12/31/06: Day 170 (Sun.) Ending the Season With a Victory!*

Evan watching the last Steeler game of the year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijxod4wnbg4

We were experimenting trying to see if we could make it look like Evan was on the tv screen:




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Chronological age: 24 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 2 weeks and 1 day
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12/30/06: Day 169 (Sat.) Hiding from us

We gave Evan a break from his oxygen the past 2 days. His new trick is to cover his face with the burp cloth when we're feeding him his bottle. We'll try to catch it on video.
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Chronological age: 24 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 2 weeks and 0 days
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12/29/06: Day 168 (Fri.) RSV Shot and Weight Update!

Evan had his 3rd Synagis shot today. You can read his latest weight/length below (he's becoming a chunker)!. He had gained 1 lb. 5 oz. since the last Synagis shot in November, so the nurse said she had to add a cc to his injection (a good thing). He was a trooper again during the injection. He cried for about a minute and then was fine.

He has his 6-month well-baby exam on January 17th (which also means his 6-month shots also). We asked the nurse to do a quick oxygen saturation check on him also. We turned off his oxygen and he was in the upper-90's, which is excellent. We can tell the pulmonologist in Tucson that he is finally at a normal level at our altitude.



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Weight update!
11 lbs. 4oz; 23 inches long
Chronological age: 24 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 1 weeks and 6 days
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12/28/06: Day 167 (Thurs.) Snow Again

Another snowy day! The snow level wasn't quite down to our level, but it made for a nice view of the mountains.
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Chronological age: 23 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 1 weeks and 5 days
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12/25/06: Day 164 (Mon.) Christmas!*

Evan has a message for Bop (Jen's Dad):


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Chronological age: 23 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 1 weeks and 2 days
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12/24/06: Day 163 (Sun.) Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at Tom & Ann's house along with other friends and co-workers. We didn't bring Evan along for fear of him getting sick around all those people. :-( My friend Stacy was there with her baby (I blogged about her back in September, she gave birth to Nathan when Evan was in the SV nursery). Nathan is a big boy! He's over 16 pounds and is about 3.5 months.

We had a "white elephant" gift exchange amongst the ladies. It didn't get too mean and nasty. :-)
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Chronological age: 23 weeks and 2 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 1 weeks and 1 day
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12/22/06: Day 161 (Fri.) X-mas Pics

Today we took Evan to Sears for his first Christmas pics. We're getting his six-month pictures done next month, but I figured we'd kick ourselves if we didn't get Christmas pics done. We didn't purchase a whole bunch of them (so I didn't buy the photo cd), the pics should be in after New Year's. Since T's mom is staying with us, we got a nice picture of her and Evan together.

While we were waiting to get his photos taken, there was a family in front of us with twin boys and an older brother. I found out that the twins were in UMC (not sure how old they were but they were walking and talking, maybe 2). The mom said Dr. Tsai took care of her boys also. Small world! I don't think her twins were as preemie as Evan since she said they caught up really quickly to their chronological age. Sort of funny that the parents noticed the tell-tale tape marks on Evan's face from the nasal cannula.

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Chronological age: 23 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 0 weeks and 6 days
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12/20/06: Day 159 (Wed.) Visit By Az EIP

Today we had a home visit by a representative from the Blake Foundation. The local office of the Blake Foundation is a part of the Arizona Early Intervention Program (Az EIP). The Arizona Early Intervention Program, also known as AzEIP (pronounced Ay-zip), is a statewide system of supports and services for families of children, birth to three, with disabilities or developmental delays.

Since Evan is a preemie, he qualifies for the program. Today was just a paperwork day with the case worker. Dulce (the case worker) is scheduling a physical therapist to come out and check on his development. That probably won't take place until after the holidays.

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Chronological age: 22 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 0 weeks and 4 days
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12/19/06: Day 158 (Tues.) Snow Day!*

A rare snow day in Arizona!!

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Chronological age: 22 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 0 weeks and 3 days
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12/16/06: Day 155 (Sat.)*

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Chronological age: 22 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 months, 0 weeks and 0 days
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12/14/06: Day 153 (Thurs.) 5 Months Old!

Today marks Evan's 5-Month birthday! Amazing how the time has flown! Now that he is hitting close to the 3-month adjusted age mark, he is starting to get a happy personality. Some of the things he is doing now: kicking like a crazy-man in his bouncer chair; smiling at us (when he's not just gassy); drinking 4 ounces every feeding; and sleeping a lot more through the night.
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Chronological age: 21 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 4 weeks and 0 days
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12/13/06: Day 152 (Wed.) Avid Sports Reader

I've found that Evan has a particular fondness for Sports Illustrated magazine. Not sure if it's the texture of the pages..s but he loves sitting on my lap and trying to turn the pages. :-)

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Chronological age: 21 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 6 days
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12/12/06: Day 151 (Tues.) Doctor Visit!

Evan had a follow-up appointment at the Children's Multi-Specialty Clinic in Tucson. We thought we would be seeing Dr. Morgan, but it was a different doctor (I think it was Dr. Brown). Our appointment was at 8:30am and we hoped we wouldn't have to wait as long as we did at the last appointment.

The nurse called us back to do his stats...he weighed 10 pounds 5 ounces; was 22 inches long; and his head circumference was 39 cm. I plotted his latest stats on that image, so you can click on it to see a bigger view. He's still just below average, but that's o.k.!

The doctor suggested we increase his amount to 4 ounces every feeding. He's been taking about 3 ounces every time. We have to get him to about 28+ ounces a day in order to plump him up more.

