It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

WOW! So much has happened the past few days!  It seems like things were doing a two-step (one step forward, two steps back) for such a long time, then everything was just stagnant with nothing happening, then the last week or so, things have been moving forward QUICKLY!  We are really looking good for this “home by Christmas” dream we have had.  Finn is doing very well, hitting milestones, and getting bigger and cuter everyday!  We’ve had a few “too cute for words” moments this week, and I want to share some pictures and events with you.

On Monday, I stayed in the NICU later than I usually do.  They were due to draw a blood gas at 5, and I wanted to stay for that, then I decided to stay for the 8 o’clock hands on as well so I would know who the night nurse was.  SO GLAD I DID!  Finn’s night nurse decided he needed a bath, and she wanted me to help out.  Since he was still on the CPAP, the RT was in there to help as well.  The nurse made us a tub of water, and the RT had me holding an oxygen tube up to his nose to keep his oxygen saturation up. Another of our favorite nurses just happened by to see what we were doing since we had the big overhead lights on, and I asked her to grab my camera out of my purse, and she took pictures:

So, how many people does it take to bath a 4 pound baby?  (Well, he was only 3 pounds 15 ounces at that point.)  I guess 4 is the right answer!  The RT was using one of her tools to make bubbles in the water, and he had lots of personal attention, so we called it is his spa treatment.  I am still a little nervous with the feeding tube in his nose that I pulled out last time, so I had the nurse wash his hair.  After we were done “playing,” we put clean clothes on him, wrapped him all up, and put him back to bed!

I spent part of the day Tuesday in the NICU as well.  Nothing much happened that day.  I got to hold him for a long while, but then headed back to Stillwater to be ready for my surgery on Wednesday.  When we called for a weight check late on Tuesday night, Finn had hit another one of his milestones!  He weighed in at FOUR POUNDS!!!!!  Wednesday morning was an early morning at our house (the big kids spent the night at Nana and Grandpa’s), as we had to check in for surgery at 6:00am.  Everything went well (from what I know – apparently there was a problem with my chest tube), and I was home by 10:30am.  Asleep by 11 and sacked out most of the day!  Wednesday night, Finn weighed in at 4 pounds 2.2 ounces.

Yesterday, I was planning on just keeping a low profile and sleeping all day.  One of our doctors called about 8:30 am and said that they had REMOVED THE CPAP!!!!  Finn was doing ALL of his own breathing, just on a nasal cannula for oxygen support!  THIS. IS. HUGE!!!!!  Because, as soon as he tolerates that well (which he did all day), they can start bottle feeding him.  Once he is taking all of his feedings through a bottle, HE CAN COME HOME!  Christmas is a mere 23 days away…  So, after celebrating that news, I took a nap.  Around noon, our nurse called (I assumed that she was calling to say he was back on CPAP) to tell me they were almost out of breast milk.  YIKES!  I called Britt to tell him we needed to get down there, so he took the afternoon off.  What better reason to HAVE to go down there and see him only on a nasal cannula!

While we were there, Britt and I each took a turn holding him, and we also asked the nurse if we could “play” with him.  She said, “SURE!” in a very happy tone, and  then said, “Wait! What kind of play?”  LOL!  We wanted to use a couple of props and take some Christmas card pictures.  Those will have to stay under wraps until we get our card done.  Your sneak peek is the lead picture – those are his feet from the adorable Christmas outfit he had on!

So, here we are on a happy Friday.  Finn weighed in at 4 pounds 3.3 ounces last night.  They are very close to starting bottle feeding.  (I’m not real clear on when this will happen.  My nurse on Monday said they won’t do it without me there, and I’m not going back until tomorrow afternoon)  And we are VERY close to bringing him home.  It really is beginning to look like Christmas!  (But not in my house.  Jake is very frustrated that we have not decorated yet!)

