7 Weeks

3 kids - it is sinking in and it seems like we are running a house on the brink of chaos. With no more than 2-3 hours of sleep at a time!
Welcome to parenthood! It is challenging but great all at the same time.
Gunner is doing great and was 8lbs 12oz 4 days ago, which means he is probably a 9 pounder by now. He is starting to settle a little better at night, but I say this after last night I officially kicked him out of our room so we could at least sleep. Nothing would make him happy, so why should we all suffer. We all ended up falling asleep for a few blissful hours! I will welcome him back tonight!
Gunner is starting to smile and actually stay awake and happy for a little while in the mornings. He seems to be getting happier in general which is good! This is when the pictures were taken.
Kaitlyn is sporting one of her sets of Christmas PJ's, Hunter barely sat still long enough to take the picture and Becky will probably give me a dirty look once she finds out I posted it :)

3 Weeks

It has been great to be home, away from the hospital and finally getting a chance to enjoy being together as a family again.
Gunner is doing well, and as of yesterday he weighed 6lbs 12oz. He is eating really well. He wakes up every 3 hours to eat, day or night. He grunts a lot and make funny baby noises, but doesn’t really cry all that much unless he wants to eat or has a really dirty diaper - can't say I blame him for that!
 We are still battling the Bilirubin levels. To make a long story short we are going in every 3 or 4 days for him to get checked. The hospital seemed concerned and sent us home with the lighted "bili blanket." The first pediatrician we saw was not concerned when we took Gunner in the day after he was sent home, so he said stop the blanket. We went back in on Monday to get him checked, his level went up from 10.7 to 12.9 so the pediatrician said put him back on the blanket... anyway we finally got a call back and an appointment with our regular pediatrician and he is not concerned at this point. He will recheck him tomorrow…sorry that really was not that short.
Currently we do not have him on the light, but that could change. We think what is going on is called "Breast Milk Jaundice" However it does not mean anything is wrong with Becky or Gunner it just happens from time to time. If you Google it you can read all about it. In most cases it will resolve itself within 2-6 weeks but can last up to 12.
We hope and pray that this resolves itself soon so we can stay away from doctors’ offices and hospitals for more than a few days!

Gunner is HOME!

I just wanted to post this quickly I will try to do more later.

Gunner 2 Weeks

We are coming to the end of the ride, it is finally in sight! Thats good cause we are ready to get off this roller coaster.

Gunner is eating like a champ and gaining weight too. He is now 6lbs 2oz. He set a new record today eating 58ml, all from Becky...which reminds me. A few people have asked me how we know how much Gunner eats when he nurses. The answer: We weigh him on a scale designed for this very purpose. It weighs in grams. One ml is one gram. I thought this scale was pretty cool and looked up how much it would be to get one of our own. When I saw they were...are you ready...$1600.00 I changed my mind and thought the scale was not really that cool. (I did not typo the decimal mark in the figure!) The other way we know is by how much Becky gets when she pumps after feeding him. With the two together we get a really good idea. That fact he is gaining weight tells us he is getting enough.

So here is the big news!!! If all continues tonight as it has the last day and a half, GUNNER WILL BE COMING HOME TOMORROW, I should say Gunner and Becky are coming home, because she has been there just as long as he has!

The only minor concern are his Bilirubin levels. Hes has been on the light way longer than average and as stated before it is most likely due to a minor incompatibility with blood types.

They now have Gunner in a "bili-bed" - Whats that you ask? Just image a tanning bed, for babies - thats what it looks like. It is more intense and the docs are hoping to get his levels way down before sending him home. We will be taking a portable lighted blanket home with us and we will be making a few trips into the docotrs office the next few days to keep checking his levels. Once that is resolved we are all clear, and will have a normal healthy baby!

He is at greater risk for getting sick since he was early and it is the beginning of cold and flu season, so we will be really protective and picky about who holds him, washing hands and limiting our adventures out of the house for a few months. If he gets sick, we could end up right back in the NICU on breathing equipment! So thanks for your understanding.

Like stated yesterday I wont be convinced we are done until we are home, but it looks promising that will be tomorrow.

Thanks you for all your continued support and prayers. Now we need him to have a strong immune system!

Gunner Day 13

The emotional roller coaster of the NICU is not a ride I am overall excited about, but today is a great high!

Gunner decided last night to shock everyone and eat some record amounts. Early AM feedings has been his weakest and not done very well...last night he was a completly different baby. He ate 50ml, 46ml and 44ml. Remember they want him to get 54ml, but will take the feeding tube out if he at least averages 40ml (75%). Well the doctor was impressed and said lets get it out of there!

NO MORE FEEDING TUBE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This morning he proved himself worthy of being "feeding tubeless" by eating 44ml from Becky and taking an additional 15ml from a bottle!  Yes I said that right, he ate more than 100% of what he is required to do, but that was just one time. So far his average for today at 4:00pm is 94% of what they want him to take. This far exceeds the 75% they want him to be at!This sudden jump is a huge step, so much so they ordered his hearing test and asked us to bring in the car seat. The car seat test is the final step before going home! This is exciting, but we are still in battle with the bilirubin levels and he will get rechecked in the morning for that. His color improved and the doctor was happy to see that.

Assuming he keeps his eating up, and his bilirubin goes down and stays down for Thursdays check, we might be going home by Friday!

But keep in mind this is a roller coaster. I wont be convinced until we walk in the door with him!

He now weighs 6lbs. He had passed his birth weight by one ounce...he gained 3oz yesterday. The doctor was happy to see that but said she would not be surprised or worried if he lost 1 or 2 ounces after going to eating without a feeding tube, but so far I don't think he will be losing any weight if he keeps up his eating like he has today!