The nurse came in with the "magic" pulse oximeter. Of course Evan maxed out on the pulse ox while on the oxygen. Now, the moment of truth...we turned off the oxygen flow. He did great! He averaged about 96-97%. That was a big improvement from two months ago when he was averaging the low 90s.

We were hoping to hear the great news that he could come off the oxygen...um...didn't happen. At least we can stop the Lasix in two weeks. The doctor didn't want to make too many changes at once since he's wanting us to increase the amount of his feeds. When he comes off the Lasix, we have to watch for any major changes in his breathing. While he's sleeping, we have to do periodic respiration counts to make sure he's not laboring harder to breathe. He should be breathing between 30-40 respirations per minute. If he is breathing more rapidly, it's a sign that there may be moisture build-up in his lungs and we have to start the Lasix again.

We have to come back (again) for follow-up in about 5 weeks. The doctor anticipates that he will get the green light to stop the oxygen. The next time we take him to see Dr. Ettinger, we need to get a pulse oximeter reading on him to see what his true oxygen saturation is at our altitude.

So, we continue with the oxygen! Bummer!

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**Weight Check: 10 lbs. 5 oz.
**Height check: 22 inches
Chronological age: 21 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 5 days
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12/11/06: Day 150 (Mon.) It's a Record!

Check out this sleep-time record! 7 straight hours!

Sleep check:
Bedtime: 10:30pm
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 5:30am

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Chronological age: 21 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 4 days
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10/10/06: Day 149 (Sun.) Crazy kicking*

I tried to catch a vid of Evan while he was kicking like a crazy-guy. These are a bit more mellow than what he was doing.





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Chronological age: 21 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 3 days
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12/9/06: Day 148 (Sat.) Some vids*

Sleep check:

Bedtime: 10:30pm
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 2:30am
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 7:00am

Evan drinking his bottle


Drinking some more


Trying to get him to babble (long vid)




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Chronological age: 21 weeks and 1 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 2 days
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12/8/06: Day 147 (Fri.)

Sleep Check
Bed time: 9:30pm
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 12:30am
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 4:00am
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 7:00am

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Chronological age: 21 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 1 day
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12/7/06: Day 146 (Thurs.)

Sleep check:

Bedtime: 9:30pm
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 3:00am
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 6:00am

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Chronological age: 20 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 0 days
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12/6/06: Day 145 (Wed.)

Sleep check:

Bedtime: 9:30pm
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 2:30am
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 6:30am

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Chronological age: 20 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 2 weeks and 6 days
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12/5/06: Day 144 (Tues.) We're in Double Digits!

Evan had his 4-month shots today...and he is finally in the double digits on his weight! He weighed in at 10 pounds, 1 ounce! He had 3 injections today (not fun), but he did fine. He cried for about a minute and then he was fine.
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**Weight Check: 10 lbs. 1 oz.**
Chronological age: 20 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 2 weeks and 5 days
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12/2/06: Day 141 (Sat.) SEC Champs!

Evan and his dad enjoyed watching the Florida - Arkansas game. Luckily, the Gators won (or it would have been a bad evening in the household). With the USC loss...could the Gators play in Arizona for the national championship? We'll see!

Earlier in the day, the Theta girls held their annual Chapter Leadership Workshop. The girls presented me with a special gift for Evan...his own mini-Ben jersey. I'll post a photo later. It was great working with this old group of officers!

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Chronological age: 20 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 2 weeks and 2 days
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12/1/06: Day 140 (Fri.) Sleeping Longer

I'm starting to keep a running log of Evan's nighttime sleep/eat patterns. Not exciting, I know, but it's some filler on these days where not a lot is going on.

Sleep: 10:30pm
Feeding: 12:30am
zzzz-Sleep-zzzz
Feeding: 6:00am

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Chronological age: 20 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 2 weeks and 1 day
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11/29/06: Day 138 (Wed.) Getting My Shot

Evan had a last minute doctor run to get his Synagis shot. This is that crazy-expensive once-a-month shot he needs to help prevent RSV. He received his first shot back in September, so this is just his second shot. He's supposed to get them monthly during the cold and flu season. He'll get his next one right before Christmas. He did relatively great during the injection. He was all happy until the nurse poked him. He turned bright red...no sound came out like it took his breath away...and then the cry let out. He didn't cry for too long and within a few minutes, it was as if he was back to normal.

We get to do this again next Tuesday at his 4-month well-baby visit with Dr. Ettinger. He'll get his next round of immunizations. Fun!

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**Weight Update: 9 lbs. 15 oz.**
Chronological age: 19 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 1 week and 6 days
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11/27/06: Day 136 (Mon.) I Want My MTV!

A weird picture I know...but it was funny. Evan was in a really good mood this morning. I put him down on our bed while I was taking a shower. He was really enthralled with watching VH1 Classics. He's been awake a lot more recently and has really taken to watching football and cartoons. When he drinks his bottle, he likes to have his head tilted off to one side so he can watch the action.
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Chronological age: 19 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 1 week and 4 days
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11/26/06: Day 135 (Sun.) A Lost Season...

I guess it was too much to ask for to have the Gators and the Steelers win in the same weekend! The bright hope is that the Gators will win against Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game. I have accepted the fact that the Steelers will not win their division this year. :-(
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Chronological age: 19 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 1 week and 3 days
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11/25/06: Day 134 (Sat.) Gators Win (Whew)!*

A picture of Evan doing what he loves to do...sleep in his swing. We gave him a break from the O2 since his skin was looking rough. Later in the day, Evan watched the Florida-Florida State game with his dad. Evan gave the Seminoles his Gator Chomp!



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Chronological age: 19 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 1 week and 2 days
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11/24/06: Day 133 (Fri.) Off We Go!

