Saturday, September 30, 2006

big day for Eric: off the vent

E had a big day yesterday. Doc Lee had weaned him off the ventilator, Eric had responded well, and at about 10 a.m. they removed the ventilator tube and placed him on the "CPAP" nose tubes. It took him a few hours to settle down after that but he did so well and is basically breathing on his own again. The cpap provides "constant positive airway pressure" to help keep Eric's lungs expanded but does not initiate breathing for him. He's at 29 weeks now and at about 30-32 weeks babies make this stuff called surfactant also known in my world as lung lube, which keeps our lungs from completely collapsing.

Here's a cute one of Mom changin his diaper. He's been filling it regularly now that he is getting the Full Load of milk (13 cc every 2 hours). They really need to do a preemie Got Milk commercial with this cutie.


Sean and Courtney were here for a visit too which made Eric very happy because he can't wait to play with Uncle Sean.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Feedings

Eric is getting his full amount of nutrition as of last night. He is tolerating all 13 cc's every 2 hours. In the photo below you can see his feeding tube. It is the tube hanging down from the top of the bed. They fill that with milk and let it drip into his tummy. He eats/digests it right up.



The infection in his eyes has cleared up and his weight is good. Eric is also showing signs of being ready to breath without the ventilator. He pulls on that tube like it is bugging him and his blood gases (a mearsurement of oxygen & carbon dioxide exchange in his lungs) looks good. He is filling out his wrinkly skin a bit more and is fiesty with his added strength.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Busy Day

Eric had a busier day yesterday. His blood levels were a little low and they gave him some more blood. Preemies only have about 3 ounces of blood and don't produce new blood is fast as we do. Also, they need to do periodic blood tests that takes from Eric's supply and over time need a boost with some more blood. He looked a little pale and and seemed a little tired but once that blood rounded through the IV in his heel he perked up and looked much more rosie.

He also had gained a lot of extra weight over the night. Generally weight gain is good but if it is too much too fast it usually means that it is water weight. So the doctor (Dr. Lee) tweeked the hydration he is getting and gave him a water "pill" to help get rid of the extra fluid.

During all this he wasn't able to digest as well so they held a few feedings. Today he seems to be tolerating his milk well and he is now up to 9 cc's every 2 hours.

Eric likes to kick his legs out for a good stretch once in a while and those kicks feel stronger on my hand.

Here is a picture of him sleeping. Cozy as usual. When I can't sleep I just picture him all cozied and it helps me go to sleep.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Diaper Changing

Today I saw the poopiest diaper I have ever seen from such a small person and I was so excited. I never thought I would get so excited for poopy diapers. I didn't have to change this diaper because nurse Karen didn't want me to make a mess with such a full diaper. Aaron and I have both changed a few tiny diapers. Despite our lack of diaper changing experience, we are getting better at it. We also have the added challenge of changing the small diaper through the arm holes of Eric's bed while avoiding wires and tubes, and doing it one handed. It is not easy and the nurse always talks us through it.

Eric's eyes get a little goopy because of his infection which, is being treated nicely with some eye drops, and the nurses have been trying to teach me how to wipe his eyes clean. I am a little too delicate and don't always get it with the first wipe.

Taking his temperature is another task the nursing staff lets Mom and Dad do, and we are getting pretty good at lifting his tiny arm and putting the thermometer in his armpit.

Eric is up to 7 cc's (7 millileters) of mom's milk every 2 hours. He seems to tolerate it pretty well. The plan is to increase him 1 cc every 12 hours until he reaches is nutrition goal of 13 cc's every 2 hours. Every time he increases his milk intake the doctor (this week Dr. Lee is on staff) decreases his TPN, which is the nutrition he gets through an IV in his arm. Once he can tolerate all his nutrition by mouth they will be able to remove the line in his arm.

Eric opened his eyes for his active hour from around 4:30pm-5:30pm tonight. His ears, hands, feet, and pretty much everything seem a little bigger to me, which makes sense since he is growing right before our eyes. It is a beautiful thing to watch and I am fixated on every little movement he makes.

Here is a picture of Daddy tucking Eric in.



Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

We want to thank our family, friends, and Clif Bar for all the loving care, thoughtful phone calls, packages, flowers, blog comments, emails, dinners, and above all, your positive energy and loving thoughts.

Oh yeah, and thanks to Pod 1 & Pod 2 for continuing to bring laughter and smiles to our faces.

It all means the world to us! We are blessed to have so many amazing people around us.

You are all the best!

Love,
Tara, Aaron, & Eric

More on Eric to come....I have some good diaper changing stories!

Saturday, September 23, 2006

More Milk Please

My new job is that of a loving milk machine. I am doing my darndest to keep the milk coming. Eric is slowly able tolerate a little more milk each day. He is up to 5 cc's every two hours, which is a about as much milk as you pinky finger would hold if it were hollow. That is a good amount of milk for little E.

He has had some goopy eyes the last few days and has a bit of an infection so he is getting some eye drop medicine for that. He is also getting some powerhouse antibiotics to help clear up an infection caused by his breathing tube. He breathes pretty well but still needs some help from the vent for now.

The nurses do what they call "cluster care" so he can get the good sleep. Every four hours they take his temperature, change him, clean up his eyes, breathing tube, and mouth, and put him in a new comfey position. He gets kind of annoyed when they do this but he really does appreciate all the tender loving care each nurse gives.

