Thursday, March 31st

Brody is resting very nicely today. His stats have been very good and they are increasing his feedings. He got a holiday from pokes, labs, and scans today. Tomorrow morning is another chest x-ray. They look at his lungs and also make sure his PICC line is in the right place.

If you catch the news on Kare 11 tonight, the St. Cloud NICU is going to be on. Brody, unfortunately, will not be making his TV debut. But one of the other babies will. They used a new technology on this baby, so the story will explain it. We've made friends with the mom here in the NICU. We're not sure what time it will be on, we assume both 6:00 and 10:00.

The nurses finally got wise to little Brody's antics and gave him the socks. He seems to like them, actually.

Wednesday, March 30th

We haven't posted for two days because our computer at home is on the fritz and  the hospital computer isn't always available. We need to bring our computer in to get fixed.

Anyway, we have lots to say about Mr. Brody. On the last post, we mentioned that he was getting another PICC line in. Well, it didn't work that day, but they got another one in yesterday in his arm. It is supposed to thread up his arm and toward his heart, but Mr. Brody has earned the nickname of "I'm a 'do it my way' guy". The PICC line curved around into his armpit. So they had to pull it back and get it pointed toward his heart. It isn't exactly the way the nurse practitioner wanted it, but it is all good and working well. It is nice for Brody to get a break from the multiple IV lines he was hooked up too.

Shortly after the last post, Brody pulled out his breathing tube. Oh, it is scary when he does that. The doctor was going to try to get him back on the C-Pap, but it became apparent rather quickly that he needed the tube back. So they re-intubated him. He graduated to a bigger size bar that is used to hold the tube in place. Basically it is a bigger piece of plastic for him to pull on now. :)

His vitals are stable now and the chest x-rays are showing better lungs. The nurse explained to us that as he gets bigger he is better able to fight the lung disease.

They started up the feedings again. He is currently getting 3 mL every three hours. The doctor talked about increasing the amount as he tolerates the feedings and hopefully he will be up to 12 mL by Friday.

The results from the echocardiogram are good. The vessel is still slightly open, but the blood flow is normal. We are so glad this is almost healed so he can focus on growing.

On Monday, the 4th, Brody will get a head ultrasound to show us the progress on his brain bleed. We are praying that it has significantly healed and that the blood clot is gone. Please pray for little boy's brain!

Guess what? Mr. Brody's umbilical cord came off last night. Now he has a cute little belly button!
Thanks for your prayers and support. We know you are here for Brody and that is what gets us through these days.

Love,
Russ, Jen, and Brody

Day 15

We are still trying to get Brody's fluid retention issue under control. I might have already said this, but the combination of the medicine and the blood transfusion caused fluid to build up in his lungs. His calcium and protein remain low, so they are giving those two things by IV. His IV's aren't holding up very well, so instead of continuing to find new IV sites all the time they are putting in another PICC line. The PICC line is better because it is supposed to last longer and they can give him multiple things at once. But, the downside is that it can infiltrate, as the first one did. They found a small thread of blood in his stool, so they stopped his feedings to let his digestive system calm down. The blood might just have been from the glycerine they are giving him to help him poop, but they don't want to take any chances. They did another echocardiogram of his heart at noon, so we will wait and see the results from that. The murmur was not heard yesterday, but it was faint this morning. The neonatologist on duty today is also a cardiologist, so he is the heart expert.

Oh, baby Brody, if it isn't one thing it's another. These are the ups and downs of the NICU. The good thing is that Brody is stable, strong, and kicking up a storm. The nurse turned him this morning and within minutes he had pulled off two of his leads. He is growing every day!

Two weeks old!

Brody is two weeks old today! That went fast. It has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, but he is stable and growing. He had a restless evening last night. He is retaining fluid from a combination of his heart medicine and the blood transfusion. They are adding calcium to his feedings because it was low, and they are watching his protein levels, which are on the low end of the acceptable range. He is getting diuretics to help his kidneys get rid of the fluid that is building up. The doctor and nurse could not hear his murmur this morning. Hopefully it is closed for good. Happy two week birthday, Brody boy!

Look at how much I have changed!



               Day 1                                                          Day 13

Day 12

Tummy Time!