I ran across some websites that help parents choose how to save for their children's college education. One website calcuated it will cost at least $50,000 year for an in-state public university by the time Evan goes to college (CRAZY)!! So, we decided that he has to attend a service academy (preferably the Air Force Academy since it's closer). So, here's the link to Evan's future alma mater: U.S. Air Force Academy

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Chronological age: 19 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 1 week and 1 day
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11/23/06: Day 132 (Thurs.) Happy Thanksgiving!*

It's been really hard finding time to blog lately, so apologies to those of you missing your Evan-fix for the day!

Evan on his surfboard tummy mat


The pups helping with dinner (I have no idea why T is only wearing one sock)!


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Chronological age: 18 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months and 1 week
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11/18/06: Day 127 (Sat.) Trying to Get a Smile *

A little milestone I've noticed is that Evan is smiling more (when he's not gassy). Dad can get some good smiles out of him when he makes funny noises at him.






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Chronological age: 18 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months and 2 days
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11/17/06: Day 126 (Fri.) Bath Night

Evan's bath night! Always an exciting event...lots of screaming! With all the screaming he is doing now, I will laugh if he ends up being a swimmer.
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Chronological age: 18 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months and 1 day
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11/14/06: Day 123 (Tues.) 4 Months Old!

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Chronological age: 17 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 4 weeks and 1 day
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11/12/06: Day 121 (Sun.) I Missed The Steeler Win!

Today was one looong day! My Theta girls held their nominating committee meeting to create the slate of new officers. In the past, these meetings last a few hours...but this time we set a record I hope will never be broken...12 hours. Thanks to my right-hand-lady Catherine for sticking it out with me!

Since I was sequestered away all day, I didn't get to watch the Steelers finally win a game!
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Chronological age: 17 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 3 weeks and 6 days
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11/11/06: Day 120 (Sat.) Bath Day For Pups!*

Bath day for pups is always such a fun day! The dogs know when it's coming when Dad gets the "special" towels out of the closet. I added a "*" in the title of any posts with video in case you want to revisit old video clips without having to click on each post.

Earlier, Evan was in the lotus "Ohm" position....feet crossed, hands on his knees with his palms facing up. I couldn't get a picture of it in time.

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Chronological age: 17 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 month 0 weeks and 0 days
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11/10/06: Day 119 (Fri.) 17 Weeks Old!

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Chronological age: 4 months 1 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 3 weeks and 6 days
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11/7/06: Day 116 (Tues.) Doctor Visit

Evan had his "well-baby" check-up with Dr. Ettinger today. When they weighed him, he was 9lbs. 4oz., which is less than when I weighed him on our home scale on Friday. I would guess my home scale is off a bit. We had thought Evan would get some shots today, but that has been put off for a few weeks. He is due for his Synagis shot...that is the shot to help prevent RSV that is crazy-expensive (over $2000 a shot). The nurse said they are waiting on word from our insurance to o.k. the shot. Once they get the o.k., we'll bring him in for that shot. He will get his 4 month shots at the start of December. I am anticipating that will not be fun.

The doc said his lungs sounded great (yea)! He predicted Dr. Morgan will take him off the O2 when we see him again on December 15th. When Evan hits the 10 pound mark (which I think will be in about a week and a half), we can stop giving him the Lasix dose. He is still getting the Poly Visol vitamins once a day. During feedings, we have been mixing his formula to equal 24 calories per ounce to give him a bot more calories per day to help boost his weight. Dr. Ettinger says we can back off on that and just mix his formula to be 22 cal/ounce, which will be a bit easier on his digestive tract.

So, he's doing just great...slowly (slowly) catching up to where he needs to be on weight and length. Dr. Ettinger commented on how he is getting baby fat, and that's a good thing. His cheeks, arms and legs are getting chubby! He is starting smile a bit more also.

On a different note...Evan slept AGAIN from midnight until 6am...two nights in a row! Fingers crossed it will last!
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**Weight check: 9 lbs. 4oz.**
Chronological age: 4 months 0 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 3 weeks and 3 days
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11/6/06: Day 115 (Mon.) 6 Hours of Sleep!

O.k....a little milestone...Evan slept from midnight until 6:15am...completely missing his 3am feeding. We'll see if this was an anomaly...or could he be getting into the routine of sleeping longer?
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Chronological age: 4 months 0 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 3 weeks and 2 days
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11/5/06: Day 114 (Sun.) Me and My Buddy

Evan and Sadie were watching football games from their perch.

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Chronological age: 4 months 0 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 3 weeks and 1 day
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11/4/06: Day 113 (Sat.) Updating the timeline

I've updated Evan's timeline of significant events from a previous post:

October 17 (Day 95): Appointment with Dr. Morgan at Pediatric Pulmonary Clinic in Tucson (Evan still on O2)
September 19 (Day 67): Evan discharged from Sierra Vista Hospital! Comes home on oxygen
September 16 (day 64): His original due date
September 14 (Day 62): Got his Hepatitis & Synagis shots
August 29 (Day 46): Transferred back to Sierra Vista Hospital
August 25 (Day 42): Started bottle-feeding
August 18 (Day 35): PIC line removed; off the IV; up to full feeds with gavage
August 15 (Day 32): Passed hearing test; had ROP test done
August 13 (Day 30): CPAP removed; put on nasal cannula; classified as Level II care
August 11 (Day 28): T gets to hold Evan for first time
August 9 (Day 26): Got his first bath by mom
August 8 (Day 25): Moved into the 3rd pod/condition downgraded
August 7 (day 24): Respirator removed; put on nasal CPAP; held by Jen for the first time; moved into a crib
August 5 (Day 22): Oscillating respirator removed, put on conventional respirator
August 2 (Day 19): Arterial line removed
July 31 (Day 17): PDA healed
July 28 (Day 14): PDA discovered
July 25 (Day 11): Off the bilights; bi-carb burn on his right foot discovered; Jen's first diaper change
July 23 (day 9): PIC line inserted
July 21 (Day 7): mild IVH grades detected in brain
July 18 (Day 4): Pulmonary hemmorhage detected; put on ocillating respirator
July 14 (Day 1): Born by emergency c-section in Sierra Vista Hospital and air-evac'ed to University Medical Center in Tucson

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Chronological age: 4 months 0 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 3 weeks and 0 days
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11/3/06: Day 112 (Fri.) TGIF!