Thanks for your continued prayers

Gunner Days 11 & 12

As the days pass, improvements take smaller steps. Yesterday his bilirubin level went up again, but they kept him off the lights to see how he would do. Today however his levels went up again, so that blanket that they left in the room, is back on. The biggest bummer about that is that he has to wear the sunglasses and he hates that. I don't blame him, I would not like my eyes being covered all the time either.

He is still improving on his eating. He is getting more that 50% from Becky. He did however take a full feeding from a bottle this morning while we were in an Infant CPR class. That's good, but we wont switch straight to a bottle only, especially since he is on the lights now, which will keep him here anyway.

We are realizing that even though he is doing really good, the length of stay here could go into next week. Keep praying for his strength to go up and bilirubin to go down. Thanks.

Gunner Day 10

10 days in the NICU...The nurses are good, the hospital is nice and the food isn't bad, but we would prefer to be done and home! (just as everyone else here wants too)

Becky has not been home for the whole time, and I have split time between home, work and the hospital. Thank God for WIFI that allows me to do some work from the hospital  and people willing to watch Hunter and Kaitlyn.

We are ready to be done here, but Gunner is not quite ready yet. However he did take a few more steps forward, proving that he is on his way out of here sooner than later.

The bilirubin levels were at the high end of what is tolerant, so they took him off of it this morning. We still have it in our room, because he might go back on tomorrow if his level goes up. We hope not. We like seeing his eyes!

His eating is improving. He needs 54ml every 3 hours. He has been getting about 30ml from Becky and tires out. the rest he gets put through his feeding tube. However at his 5pm feeding today he took 40ml from becky and another 8ml from the bottle, but he was completly worn out after that, so we will see about how his next feeding goes, which is happening as I type this... He ate 20ml from Becky and 10ml from the bottle, and he had his first real burp! He is tired from working hard!

The nurses are all impressed with his ability to nurse as good as he does. They might switch him to an "adlib" feeding schedule tomorrow, which means he will eat when he wants, as often as every two hours or as long as every 4. This will all be done without the feeding tube.  They will monitor his intake to see if it is enough. This was only mentioned as a possibility, not a for sure thing. We will know more from the doctor in the morning.

We are heading the right direction, we just don't know how fast he is heading toward the exit door!

Gunner Day 9

This is kind of a slow, easy day. Nothing huge to report. Gunner is getting more food from Becky...about half these last few times! That is really good! His weight is 5lbs 12oz.

 Bilirubin gets checked in the morning, hopefully the lighted blanket will go bye, bye!

Other than that things are much the same...tomorrow is another day and might mean one step closer to getting out of here!:)

I (Scott) did get to hold him for about an hour. That was nice and also the longest time I have gotten to hold him.

Thank you to everyone for your support and prayers, they mean more than you know!

Gunner Day 8

Good news, we are down to one light. Gunner dropped his bilirubin levels enough to go down to the lighted blanket only. This means we can hold him whenever and however long we want to, as long as we have the blanket on him. The doctors are giving his foot a break on Friday and wont do blood work again until Saturday. So far every morning of his life they have poked his foot to get blood. I am sure he will welcome the break!

His eating is getting better. He is up to getting about 30% of what he needs directly from Becky, the rest is still coming from a feeding tube. His weight is up 5lbs 11oz. Our plan is to continue to work with him to get his strength up and only nurse for now. Once his eating is the only thing keeping us there, then we will introduce the bottle, and since that is easier we expect him to catch on to that quickly. The eventual goal is to get him to nurse 100%.  

As far as a time frame to come home...I am sick of trying to predict that, but maybe monday, most likely Wednesday, give or take a day or two. :) In other words it all depends on how fast he gets off the blanket and learns to eat... we really have no idea.

Hunter and Kaitlyn met Gunner. Hunter loves him and is so excited...Kaitlyn kinda gave him a dirty look, but eventually pointed and said "Baby"

Here are a few pictures. right after his first real bath! Handsome man, don't you think?

Gunner 1 Week

This has been a day of little change. Still on the light, still has a feeding tube. He has lasted a little longer today the time Becky fed him, but still not long enough. He can get about 2/3 of an ounce and he needs 1-2/3 ounces every 3 hours.

He lost some weight and was down to 5lbs 7oz today. This might be due to the fact that he has pooped more and got shortchanged on two feedings the night they tried him without the feeding tube. No cause for worry, but it was a little suprising.

Ultimately he needs to get his bilirubin levels down the higher that is, the more he needs the lights and the more tired he will be, which means he will not have the energy he needs to eat on his own.

Be in prayer for his "BR" levels to go down and his energy to go up. That will be his ticket out of here. At this point it would be highly optimistice to think he will be able to come home this weekend, but we will see. Hunter is having a difficult time with us being gone so much and him not being able to see Gunner, so you could pray for him too.

We also talked with our "neighbors", in other words the people across the hall and there little guy was born at 26 weeks at 2lbs. He has already had a surgery, and took a bad turn today. He is on a ventilator and might have an infection. It is there first child. His name is Micah. They would also appreciate your prayers. 

Being here (at the NICU) it is hard to understand why these families are going through everything they are, I am sure they are asking "why?" Some are going through this without the support of many faithful prayer warriors and I just shutter to think what that would be like. To those who have taken the time to pray for us, and will continue to pray for us - we sincerely thank you! It is natural in these circumstances to have a bunch of people say "your in our prayers," But it is completely different when those who say that actually do pray.

We know Jesus, the author of life, is in control. Just like the old hymn states - It is well with my soul. we can truly say it is well with our souls.

Thank you,
Scott & Becky