boy the bed I (Richard) have to sleep on sucks. Little do I know it's only gonna get worse - the bed in 303 is even worse.

Stef here:
So things picked up today becuase we got it straight from Dr. Stedman. He told us that every day baby Noah stays in the womb means two less days in the incubator. That is what I needed to hear! For me, it does not matter how long I have to lay here if it means baby Noah is healthier and stronger when he's born.

Richard and I decided that our goal for now is next Tuesday 7/22 (baby steps). Two reasons: this will put him at 28 weeks and Dr. Holden Parker will be back on rotations to deliver Noah just in case. Well there are more reasons: Kate will also be back from Indiana by then and I want her to talk to, and Mr. Gary and Ms. Janet will be back in town also. So Tuesday is the next big day.

Stress in the Med OB

Oh boy. The Med OB. The nurses are awesome!!! but the situation is really starting to get to us. The Doctors (that's right, it's a plural, we are seeing about 5 of them) are starting to give conflicting ideas about what'a happening. It's really confusing and a little aggrivating. Of course this is probably due to our total confusion about what is going on.

Aubrey comes to the "Hopistal"

Stefanie here. Today my neice Aubrey came to visit us in the Hopistal with a bag of goodies, she ate most of the starbursts but that was fine cause she asked for the specific colors she wanted which was really cute. I loved seeing her in a dress I bought her. I think I loved it too much cause they took my blood pressure when Tallissa left with her and it was HIGH - 176/102 and the nurse reprimanded us a little about little ones in the hopistal, especially in the Med OB. Richard and I decided that we might go without guests for the rest of our stay.

Aubrey also brought me the cutest little drawing. Her hands were traced on a sheet of paper and it said "Little hands are saying Big prayers". Of course this prompted me to trace my hands and now I realize I am swollen and my hands are like Fiona's from Shrek.

Off to the Hospital we go.

Stefanie had a slightly high reading on the blood pressure machine at home so she called it in. I was at work and thought nothing of it when they asked her to come in for blood work and another BP check.

Then I get the call, it's in a whispered voice as if she doesn't want to hear herself saying it, " They are going to admit me to the hospital." "WHAT!?!" "They are writing up the papers to admit me to the hospital!" I was in my car in about 30 seconds and flew from the office to the hospital (I'm waiting on the tickets to be mailed to my house).

Of course when I find her in the hospital they are taking her blood pressure and it's wayyyy up cause she is slightly distraught. It was something like 165/105 - wayyy up.

Here I am thinking -here we go this will be a wild ride.