Week 10: March 24th - 30th

Day 66: Monday, March 24th
Landon nursed for about 4 minutes today without breaking the latch.  He probably got about 2 mL of milk, and then he just fell asleep nuzzling me.  He weighed 1480 grams -- 3lb 4oz -- was 16 1/4 inches long, and his head was 29 cm around.  He is just growing so fast!  When I held him again at 7:00 pm, he was much more tired and slept almost the whole time.  His oxygen flow is still at 2.5 LPM, his concentration is at 37%.

Another of Landon's cute nurses

Day 67: Tuesday, March 25th
Landon had another eye appointment today.  The opthalmologist said there were still no signs of ROP, but his eyes are still immature so he will have another appointment in two weeks.  His eyes are between zones two and three now, so they have matured slightly so far without problems.  He could still develop problems though, especially while he is on oxygen.  He had to have another IV in his head for nutrition because he has to be NPO for the exam due to the eye drops causing upset tummies.  By 7:00 pm, his feedings were up to full again at 26 mL every 3 hours.

I gave him a sponge bath and held him at four o'clock.  He was wide awake and looking around for about 30 minutes, then he fell asleep.  At seven o'clock I tried breastfeeding, but he only latched for about 30 seconds before falling asleep.  He just uses so much energy to breathe and grow, that he doesn't have much left over for eating.

Day 68: Thursday, March 27th
Landon's oxygen flow was down to 2 LPM today, and his concentration was in the 30's and low 40's.  He's not wearing a temperature probe anymore because he is getting big enough to regulate his own body temperature now.  He weighed 1516 grams tonight, so 3lb 5oz.  I got to help with his bath and then try to nurse him.  He ate for about two minutes before falling asleep.

Day 70: Saturday, March 29th
When I nursed Landon today, he stayed latched for about 25 minutes and sucked for about 6 of those minutes before falling asleep.  They withheld 8mL of his now 28mL feeding to account for what he ate while nursing.  He had a swaddled tub bath at 4pm which he loved, then I held him skin-to-skin while he slept on my chest.  His respiratory rate and heart rate stay really even and steady when I hold him skin-to-skin.  It helps babies regulate these patterns.  His flow was down to 1 LPM today and his concentration was in the 40's and 50's.  He weighed 3lb 8oz -- he is getting so big!

This boy loves his binky!

Week 9: March 17th - 23rd

Day 59: Monday, March 17th
They started Landon on Lasix today to help with his swelling and to help some of the fluid in his lungs so that he can come down on his oxygen needs on the vapotherm.  He is still at 4 LPM of flow but was down in the 30's and 40's on concentration while I was there.  He weighed 1313 grams, so he's still 2lb 14oz.  He was 15 3/4 inches in length, and his head was 28 cm in circumference.

When I got there at 4:00, Shelly was just getting into his isolette and I could see the poop coming through his clothes from the doorway!  He had a huge blowout down both legs, up his back, and in front of the diaper, and he had thwon up all over the top of his outfit!  His diaper weighed a whopping 46 grams!  He had to have a sponge bath to clean it all off of him.

I held him until about 7:30 after Mike got there.  Mike had to hold Landon's binky in his mouth for about ten minutes until he fell asleep because he kept crying every time it fell out.  Shelly said that last night she heard a loud noise coming from Landon's station and went over to check his vapotherm, only to find him with his entire hand in his mouth sucking it extremely loudly.  What a funny little guy.

Day 60: Tuesday, March 18th
I can't believe Landon was born two months ago today!  What a great two-month birthday surprise when I got to the hospital to see a note in the check-in binder that Landon had moved to Room 2.  Then I walked into Room 2 to find my little man on 3 LPM of flow and down to 41% oxygen concentration.  He is breathing so well!

Landon's new station in Rm 2

They are changing his feedings to every 3 hours to see if he is getting grumpy from being hungry or because he needs sedation.  They are also fortifying my milk with calories and protein to help him gain weight.  When I held him skin-to-skin tonight, he was rooting around on my chest and sticking his tongue out and sucking on my skin.  Erin says that we can start non-nutritive "feedings" soon.  This means I would pump at the bedside until empty and then let Landon practice latching on and getting comfortable without being overwhelmed by milk. 