Brody lost a little bit of weight last night, but he needed to shed some of the fluid that built up when he was on the medicine for his heart. He is now 20 grams away from being two pounds, so it won't be long now. His milk is being fortified with 24 calories and he is now up to 11 mL feedings every three hours. They keep increasing the amount, so by tomorrow night he will be at 14 mL and then they are going to stop for a while so he doesn't retain more fluid. That touch of pneumonia they thought was starting was determined to be an artifact; meaning there was something on the outside of his chest when they took the x-ray (maybe a lead for a wire) and it made the lung look cloudy. There is another chest x-ray scheduled for tomorrow, so we'll make sure it is gone at that time. The heart murmur continues to be very faint. He is on an antibiotic because there was bacteria found in the mucus they suctioned out of him. They are culturing it now to make sure it isn't an infection. The doctor explained that bacteria live in the body, so finding it doesn't always indicate an infection; but if it grows in the culture they need to treat it as an infection.

Daddy's turn

Dad got to hold Brody tonight :)

and Brody decided to check out Dad's shirt

When Russ was holding Brody, baby had his eyes open most of the time and he was very peaceful. When he was put back in his bed, Brody was looking around for the longest time, wondering where Dad went. When Russ would talk to him, Brody actually looked straight at him. This is new because his eyes are more controlled, whereas before they just rolled around. And now his eyes are moving together. Today, Brody weighs 1 lb., 15.4 ounces. He is almost 2 pounds! We can really tell that he is putting on some weight.

Day 11

Brody is looking great today. Very soon, they plan to discontinue the IV nutrients because he is getting enough from his feedings. He continues to need the ventilator for now. His murmur is still there, but soft. Hopefully the vessel will close on its own now. It will be monitored to make sure it doesn't start to get worse again. Another round of medicine would be the course of action if it does.

His chest x-ray showed a touch of cloudiness, and they think he has a bit of pneumonia starting. This is very typical and they caught it early, so they are going to massage his chest with a little device and then suction out the crud. You and I would just cough out this stuff, but he can't cough on his own, so they need to help him get rid of it.

Right now, Mom is just watching Brody. Dad is at work, but he gets to hold him tonight! He can hardly wait. It is going to be so cool. We'll post pictures tonight.

Day 10

Today is Day 10 and guess what? Mom finally got to hold Brody. Both Mom and Brody needed this badly. He went right to sleep and was very content listening to Momma's heartbeat once again. He was held for a little over an hour. When he is ready again, it will be Dad's turn.

This morning, Brody gained some weight, but the doctor says he will lose most of it tonight because it is fluid retention from the medicine he was given yesterday. His heart murmur was still there, but fainter, and his pulse sounded stronger. It appears the medicine is doing its job. We hope this vessel closes soon so Brody can concentrate on growing.

As for the horrible news of last night, he is still the same little Brody to us; a fighter. We have faith that he is going to be just fine.

We found out late tonight that Brody had an intraventricular hemmorage, or bleeding in his brain. It is not unusual for premies to have bleeding, but Brody's is grade 4, the worst of the four grades. The good news is that it is only one on side. The human brain can compensate very well from the non-affected side. Also, the growing brain is constantly re-routing its development and can "work around", so to speak. The bad news is that the bleeding went pretty far, into the gray matter. Technically, this is defined as a stroke. The extent of the damage (meaning where the bleeding occurred and how much) is known, but  at this point there is no way to tell how this will affect him down the road. He may function normally, or he may have some developmental challenges. We won't know until he is older and learning to talk, read, etc. The doctor warned us that there will be some Cerebral Palsy, meaning that his right side will tighten up, requiring physical therapy to help him. We pray that he can overcome this and function normally. We just don't know right now.

The doctor said it would be extremely unusual for any more bleeding to occur after day 10 (tomorrow), so the extent of the damage is done. They will do another head ultrasound in three weeks to assess the progress. There is a clot right now that should absorb back into his body. They are watching closely to make sure that clot doesn't block the fluid drainage system in his brain. If it builds up, they would need to surgically drain it.

For more information, please see http://www.lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/HealthLibrary/hrnewborn/ivh.html


Our internet at home is not working at the moment, so we will be limited in the amount we will be able to check messages. We will try to post daily from the hospital. Please keep baby Brody in your prayers.

Love, Russ and Jen

Day 9 Tuesday

Today, Brody is up to his birth weight! We are so proud of how our little guy is growing. He is now up to 7 mL per feeding. Mom can't believe all that food can fit in his tiny tummy, but it is going in. They stopped his insulin for now because his blood sugar readings have been good. They stopped the lipids because his triglycerides were a little high. So, right now the only thing going in is the nutrient drip and the milk!