Grandma and Grandpa Thies are visiting this weekend and Eric turned on his charm for them today with few really good leg kicks and bright eyed glances. He seems to like to be awake for happy hour time between 4 and 6 o'clock. Grandma Thies and had a nice walk to the hospital today and were able to catch up and enjoy some time outside.

I think I told Eric how much I love him about a million+ times today.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Happy Birthday





Happy Birthday to Great Aunt Kathy in Bozeman & to Grandpa Terry in Penn Valley! We love you! The bears told me they want you to celebrate!

Love,
Tara, Aaron, & Eric

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Momma Posts a Blog


Today Eric's Grandma Lorriane went back to Great Falls. I am afraid we may have worn her out on her first taste of "Grandma Duty".

Tonight Eric and I had some alone time. It is the first night I have visited him without Dad or Grandma around. I had to be disciplined to get myself to leave his bedside to "pump" and eat dinner at reasonable hour. Grandma has been really good at making sure I remember to feed myself and get some rest.

Eric is tolerating a little more of milk now, 4 cc's every 3 hours, which is the equivalent to 4 millileters or almost a teaspoon. This little bit of milk in his tummy his helping is digestive system develop. He also got started on some antibiotics today to cover a possible infection in his breathing tube. They did a chest xray today and don't suspect a lung infection at this point.

Tonight as I was getting ready to tuck Eric in and say good night he opened his eyes and peaked out at me so of course I had to sit myself back down and talk a while. I talked to him until he appeared to go back to sleep. Sometimes he sleeps all cozied up and other times he kicks his legs out and stretches his arms out over his head just like Aaron does when he lays on the couch watching football.

The story of his name

OK, so I've been remiss in explaining Eric's name. I've gotten a few puzzled looks from various friends, nurses, social workers, relatives, night security dudes, and a few others I'm not thinking of right now.
Eric was Tara's grandfather.
Thomas is a family name in Tara's family.
DelloIacono is another middle name.
and Thies is his last name.

Eric Thomas DelloIacono Thies

and I love this little guy with a long name so much.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

wrinkly baby skin

Friday, September 15, 2006

The feeding begins

Now that Eric is on the ventilator his breathing is stable and they have begun feeding him Mom's milk. He gets a very small amount every 3 hours. This is such good news because he can now start "bulking up".

Little angel sleeping:


Daddy holds Eric's hand. (note that the head covering has been removed now; this is an older pic):


Thursday, September 14, 2006

Little Toes

Eric is one week old today!

Yesterday the doctors made the decision to put Eric on the ventilator. His lungs are strong but his body forgets to breathe now and then which is common with 26 week preemies. The vent adjusts to his breathing automatically and when he stops breathing it fills the lungs with air. Now he can focus on growing and getting stronger. When using the vent he can also sleep on his stomach which preemies LOVE.
He is so adorable and he seems to recognize our voices.


Wednesday, September 13, 2006

family pics

Grandma Lorraine has been here since Sept. 8. Thank the Lord for grandmas.


Here's grandma visiting Eric while he is under the bili light (which helps prevent jaundice).

We've had lots of great support from family and friends! Thank you all so much. Tara's bro Sean and his girlfriend Courtney stayed with us and helped up through some tense moments last week. Susie and Sam paid us a visit on Sep. 8. Susie brought to us the wooden toy trains that my dad gave me when I was born. Sam certainly enjoyed playing with the choo-choo or "do-do" as he calls it.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Eric's eyes open

On Monday, Eric decided it was time to take a look around. His eyes have opened and he seems to notice our movements next to the incubator. It is hard to tell what color they are but they are dark -- either dark blue or brown.


We visited him again last night and they have switched him back to the CPAP which is a bigger breathing device that provides positive pressure of air in his lungs. They did this because he was having too many "episodes" of breathing apnia. Sometimes a preemie "forgets" to breathe. When this happens the alarms go off and the nurse gently massages him until he breathes again. This was happening too often so they had to switch the breathing apparatus. He also got some blood from the Blood Bank yesterday because a preemie doesn't make new blood quickly and they take several blood samples each day. So he was a little low and received 12 ml of blood. They say it will help reduce the apnia because he'll have more blood and more oxygen.



Eric is under contstant monitoring and each NICU nurse on duty is responsible for only one baby. He has probes which measure his heart rate, breathing rate, blood O2 levels, temperature and blood pressure.


Yesterday they also put in a new IV line which is a "central line". Through this new line they have begun to give him special electrolyte solutions and other nurishment. He also had a cardiogram which showed that the little hole in the heart that all babies are born with is closing normally, and he had a brain scan which showed nothing abnormal and no bleeding in the brain. In all, he continues to make progress.

Eric lives in the "Giraffe Omnibed", which is like the Cadillac of incubators. This bad boy has got it all. The nurses will be installing 20" chrome wheels this week. :-)


Sunday, September 10, 2006

Eric is born!

At 4:34 p.m. on September 7, 2006, Tara gave birth to our son Eric Thomas DelloIacono Thies at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco!


Born only 26 weeks and 2 days into Tara's pregnancy, Eric is a real preemie but he is healthy and safe in the wonderful care of CPMC's Newborn ICU.

Eric's birth weight was 1 lb. 15 oz and he is 14 inches long. Mommy is doing well and has already started pumping milk to feed little E. He is so cute and very feisty. One of the biggest concerns for newborn preemies is their breathing. Eric came out crying, which was joy to our ears, and so far he has not once needed to be placed on a ventilator.

We can visit Eric at any time day or night and if all continues to go well with his development in the NICU, he could be able to come home in December.

We love him so much and we thank everyone for all the love and support.

love, Aaron and Tara