Thankful for Finn

Well, it has been a bit of an eventful few days since I last posted! Nothing too exciting, except that MY BABY DOESN’T HAVE A TUBE DOWN HIS THROAT ANYMORE!!!!!  I know the picture doesn’t show the whole story, because the “after” almost looks worse than the before, but it is SO MUCH better!  He can swallow and cough and CRY now.  All things he needs to be doing to continue getting bigger. The CPAP still supports his breathing, but it is not as invasive or as aggressive as the respirator.  The CPAP is set to a rate of 15 breaths per minute at about 50% oxygen right now.  I know that soon after he was transferred over to it, they turned the pressure up, but I don’t know if they turned it back down yet or not.  The next step is nasal cannula, which is the least invasive breathing apparatus, but we are not sure when to expect that.

I was at the hospital Monday and Tuesday.  There had been talk of removing the ventilator since the weekend, but they we’re getting the blood test results they wanted from Finn.  He was at a rate of 10, oxygen was as low as 40%, and the pressures were being turned up and down slightly every day, but he was staying the same.  On Tuesday morning, the doctor told me they would change him over Wednesday morning.  I had told my nurses and respiratory technicians (RT)  that if I was in the hospital, I wanted to see them do it.  I had also told them that I was leaving Tuesday afternoon as I needed to be home with my big kids on Wednesday since they were out of school.  So, shortly after noon on Tuesday, my favorite respiratory technician came in the room with a HUGE grin on her face, and she said, “We’re doing it now!”  I said, “NOW?!?!?!?” She replied, “Well, as soon as I get everything I need gathered up!” So, again, with the surprises!  The doctor was vacillating between leaving the tube in, and trying CPAP, and after talking to RT, decided the ventilator may have been what was holding him back, and to at least TRY the CPAP!  Here’s the video I made for Dad:

It is now Thursday morning, and he is tolerating it just fine!  He was SUPER mad at us for a solid hour after the switch, but once he got settled in and used to it, he has done just fine.  I had never seen him so active and agitated!  But of course, you would be too if the only way you knew how to breathe was through a tube in your throat and someone took it away and started shoving air in your nose to make you breath! LOL!  While I was kinda sad to see him so worked up, it was AWESOME to hear him cry!  He is working hard to come home for Christmas!  I  stayed a few extra hours just to make sure they weren’t going to have to go back on the respirator, then I came home to my big kids to start their long holiday weekend!

On Wednesday morning, I called in to check on Finn about 9am.  All was well with him – doing just fine with the CPAP.  The nurse was the same one we had on Tuesday, and we had also had her several days last week. During our conversation, she says to me “Oh! And he looks SO CUTE in his little outfit!”  WHAT?!?!?!  What outfit? He has clothes on? Whose clothes?  I didn’t bring clothes??? LOL! I knew they day was coming, as him roommate has been wearing clothes for a while now. She is bigger than him, and in an open crib on room air, and I didn’t know what the qualifications were for wearing clothes.  I found out it is 3 and a half pounds, but when Finn hit that marker, he still had a rigid tube down his throat.  So, for him, it was 3 and a half pounds, AND the tube was gone!  The nurse also said he peed all over the first outfit, so she had to get him another one!  There is a stash of preemie clothing in the NICU, and parents are welcome to bring their own.  We have set aside a few things to take with us when we go see him today.   They nurse said she wished she could send me a picture.  I’m kind of sad I missed his first day in clothes, but I will see him today – and take pictures!

On Thanksgiving, we reflect on what we are thankful for.  Simply put, I am thankful for Finn.  But that extends so far beyond just my baby and his life.  It’s the lives he has touched beyond the walls of the NICU or this home.  It is my family who have loved and supported us unconditionally through the toughest road I have ever followed. It is my church family, friends and prayer warriors who have begged God for His mercy and provision for this baby, for me, and for our family.  It is the people who have read or will read this blog and see the love of Jesus shining through and get to see how powerful a relationship with Him can be.  It is the patience, knowledge and courage that have been fostered in me personally over the last few months.  It is LOVE.  Thank you Finn, for bringing that to me, to our family, to the WORLD!