Daddy went back to work today, so Mom is at the hospital with Brody. We haven't been able to hold him yet, but we hope that will come very soon.

Wires, wires everywhere

Brody's nurses had to move his IV line from his leg to his head. They did this to give his leg a break from the IV. He loves to kick his feet and the IV had been there a while, jostling around each time he kicked. They had to add an IV line into his arm for medicine.

The results from the echocardiogram were that his vessel was open (which they knew from the murmur sound). There are levels of small, moderate, and large and his was large. They did an IV drip of medicine for him that is supposed to close the vessel. He gets that every 24 hours for three days and then they will test him again.

He weighs 1 pound, 9 ounces; just about two ounces less than his birth weight. This is good; he is supposed to be back to his birth weight by about day 10. His original length was reported at 12.5 inches, but we found out today that the centimeter to inch conversion was wrong. He was actually 15 inches long at birth. He grew 1/16th of an inch.

Brody is resting peacefully and his stats are good. The insulin was stopped for now. His glucose level was 68. It will be checked again at midnight. His feedings were increased to 6 mL every three hours. Mama didn't think his tummy could take 6 mL, but it all got in there!

One week old

Brody is one week old today! He lost his PICC line last night because it infiltrated. The veins in his tiny body are very weak, so the catheter broke through and fluid leaked into his abdomen. The fluid re-absorbed into his body and he peed it out. He is back up to his birth weight, but he is still getting rid of some fluid so he'll lose weight again. Another PICC will be tried soon, but for now he is getting his nutrients through an IV. His feedings were increased to 5 mL every three hours. He will eat every 3 hours now until he goes home, but the amount will be increased as tolerated. So far he is tolerating his feedings very well. He has a couple small sores below his belly button that they are putting Bacetracin on and it seems to be improving.

Dad changing a poopy diaper

It is so bright in here.

End of week one!

We had a nice close to week number one. After Brody had his blood transfusion, his color returned and he is resting peacefully. His vitals are good. The second tube was taken out of his belly button and they started the feedings again. Mom and Dad are planning to get some sleep tonight, we'll keep you posted.

Sweet baby

Eyes wide open :)

Day 7

Brody is resting much better now with the breathing tube. There are some challenges that have presented themselves today. The doctors and nurses say there is nothing unexpected; things are happening because of his early age. First, he lost another 2 ounces. The feedings have been paused because of the breathing tube, so weight loss is expected. He now weighs 1 pound, 6 ounces. They are hoping to resume feedings later today.

His blood is low, so they are tranfusing .15 mL into him this afternoon. His bone marrow is not fully developed and can't keep up with producing blood as his blood is drawn for tests. Insulin has been resumed because his blood sugars were still high. His last blood glucose test this afternoon came back at 78. This is an okay number, but it is much lower than it was at the last reading so they are keeping a close eye on it.

Lastly, and most concerning, is that they heard a murmur this morning. Again, this happens in premies. There is a vessel that goes from the heart to the lungs that normally closes in newborns. With premies sometimes the vessel stays open. They will be doing an echocardiogram on Monday to see if it needs to be treated. There are various things they can do to treat it; the worst case scenario being surgery. But we are going to remain optimistic that this will close on its own. It is called Patent Ductus Arteriosus. Please say an extra prayer for Brody about this problem.

Thank you for supporting Brody and we really appreciate you all very much.

Friday night

Brody was intubated with a breathing tube late this afternoon. He is much calmer and stable now. He sure did have a rough afternoon. His vitals are back to normal and he is resting peacefully. He'll be much better off with the tube for a while; we aren't sure how long but maybe a couple of days. He pulled out the breathing tube during the night and they had to do it again. The feedings were stopped for now but they might resume later tonight. He is getting all of the nutrients he needs through his new PICC line!

Friday, March 18th, 2011

Brody got his PICC line in. The doctor is going to remove one of the tubes in his belly button later today.  The other one is going to stay for a while.

He was having frequent apnea episodes today, so they switched him to a different c-pap machine. This new machine has a back up respirator. If Brody stops breathing, it can give him help intermittently. The nurses can also push a button to manually deliver help if Brody needs it. The "hat" on it is better for his little head because it is a full hat rather than straps. The old machine had straps that were applying pressure in spots, making his head red.

If Brody continues to have frequent apnea episodes, he will need to have a breathing tube inserted. We are trying to avoid that, but he might need it. We are told that this is normal for a baby his size; that he is working very hard to breathe and might get tired and need help. It is very scary watching him struggle to breathe. Please pray for our little baby Brody.