Day 61: Wednesday, March 19th
Landon's flow was turned down to 2.5 LPM today with his concentration in the 30's and 40's.  He weighed 1363 grams -- an entire 3lbs!  The doctor discontinued his caffeine because his heart rate has been high and he is getting old enough to safely discontinue it.  The developmental therapist says that Landon is doing very well for how little and sick he was.  She said that his reflexes and muscle tone look very good.

Poor little guy had his two-month vaccines today in his leg.  He got some numbing cream on his skin first, but he was still pretty grumpy when I moved his legs to change his diaper.  I was able to try non-nutritive latching tonight.  He did great!

Day 63: Friday, March 21st
I have been doing more non-nutritive feeding with Landon.  The NICU lactation specialist helped me during the day, and he did much better today with her help.  He weighed 3lb 2oz tonight, and Mike and I gave him a bath in his little tub.  He acted like he liked it.  He is 34 weeks gestational age today.

Day 65: Sunday, March 23rd
I got to try breast feeding Landon for the first time last night and then again today.  He latches and sucks for a minute, then moves his head or looks around, then latches again and sucks again.  He does this for about 15 minutes until he falls asleep.  He was able to get a little bit of milk each time, but they still gave him his tube feedings which are up to 26 mL every 3 hours.  He had his last dose of sedation today -- no more morphine or versed!  He is so cute and sweet, and I think he is starting to recognize Mike and me when we hold him. 

Week 8: March 10th - 16th

Day 52: Monday, March 10th
Another good day for our Little Man!  He's down to 4.5 liters per minute of flow on the vapotherm, but still in the high 60's and 70's for oxygen concentration.  His feedings were increased to 26 mL every four hours and are still being supplemented with Vitamin D and a multivitamin with iron.  He weighs 2lb 9oz, is 15 inches long, and his head is 27 cm in circumference.

He had his first tub bath today!  I videotaped him while Jen the respiratory therapist bathed him, and he did really well!  He seemed to like it a lot more than his sponge baths.  He was so comfortable that he stayed asleep for most of it.  He is also wearing the bigger Huggies preemie diapers now, rather than the super tiny Pampers preemie diapers.  His feeding tube was moved from his mouth to his nose now that his nose is big enough to fit both the NG tube and his nasal cannulas.  We can finally see his whole mouth and little double chin now!

His first "tubby"

 

Day 53: Tuesday, March 11th
Landon had an eye appointment today to check the development of the blood vessels in his retinas.  So far they can't see any signs of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) which is a disorder many premature babies develop as their eyes mature.  Landon's eyes are still very immature though, so they will check them again in another two weeks.

Snuggle time

One of Landon's repiratory therapists

What a cute outfit!



Some of Landon's cute nurses and respiratory therapists

Landon weighed 1217 grams -- 2lb 10oz -- today.  He is growing so fast!  I changed his diaper at 12:00 pm and 8:00 pm and held him skin-to-skin for an hour.  I loved it so much!  He nestled into my chest and fell asleep.  His oxygen saturation and heart rate did so well while I held him.  His oxygen concentration was down in the 50's today. 

Day 54: Wednesday, March 12th
Another good day!  Landon's oxygen flow was turned down to 4 liters per minute, and by the time we left his oxygen concentration was down to 60%.  His weight was down a little today, only a few grams though.  Dr. Christensen said he is gaining an average of 2/3 oz each day, which is great for his age. 


He seriously melts my heart...

I got to bathe him swaddled in the tub today.  He was awake and wide-eyed the whole time.  He looked like he loved it. I also held him when Mike and I went back at 8 pm.  He is such a cutie!


Bath time!