Thank God It's Friday! It was nice that I started back to work mid-week. It made the week go a little faster. I found it hard to keep up with posting this week...I hope to not be so lax in the future! This weekend I'll get caught up on posting some vids of the little guy for those of you who need your Evan-fix! ;-)

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** Unoffical Weight Check Update: 9 lbs. 10 oz. **
Chronological age: 4 months 0 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 6 days
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11/2/06: Day 111 (Thurs.) Sleep? What's that?

Rough sleeping last night now that we are both working at the same time! Of course Evan didn't want to sleep in his playyard...so he ended up in the bed between us. Shocking...he slept like a baby. Now, before all of you blast us with your comments on how bad it is to have a baby sleep in bed with you...rest assured that we're not going to suffocate him since he sleeps with the apnea monitor! Let me tell you...at this point...it's all about getting a good night's sleep for everyone (Evan and us)! We'll work on getting him to sleep in his crib at a later time!

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Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 5 days
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11/1/06: Day 110 (Wed.) Back to Work (Again)

Back to work.....again...bummer! It's just like I never left!
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Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 4 days
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10/31/06: Day 109 (Tues.) Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays (even though we did no decorating this year). Arizona Halloweens are nice since you don't completely freeze your butt off waiting for trick-or-treaters. The area where we live makes trick-or-treating very easy for kids...too easy that you'll see vehicles with Mexican license plates parked all over. It reminds me of those Halloweens when we were in Germany when the locals would arrive in droves to the American housing areas.

I didn't put Evan in a Halloween costume...just a little romper with a Halloween design. He had red-eye in the pic, so when T edited it, he sort of looks like an alien-eyes now! ;-)
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Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 3 days
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10/30/06: Day 108 (Mon.)

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Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 2 days
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10/29/06: Day 107 (Sun.) Will the Steelers ever win? :-(

Wow, another Steeler loss today (and to the Raiders of all teams...thugs)! Evan is getting used to our new house guest, T's mom. She'll be watching Evan during the day when I go back to work on Wednesday. T has been able to get Evan to take about 3.5 ounces during a feeding which is a good increse in volume. He never finishes that much when I feed him. He slept really well last night, he only got up around 4:30am after going to bed around 11pm. Of course he always sleeps well when it's T's night to take care of him. ;-)

A reminder now that the rest of the world fell back an hour, Arizona doesn't...so we're on back Mountain time zone (2 hours behind the east coast, 1 hour ahead of Cali).
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Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 1 day
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10/28/06: Day 106 (Sat.) Baby Einstein

This picture is actually from last night. Luckily I was able to snap it before Sadie had moved. We had Evan sitting in his Bumbo chair watching a Baby Einstein video (I'm lovin' these)! It was the Baby Beethoven one. Anyway...Sadie comes in and plops herself right down beside him to watch the video also. It helped that T was sitting there, since Sadie is always wanting to be near him. It was a funny sight! Evan was pretty attentive to parts of the video.

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Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 2 weeks and 0 days
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10/27/06: Day 105 (Fri.) 15 Weeks Old!

Since Evan didn't have a weight check at the doctor's office, I did an "unofficial" weight/height check at home. The results are listed below.



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**Weight Check (unofficial): 9lbs. even
**Length (unofficial): 21 inches
Chronological age: 3 months 3 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 1 week and 6 days
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10/26/06: Day 104 (Thurs.) Sleeping In My Crib

So proud of Evan! He has slept the past two nights in his crib in his room! Now, sleeping through the night is a whole other matter we're not even close to yet! It's interesting to listen to him through the monitor when he is sleeping. There are times it sounds like he's waking up to demand his night feeding, but it's like he is just dreaming and goes back to sleep. He makes lots of grunts and whines when he sleeps. :-)

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Chronological age: 3 months 2 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 1 week and 5 days
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10/25/06: Day 103 (Wed.) Picture Day!

We had Evan's pictures taken today at Sears. We were worried we wouldn't get any good pictures out of him since he isn't a very smiley guy. The pics turned out pretty good. I had a handful of the pictures done in black & white since it seemed to tone down the redness in his cheeks from the cannula adhesive.
















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Chronological age: 3 months 2 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 1 week and 4 days
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10/24/06: Day 102 (Tues.) The Bumbo Chair*

We got Evan one of those Bumbo baby seats that allows him to sit upright. Today was
the second time I put him in the seat. At first he cried (when I snapped the still picture), but a few moments later, he was just fine (when I took the vid). He is still small for the seat, so I had to bolster his back up with a towel. He is always enthralled with the ceiling fan, as you can see. Thanks to Sadie-pup for trying to make a guest appearance.