Day 5

Tonight, Brody is getting a PICC line. This is a line they put in a vein to replace the one in his belly button.  There are many advantages to the new line; mostly it reduces the risk of infection compared to the one in the belly button. The nurses will be able to lay him on his tummy, which will help aid his digestion. Soon, when the other line in his belly button is removed, we will be able to hold him. It won't be long now!

People are having a hard time posting comments on our blog. We are having the same trouble responding to comments. We want you to know that we are reading each one and appreciate them all. Thanks so much for your caring comments and prayers.

Day Four

Momma went home (and bawled all night).

Brody continued to accept the milk well. We took his temperature and changed his diaper.  And guess what? He opened his eyes and smiled at us!

Soon the nurses will be able to take out the lines to his stomach and replace them with something called a pick line.  This new line reduces the risk of infection and would allow us to hold him as long as he was stable with everything else. Brody is making progress every day. Keep it up little guy, we love you!

Taking temp; 98.3 degrees

Changing diaper.

Day 3

Today is day three and Brody is doing very well. He ate for the first time this afternoon. He had a little formula at 1:30 p.m. and food from Mom at 6:30 p.m. At this point he is fed through a small syringe into a tube in his mouth. It will be a very long time before he will eat from a bottle. As long as he tolerates small amounts of food, he will be fed at 12:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.  Other tubes are still in the umbical cord to give him other core nutrients.

Brody is an expert at pulling at and spitting out the tube in his mouth. The food syringe was taped to the isolette and he pulled that down. The next time we visited the NICU, the syringe had been moved to a holder. In addition to pulling out the tube, he likes to hold the cords and makes sure his hands are in the way when the nurses are trying to care for him. Mommy got to change her first diaper today and he was all over that too. The diaper wasn't too pretty when done, but oh well, we have plenty of time to practice.  Also, he loves to hang his little leg over the side of his blankets.

Just Chillin'

The cotton around his head is to keep his mouth closed so the c-pap can supply air pressure for his lungs.

Little leg hanging out

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

Little Mister has made it 48 hours, a critical milestone for which we thank God a million times. He lost weight last night, now weighing 1 lb., 8.3 oz. Weight loss is normal, but 3.2 oz is a significant amount. He slept well last night and had less apnea episodes (episodes when he forgets to breathe so they have to nudge him). His blood sugars have stablized with the insulin drip. He is still getting nutrients through the tube going into his umbilical cord and it will be a while before he can eat. His little stomach and bowels just aren't ready yet. He is looking way less red than yesterday and his color is good. While still breathing on his own, he is getting oxygen every once in a while as his levels drop; nurse says probably from just getting plain tired. Lungs are good on chest x-ray. The c-pap is helping to keep the lungs inflated. We are looking forward to more progress each day and we love our little Brody.

First face shot

We haven't been able to see our little guy's face much since the c-pap covers it most of the time.  This is what he looks like without the mask on!  Isn't he cute?

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Baby T. is doing very well, thank you all for your prayers and support.  Vitals are still good.  His oxygen levels are fluctuating, so they are trying to find the correct setting for his c-pap. It keeps migrating up on his face, so they need to keep pulling it back down again.  He doesn't like to be touched or moved.  His under-developed nervous system makes touch painful. He likes to hold Mommy's finger, though.  His blood sugar was running high, so they started an insulin drip.  Every once in a while he forgets to breath, which we are told, is very normal in premies.  He is getting extremely close attention in the NICU and he starts breathing again with a gentle nudge to remind him.  This learning to live stuff takes a little getting used to.

Mom and Dad are doing okay, we are obviously very worried about our little man. It is difficult not to be able to hold him yet.  Mom got to hold him for a minute and that was only good timing; we came in just as they were transfering isolettes.  These pics are grainy, but we'll get some better ones on soon.

Please keep praying for Baby T!

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

Sunday, March 13th, 2011 at 6:46 a.m.

Little baby boy Tiernan came into this world early, at only 25 weeks.
Weight: 1 lb., 11.5 oz
Length: 15 inches

Survival rates for babies this small is about 80%.  Baby Tiernan's vital signs are good.  He has good color.  He is breathing on his own.  The tube in his mouth is an air vent that goes down to his little tummy so it doesn't fill with air.  He started out with a breathing tube, but on the very first day that was taken out and replaced with a tiny little c-pap machine.  He is just like his daddy!