Day 55:  Thursday, March 13th
Landon's oxygen concentration is down to 53% today and his flow is still at 4 lpm.  He was awake and wide-eyed during four o'clock cares while I changed his diaper and took his temperature.  It is so nice to be at his bedside and not hear his alarms go off every 5-10 minutes like they used to!  During the two hours I was there, he only de-satted once.  He has still been spitting up a bit after feedings, but he is still getting 26 mL of milk every 4 hours fortified with 24 calories.  He is still on morphine and versed alternated every 4 hours, Vitamin D, and caffeine to help his heart rate.  His oxygen parameters are even more narrow now.  His alarms go off when his oxygen saturation is outside of 88-95% instead of 85-97% like they used to.  He went to town sucking on his binkie while he was waiting for his feeding to start.  He weighed 2lb 11oz tonight.

Some more of his cute RN's and RT's

Day 56: Friday, March 14th
Landon did not really enjoy his bath time today, probably because his cannula kept pulling on the right side of his face and coming out of his nose.  It's kind of hard to enjoy your bath when you can't breathe!  Mike and I both held him up against our chests in his snuggly tonight.  He ended up throwing up twice before we left and soiling all of his clean clothes.  Shelby says it could be the mixture of drugs upsetting his tummy or the way we were holding him could have increased the air in his stomach.  He is 33 weeks gestational age today, so hopefully he will be home in 7 more weeks!

All tucked into his snuggly

Day 57: Saturday, March 15th
Landon's oxgyen concentration has been in the 30's-50's today, and his flow is still at 4 lpm.  He weighed 1308 grams today -- 2lb 14 oz -- double his birth weight!  Mike and I both went up at 4:00 pm, and Mike helped me dress him before we held him.  When we left him, he was sucking on his thumb.

New monkey blanket Grandma Lowe made



Daddy and Landon

Sucking his thumb

Week 7: March 3rd - 9th

Day 45: Monday, March 3rd
Landon's cultures still came back with no bacteria growing yet, so hopefully he is finally rid of the infection!  The doctor decided to start him on the steroids for his lungs to give them a boost and try to wean his ventilator needs.  We're hoping he will breathe well tonight and that his little lungs will start to work better.  He weighs 1015 grams--2lb 3oz-- and is 14.5 inches long.

Day 46: Tuesday, March 4th
I had my post-partum appointment today so I visited Landon for his 12 o'clock cares and got to change a giant poopy diaper.  Landon did so well over night that they switched him back to the conventional ventilator at 9:30 this morning.  So far he is doing well and we're keeping our fingers crossed he will keep it up so he can continue weaning off it altogether. 



Hooked up to the conventional vent

What a sweetheart!

Each week he gets a new card with his gestational age on it

His cultures came back negative for bacteria! Once he finishes his course of antibiotics he will be able to get rid of that PICC line-- hopefully for good.  His feedings were increased to 20mL every 4 hours, and they want him at 22mL by the end of the night.  He weighs 1080 grams today--2lb 6oz--which may be a fluke because that is a lot for him to gain in one day. 

Day 47: Wednesday, March 5th
Today was a big day for Landon!  When I called this morning, the nurse told me they were thinking about taking Landon's endotrachial tube out and just using the nasal cannulas with the ventilator machine.  When I got to the NICU, there he was with his ET tube gone and new nasal cannulas!  He is now on what is considered non-invasive ventilation which is much easier on his lungs.  One tube down!

 Rick, the respiratory therapist, had to change Landon's isolette so they wrapped him up for me to hold in the rocking chair.  At first his oxygen levels kept going down into the 70's, so Rick re-wrapped him with his legs out straight and tilted his head back more on my elbow.  From then on he did great!  I was able to hold him from 4:30 until 8:00 at his next care time.  I just sat and stared at him and talked and sang to him.  He slept soundly the whole time. 

 At 8 o'clock cares his tummy looked better and his antibiotics had finished, so we watched the nurse Christy take his PICC line out.  One more tube down!  He weighed 1074 grams--2lb 5oz-- today.    He looks like a completely different baby and he hasn't even gained a pound yet!  Rick says he might be moved into another room soon if a lot of new babies are born.  I'm so thankful for the nurses, respiratory therapists, and doctors taking care of him, and I'm amazed at how much they can do to help these tiny babies.