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Chronological age: 3 months 2 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 1 week and 3 days
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10/23/06: Day 101 (Mon.) "Maxstoplicking"

Don't get us wrong, we love our dogs...but Max our German Shepherd can be very annoying when he licks his feet all the time. He's always had this allergy problem since he was a puppy when we lived in Germany. My big worry at this point is that Evan is going to think his name is "maxstoplicking" since we seem to say it all the time! It takes saying it at least three times before Max will give you this look and a groan as if to say "I wasn't doing anything".
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Chronological age: 3 months 2 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 1 week and 2 days
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10/22/06: Day 100 (Sun.) Triple Digits!

Wow! Evan finally hits triple digits on his age! He's come so far in 100 days! Here's a toast to many, many, many more great days ahead! We hoped to also celebrate a Steeler win today, but we came up short against Atlanta.

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Chronological age: 3 months 2 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 1 month 1 week and 1 day
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10/20/06: Day 98 (Fri.) 3 1/2 months old!

Today was just a weight-check at the pediatrician's office. I wasn't expecting a big weight jump from Tuesday's appointment in Tucson. Evan weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. today, a 2 oz. jump from Tuesday. It's always good to see a steady increase in his weight. We didn't try to test his O2 saturation off the O2 since his original reading wasn't at the usual high percentage. The highest the nurse could get was 96%. He usually registers at 100%...the nurse thinks it was because his hand was so cold. No worries!

His next appointment is November 7th with Dr. Ettinger. Since Dr. Vedock is moving away, Evan will just bump over to him. He will probably get his next Synagis shot at that appointment (another $2,000 shot, ouch). He's also getting close to his next round of shots at 4 months. He also is due for his second Hepatitis B shot. I am anticipating that will not be a very happy appointment for Evan. :-(

I tried getting Evan to nap in his play-yard, but he was not happy about that. Instead, he fell asleep in his swing which doesn't look as comfortable to me, but I guess he likes it!



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Chronological age: 3 months 2 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 6 days
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10/19/06: Day 97 (Thurs.) Kicking the fish!*

In the last post, I talked about Evan hitting milestones a little later than usual. For the past two days Evan has been hitting a great milestone in my mind. While sitting in his bouncer, he knows to kick the fish to make the music/sounds go! It's a little milestone, but it's something! I was finally able to catch him on video doing it. he seems to be more enthralled by the bouncer now (even though he still doesn't like the vibration).



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Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 5 days
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10/18/06: Day 96 (Wed.) Smaller than your average...

Being the parents of a preemie, there are things you have to get used to...such as your child not reaching those growth milestones like the other full-term babies. At least we'll get a lot of wear out of 0-3 months clothes! For instance...Evan's Jumperoo is supposed to fit babies from 3 months upward (or not until a baby has full head control). I had to snap this picture so you can see how he measures up. He's not quite on target for his chronological age...but he's getting there! He can use the Jumperoo with some slight modifications such as putting a box under his feet so he has something to jump off of and tucking some towels down in the sides. Before you know it, he'll be jumping like crazy. :-)





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Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 4 days
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10/17/06: Day 95 (Tues.) Tucson Doctor Visit

We were hoping for good news from the pulmonary doctor (Dr. Morgan)...it wasn't the news we had hoped for, but it was good news. We had hoped to hear the words "he doesn't need the O2 anymore"...we didn't. :-(

His appointment was scheduled for 11:30am and we got there about 15 minutes early. We were so happy when they called us right away and they did all the usual stuff (weight/length check, took his temperature). Well, they put us in one of the exam rooms and we waited, and waited. T's stomach growled louder and louder. Then Evan was hungry, so we gave him his bottle.

Dr. Morgan's nurse finally came in about 12:30pm to do all the preliminary paperwork (stuff that we though they should have had already such as his birthdate, when he was discharged from UMC, etc..). She gave us much of the same information we already knew such as not taking him into malls or crowded places to reduce his chance of picking up any funk. She tested his O2 saturation (the thing we have all been waiting for) while he was on the O2. He was maxed out, as we expected. Then, we took the O2 off, held our breath and watched the monitor numbers. He averaged about 92-93% on room air in Tucson. Pretty good! The nurse thought maybe the doctor would allow us to take him off the O2 during the day and put him back on at night to give him a little push.

Dr. Morgan came in with a medical student by his side. Nice guy, very friendly. He checked Evan's lungs and said they sounded great. Yeah! No crackling! I am assuming from the results of Evan's O2 saturation that the doctor did not give us the green light to take him completely off. He would rather keep weaning him down (at least that will save us a little on switching out the O2 tanks as frequently). When we take Evan to Dr. Vedock's for his weight check, we'll have them test his O2 saturation at 1/8 liter (he's on 1/4 right now). Dr. Morgan said he is really close to coming off the O2, but he still couldn't give a definitive time frame. It's all due to altitude at this time. If we lived closer to sea level, he would already be off.

So, our little guy is still tethered to his tank. We have to go back to see Dr. Morgan in December. I would hope by then he would give us the go ahead to remove the O2.

Here's the weight check for ya Joey!!

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** Weight Check: 8lbs. 1 oz
** Length: 20.25 inches
Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 3 days
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10/16/06: Day 94 (Mon.) A Day without O2

O.k...I do admit that I can sometimes have little patience for things. (That admission will make T happy). Recently we have been impatient about Evan coming off the O2. If you remember back to previous posts, when he was discharged from the SV Hospital, he was on about .1 liter of O2 (that's almost on room air). They sent him home on .25 liter of O2 just to be sure (since his O2 saturations would drop during feedings and diaper changes). There have been times we have caught him with the cannula totally out of his nose and he hasn't shown any signs of distress.