No more PICC line!

Day 48: Thursday, March 6th
Landon is still on the nasal cannulas, but his oxygen has been a little higher -- in the 80's-- so they are going to watch that closely.  If his needs go back up to 100%, they will have to reintubate.  Right now he is sitting at 67%, so hopefully he is headed in the right direction.  Because he is kind of unstable on his oxygen levels I didn't hold him, but I got to change his diaper and hold him up in his isolette while Shelly weighed him and changed his linens.

His eyes were so big and dark just looking around and studying the world.  He looked at me a few times.  All the nurses tell me he is getting so big and cute --- it's the truth he is!  After we got him re-settled, I put his little binky in his mouth while his feeding was going and he started sucking really hard.  I had to take it out when he started to de-sat.  Apparently he was sucking so hard that he was forgetting to breathe.

Loves his binky

The doctor is planning on letting Landon outgrow his scheduled sedation of morphine and versed every four hours.  Eventually, he will get big enough that his dose won't affect him anymore.  He de-satted from an apnea episode while I was sitting here and his heart rate went clear down into the 60's and his oxygen saturation went clear down to 59.  It makes me so nervous when I start hearing his alarms go off and watch those numbers plummet.  Shelly said the versed probably just hit him and relaxed him a little too much.

Landon got a chin strap while Mike and I were at dinner.  It's supposed to keep his mouth closed so the air won't just go in his nose and out his mouth.  Hopefully that will help with his oxygen levels.  Shelly, the RT, said to Landon, "You are starting to look like a handsome middle-aged man instead of a handsome wrinkled old man!" He certainly is starting to look less wrinkly.  He weighed 1034 grams today, so 2lb 4oz.  His belly looks a little less full today though, so that might explain the weight loss.

 

Day 49: Friday, March 7th
I got to hold Landon again today.  This time it was only for about 1.5 hours because his oxygen levels kept going down into the 70's.  He just slept the whole time.  I also brought him a new blanket for his isolette mattress that I made.  I wish there was more that I could do for him. 

He weighs 1061 grams -- 2lb 5oz-- today, and his oxygen needs have come down a little today as well.  He has been in the 50's and 60's for oxygen concentration with a flow of 6.1 liter per minute.  His heart rate has been in the 150's and 160's, although he got really angry after we put him back in his isolette and it went up to 214 and set off his high alarms. 

He is so funny, no matter how well you tuck him into his snuggly he always manages to kick at least one foot out.  Whenever we come to see him, he has one foot hanging out of his bed.  Last night it was sticking straight up in the air! Strong boy!  He is getting 24mL of milk now, still fortified with 24 calories, a multivitamin, and iron to help him make red blood cells.

Day 50: Saturday, March 8th
Today was another big day for Little Man Landon!  We found our little guy wearing his first outfit today!  It's preemie sized but still so big on him!  That wasn't the only surprise...Landon was also switched from the SIMV ventilator to vapotherm at 8:00 pm, right before we got to the hospital!  The vapotherm just gives him a constant flow of oxygen and warmed vapor, but does not give breaths for him like the ventilator did.  The third surprise was that he weighs 2lb 8oz --  he has now gaine 1lb since his birth!  And what a difference 1lb makes in these tiny ones.  He is getting to be such a big man--wearing clothes, breathing on his own, and gaining weight.


1st outfit!

Mike and I both took turns holding him swaddled tonight. He even sucked on his purple binky while I held him. He is so sweet and precious!







Day 51: Sunday, March 9th
Landon is doing so well today!  His vapotherm flow was decreased from 6 liters per minute (lpm) to 5 lpm.  His oxygen concentration is still kind of high -- 70's to 80's -- but they're not too worried about that.  He weighs 1141 grams -- 2lb 8oz still, and we dressed him in another little preemie outfit and each got to hold him again.

This is definitely a tough place to be, and somewhere that no parent ever expects to end up with their little baby.  I don't know why we have been so lucky and blessed.  Heavenly Father just has a plan for each of us and we have to trust in His plan.