Last night about 1am, he pulled one side of his cannula off his face (thanks to the new adhesive we used that doesn't keep it on as tight). Prior to him pulling it off, he was making noises through his nose as if the cannula was blocking his nostrils. Since he had the cannula halfway off, I decided to take the whole thing off and see what happened. He was on the apnea monitor, so I had double reassurance that he was still breathing. Well, it has been over 13 hours and the kid is doing fine (no retracting of his rib cage, no straining to breathe), he looks normal as usual. When T gets home from work, we plan on putting his cannula back in since we have that appointment tomorrow.

Tomorrow we have an appointment with Dr. Morgan at the UPH Children's Multi-Specialty Center in Tucson. We're not sure what will happen at the appointment, but we hope he'll get the green light to come off the O2. A lot of what I have read on line says that if an infant with BPD is on O2 during the RSV/cold/flu season, they usually stay on the O2 until the end of the season. That would be very disappointing (especially since Evan doesn't venture out into public places). We'll post more tomorrow after the appointment.

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Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 2 days
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10/15/06: Day 93 (Sun.) Steelers Win!

Evan cheered on the Steelers with his new snuggle-ball. Thanks to my advisory board Theta-ladies for the gift!

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Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 1 days
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10/14/06: Day 92 (Sat.) We Miss Marianne! 3 Months Old!

Today was the UMC NICU annual picnic at Udall Park up in Tucson. This was the first time having Evan in the car for an extended period of time. He did great! We found out about the picnic via e-mail from Marianne...the NICU forgot to send us an invitation. :-( Anyway...it was great to see Marianne again since she was on vacation when Evan was transferred to the Sierra Vista Hospital. We got caught up on lots of stuff...it was great to hear that some of the babies who were in the NICU for a long time finally went home. We also learned that Marianne is a finalist for the March of Dimes Arizona Nurse of the Year! Fingers crossed she wins!
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Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 1 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 0 days
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10/13/06: Day 91 (Fri.) 13 Weeks Old!

Friday the 13th! I experimented with Evan napping in his crib in his room. He did pretty good after screaming his head off for about 20 minutes. I ended up using one of the swaddle blankets and that helped to calm him a lot.
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Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 6 days
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10/12/06: Day 90 (Thurs.) Visitors!*

I gave Evan some tummy-time today on his playmat. He wasn't too happy about being on his stomach, but did enjoy laying on his back looking at the lights. He was pretty happy until I decided to capture a vid (typical). He's been better about napping in the bassinett in his play yard. We need to get him to sleep in there when T's mom comes to stay (since I don't want to be sleeping with him on the couch forever)! It's still rough getting him to sleep in his crib in his room. I think he's been so used to sleeping on cushier mattresses, that the mattress in his crib probably seems too hard for him.

Evan had a visit from Joe and Deb today. Thanks guys for the baby gifts!

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Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 5 days
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Evan always looks so mad...or maybe he's just concentrating too hard

10/11/06: Day 89 (Wed.) A trip out*

Today I decided to get out of the house since the weather was so nice. I had to go to the medical supply store to try to find that stuff to keep Evan's nasal cannula in place. I never knew that babies are people magnets when you being them into a store! The people at the medical supply store were very nice and gave me samples of a different type of adhesive. To buy the stuff the hospital was using would have been over $100 since you have to buy the whole box. Hopefully we'll find out next week if he even has to stay on the O2.

We also went to Target to get some diapers and stuff. Evan was great and slept most of the time in his carrier. I have come to the realization that when you are toting an infant, you can't make quick little trips to the store. And I want to know why does the Target parking lot in Sierra Vista have such a slope? It was tricky getting his carrier out of the shopping cart before the shopping cart scooted away down the parking lot.

O.k...so I was feeling a little adventurous...when I was switching out his cannula, I decided to see how he would do without it. Shhh, don't tell the doctors, but he was doing fine for over 30 minutes without his cannula.
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Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 4 days
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Evan having a happy day in his bouncer

10/10/06: Day 88 (Tues.) Another trip to the lab

Evan had to get blood work done again...so I toted him off to the draw station at the hospital. He did great...just cried a little when they pricked his foot. After that, it was like...been there, done that. He's had blood drawn so much that it probably isn't phasing him anymore.

On our way out, I stopped by the medical records office to get a print out of both mine and Evan's itemized bills. It was amazing to see all the drugs I was given the day of my c-section! I was even more shocked that the RSV vaccine that Evan got was over $2,000. He has to get that shot every month for the next year. Costing that much, it better work! ;-)
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Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 3 days
Lab Charges: $13.34
Running Total: $368,274.58
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10/9/06: Day 87 (Mon.) Is the well going dry?

Evan is eating and growing like a champ! Just today I noticed his head isn't looking as small as it did. :-) According to his weight, he needs to eat about 400 calories to gain weight.

My BM supply is starting to dwindle and I've resorted to the wives' tales to try to increase my supply: warm compresses, herbal tea, Fenugreek herbal supplements. None of those are making a big difference. We used up all my frozen supply, so we now have to supplement with formula. I have to pump about 3 times to equal one of his feedings, it's getting hard to keep up.

Evan is drinking a formula for preemies (Enfamil Enfasure Lipil). It has 22 calories per ounce versus regular formula which is 20 calories per ounce. We have to adjust the powder to water ratio to make it 24 calories per ounce just to give him a bit more calories. Throughout the day, those extra calories add up. Since the formula is thicker, Evan doesn't drink it down as quickly as he does expressed BM. During the night, he is b-feeding pretty well, but I don't think he is getting enough volume and he ends up being hungry the next hour. I hated having to give him formula, but the well seems to be going dry!
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Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 2 days
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10/8/06: Day 86 (Sun.)

Watching the Steeler game, hoping for a win!

O.k...so they didn't win (again)! :-(
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Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 1 day
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10/7/06: Day 85 (Sat.) Sticker Shock

Now that Evan has been home for a bit, the medical bills are starting to trickle in. Since my blog is being used as an educational piece for some people, I wanted to lay all the numbers out there for people to see just how much healthcare for a preemie costs. In the preemie book I had, they say you estimate about $1,000 a day...um..not even close in our case!

- The final bill from UMC was $291,708.45
- The final bill from Sierra Vista Hospital was $41,401.47

I added the daily amounts to past posts with a running total of everything. By the time Evan was discharged on Day 67 the running total was $368,096.54. That adds in the AirEvac services, Southwest Ambulance, and the intial bills on his birthday from the SV Hospital.

That amount is sort of mind-boggling. Now is the nightmare of navigating the insurance game. We have Evan covered under both of our insurances, so we're not sure if that will make things harder or easier on us. This amount certainly isn't the last of his medical bills. We have the trips to the pulmonary specialists in Tucson, the normal well-baby visits locally, and his home oxygen services.

When I think of the other family circumstances we encountered at UMC, our case is mild. I think of baby Olivia who has been in the NICU for 9 months or the families of twins and triplets where those families could potentially hit over a million dollars in bills. When you anticipate the birth of child, this isn't even in the realm of one's imagination.

One of Evan's UMC nurses had asked me about the whole preemie birth experience (she was not a mother herself) and it was hard for me to put into words. As the mother of a preemie, you don't get to experience all the joy that comes with giving birth. You really feel like you get the short end of the stick. You go through the ups and downs and the what-ifs. You blame yourself and think back to what I had done wrong during the pregnancy to bring this upon myself. From day one you are in hyper-drive; there were some days I would just forget to eat. It's hard to explain when you are discharged from the hospital still in pain from surgery, but you go home empty-handed since your baby is in a hospital 80 miles away.

We are blessed that Evan has turned out so well. He won't be without some lung problems along the way early on, but he's expected to be just fine as he gets older. He's doing great compared to the preemie growth charts. We so appreciate all the gifts, cards, e-mails, well-wishes, blog comments and hand-me-down clothes (Debbie, you are a saint for parting with all those clothes...I can't thank you enough).

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Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 1 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 0 days
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10/6/06: Day 84 (Fri.) 3 Months Old!*

Today was bath day for Evan since he was going to visit his favorite doctor today, Dr. Vedock. I managed to give him a bath by myself since T went back to work today. I'll still be home until November 1.

We don't have to go back to the doctor's office for 2 weeks. We're sad that Dr. Vedock is moving away! I have to take him to the hospital on Monday to get labs drawn again.

I was uploading the video I posted on yesterday's blog when Max, our German Shepherd, comes into the room panting. It was the tell-tale sound of a thunderstorm approaching. I had to get a vid of him under the computer desk. This big 80-pound dog is frightened of thunder and when a storm is near, he tries to get under the desk (usually when we are sitting at the desk).
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*Weight check: 7 lbs. 6 oz.
*Length: 20 inches
Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 weeks and 6 days
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This is our early-warning system for thunderstorms






Here was the storm that lasted all of about 5 minutes

10/5/06: Day 83 (Thurs.) Thumb Sucking*

Evan has hit another "milestone" today....if you would call this a milestone...he has discovered how to suck his thumb.
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Chronological age: 2 months 3 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 weeks and 5 days
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Earlier, Evan was trying to hold the monkey's hand. By the time we got the camera out, he started to fall asleep.

10/3/06: Day 81 (Tues.) Going for a walk

We went for a walk today since the pups were going crazy. This was the first time putting Evan in the stroller and he did great. We did the long walk out El Camino Real by the horse farm which is a little less than a 2 mile round trip walk. Evan slept through most of the trip.

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Chronological age: 2 months 3 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 weeks and 3 days
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10/1/06: Day 79 (Sun.) October already!

Hard to belive how fast the months are going by! If you notice in the picture, Evan does not have his oxygen cannula in. We changed out his cannula today and I thought since he didn't have anything on his face, it would be good time for a picture. :-) He did just fine without his oxygen, so hopefully his days are numbered on the O2 tank. We won't know until we go to the pediatric pulmonary clinic in 2 weeks in Tucson. There have been times where he is sleeping and he moves the cannula completely out of his nose, and he does fine.
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Chronological age: 2 months 3 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 weeks and 1 day
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9/30/06: Day 78 (Sat.) Another Gator win

First off, glad that Gators won..it makes the house much more calm! Max and Sadie didn't have to run and hide since T wasn't yelling as much at the television.

Today was bath day, a day Evan used to enjoy while in the hospital. Now he doesn't seem to like it as much. I think he likes his body being under the water; but with the baby tub we have, he hovers over the top of the water (like a hammock). Maybe he isn't feeling warm enough like he would be under the water.

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Chronological age: 2 months 3 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted age: 2 weeks and 0 days
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9/29/06: Day 77 (Fri.) 11 Weeks Old!

Doctor's visit today went well. We found out his lab results were all within the acceptable ranges. Evan almost slept through the entire visit (but he won't sleep at nighttime...what is up with that?)! Anyhoo...Dr. Vedock is wanting him to gain a bit more weight every week, so we'll be bumping his feedings up to about 80-90ml (about 3oz.). He gained 5oz. from last week's visit. We're still fortifying his feedings to add some extra calories.

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** Weight check: 7 lbs. 2 oz.
** Length: 19.25 inches
Chronological age: 2 months 3 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted age: 1 week and 6 days
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9/28/06: Day 76 (Thurs.)