My boys

Week 6: Feb. 24th - March 2nd

Day 38: Monday, Feb. 24th
Landon was taken off of the nitric oxide today, and his nurses say that so far he is doing great and has even been able to come down a little on the ventilator.  I got to take his temperature and change another poopy diaper at care time today.  He weighed 2lb again, was 14 inches long, and his head grew 1/2 cm in circumference.  He's getting his sedatives and antifungal medicines orally now through his feeding tube, and he is getting full feeds of breast milk with fortified calories.  Once his antibiotics are done they will be able to pull his PICC line.  His endotrachial tube cultures came back positive for Klebsiella Pneumonia, so they changed one antibiotic to hopefully fight the infection better.

He is just so sweet and looks at me with these big eyes as if to say, "What are they doing to me now?" I can't wait for him to get off the ventilator so that I can hold him again.  It's hard for me to feel like he is mine yet; he feels more like public property right now.  In a little over two months, he gets to come home and be all mine!


Day 40: Wednesday, Feb. 26th

 Landon got a new isolette today.  It's a little smaller and different than the "giraffe".  They have been able to come down a little more on his vent needs, and Dr. Christensen says his pink color looks a lot better than he did last week.  His cultures are still showing K. Pneumonia bacteria, so they are continuing his antibiotics even longer. 






Last night he weighed 2.b 2oz, and he is still tolerating his feedings so they are going to increase fortified calories from 22 to 24.  Dr. Christensen says they are working towards getting him back off the ventilator now. 


Day 43: Saturday, March 1st
Thursday night I got to hold Landon for the first time in two weeks.  They wrapped him up for me and then had to collect all of his wires and PICC line and unhook him from the vent for a second to move him over to me in the chair.  He was awake at first and looking around, and then he calmed right down and fell asleep.  I just sat there and stared at him and talked to him softly.  It felt so good to hold him in my arms again after so long.

 

Friday morning when I called in to see how he was, they told me he was switched over to the conventional ventilator because his oxygen levels were doing so well.  His chest x-ray still looked inflamed, however, and the top of the right lung still isn't opening up all of the way.  I came and changed his diaper and took his temperature at 4 pm and he was doing well.

This morning, I called the NICU when I got over to the new house to unpack some boxes and expected him to be doing well.  Instead, the nurse told me that he was back on the oscillator because his carbon dioxide levels had been gradually creeping up all night.  They had turned the ventilator way up and then his oxygen levels rose too high, so they decided it would be best for his lungs to move him back to the oscillator.  This was very disappointing, but if it's what he needs then it is for the best.  The nurses said they will now focus on getting him completely over the infection and letting his lungs heal more before they try to wean him off the ventilator again.  After he finishes this set of antibiotics, they will try giving him steroids to boost his lungs right before weaning him off the vent again. 

Landon also had to have another blood transfusion today.  This was to help his carbon dioxide levels, his pale color, and to help him fight off the infection.

What a sad face!

I have become friends with a very sweet girl who also delivered a baby extremely early due to severe preeclampsia.  I got a package from her today with some of her 26-weeker's preemie outfits, hand-made burp cloths, onesies, receiving blankets, lotion, a journal, and a gift card.  What an amazing girl! Her package made me cry! I have never even talked to her face-to-face but she is such a sweetheart to send all of this stuff for us.  I have loved being able to talk to her and ask her questions about her baby's journey in the NICU.  She completely understands what we are going through and helps me see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Day 44: Sunday, March 2nd
Today was a relatively stable day.  Landon's oxygen needs have stayed pretty much the same, but he has been much more content and less fussy today.  When I changed his diaper, he just looked up at me with his big eyes.  He didn't even cry just kept looking up at me.  He weighed 992 grams--2lb 3oz-- down just a little from yesterday.

His ET tube culture still hasn't grown bacteria, so we're praying the antibiotics have done their job and killed the infection.  Then Landon could just focus on growing bigger and stronger and getting of the ventilator.

All bundled in his snuggly...although he always kicks his legs out of it.