O.k...advice here...what makes a kid scream and not sleep during the nighttime hours...but then he'll sleep like a "baby" during the daytime hours?? So much for sleeping through the night I posted about earlier!
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Chronological age: 2 months 2 weeks and 6 days
Adjusted age: 1 week and 5 days
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9/27/06: Day 75 (Wed.) Happy Bouncer

Evan finally likes his bouncer...it's taken a few days, but he seems happy with it. For the past few days when we put him in it, he was not a happy guy. He lasted about 10 minutes in it and started crying, right after I took the picture. Nothing much to report on today. Evan is doing much better sleeping for about 5 hours through the night.

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Chronological age: 2 months 2 weeks and 5 days
Adjusted age: 1 week and 4 days
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9/26/06: Day 74 (Tues.) Napping in My Crib

Evan finally took a nap in his crib in his room! I've been worried about getting him to sleep in other places than just with me on the couch. I wheeled his oxygen tank to the other side of the house and laid him down for a post-meal nap. He slept for a good hour or two, so fingers crossed we'll be able to transition him easily.

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Chronological age: 2 months 2 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted age: 1 week and 3 days
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9/25/06: Day 73 (Mon.) Feeling Neglected

I had to post this picture of our first baby, Max. He's been feeling a little neglected lately. He never fails to warn us when Evan is crying and he has been crying a lot. The only thing that seems to stop his crying is to stand and bounce with him. You can't sit and bounce (he knows that you're not standing and will tell you he's not happy). The baby carrier is coming in handy since it is one of the few things that calm him. It's not recommended to sleep with the baby in it though (bummer).

Evan was such a good guy at the hospital! We had to go to the lab to get his blood drawn and he cried just a bit. The lady taking hs blood had asked us if we had experienced this before. I tried not to laugh since we experienced him getting his blood drawn a lot at UMC. We'll find out the results of the tests on Friday when we see Dr. Vedock again. The lab is testing his electrolytes and one other thing (I can't remember what it was). We stopped by the nursery since they found his shot record. The day shift nurses were happy to see Evan. He fell asleep in his car seat afterwards.

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Chronological age: 2 months 2 weeks and 3 days
Adjusted age: 1 week and 2 days
Lab Charges: $164.70
Running Total: $368,261.24
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9/24/06: Day 72 (Sun.) Hoping for a Steeler Win!

First off...not happy about the Steeler loss! Hope the picture makes up for it! The idea behind the picture is to take Evan's picture every year in the jersey so you can see how big he is getting. It's going to take a while for him to grow in to this one!

Today Evan had a visit from Chris and Stephanie (our former SV friends now living in Tucson). Chris and T are golf buddies (aka "golf elitists/snobs" as I call them).If you can't play from the "tips", then don't be in their foursome! ;-)

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Chronological age: 2 months 2 weeks and 2 days
Adjusted age: 1 week and 1 day
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9/23/06: Day 71 (Sat.) 1 Week Old (sort of)

Evan has decided that Dad is the best pillow for sleeping. :-) Dad and Evan have been having a great time watching the Ryder Cup together. Too bad the U.S. isn't doing too well.

Another normal day...we had to switch out his oxygen tank. We're still using the medium size tanks until Apria delivers the big tank on Monday (that will last about 2 weeks). Since Evan's appointment in Tucson isn't for a few weeks, he'll be on the oxygen until then (bummer). On Monday we have to take him to the lab at the hospital to have some blood drawn to check his electrolytes.

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Chronological age: 2 months 2 weeks and 1 day
Adjusted age: 1 week and 0 days
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9/22/06: Day 70 (Fri.) 10 Weeks Old!

Getting into a daily routine finally. Evan had a good night last night. During the day, we took a little walk through the house with his oxygen tank in tow. He seemed to like his room...eventually he'll get to sleep in there. :-) I took him into the backyard in his baby carrier. He likes the carrier thank goodness. The sunlight freaks him out a bit, so we'll have to ease him into outside time. I took him next door to meet our neighbors Tina and Robert. They were excited to finally meet the little guy.

It was bath day, but before his bath, T put him on the webcam so his mom could see him. She'll be coming out to stay with us at the end of October when I get ready to go back to work again. We have to keep Evan out of day care as long as possible (especially during cold and flu season).

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Chronological age: 2 months 2 weeks and 0 days
Adjusted age: 6 days
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9/21/06: Day 69 (Thurs.) A Trip to the Doc

O.k...what day is this? Amazing how my timing is all thrown off! Evan slept much better through the night. I still slept with him on the couch...he even slept through his midnight feeding. He was ready to eat at 3am though. The monitor recorded 2 apnea incidents through the night...they weren't really incidents...they were false alarms when he moved.

He had his doctor's appointment today with Dr. Vedock. She was happy to see him out of a hospital setting. No al whole lot came out of the appointment aside from a trip to get blood drawn on Monday. We have to come back in and see her next Friday for a weight check.

Dr. Vedock also gave us referrals for the pediatric pulminologist in Tucson and a urologist. We didn't realize until a few weeks into his stay at UMC that he has a condition called hypospadia. It's a mild case, no big deal, but we have to wait a while to have him circumcised. He also has newborn anemia...again, not a big deal. It's something he'll grow out of once his bone marrow starts producing more red blood cells. We have to give him liquid vitamins fortified with iron to help the process kick in. The liquid vitamins are really yucky and thick, but Evan drinks it down like a champ!

Evan wasn't too happy being handled at the doctors office and was really unhappt going back in his car seat. Thank goodness it was less than a 5 minute trip home. He's been fussy on and off since he's been home....we reverted back to the burrito-swaddle and he's sleeping like a dream now.

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Weight: 6 lbs. 13 oz.
Height: 19 inches
Chronological age: 2 months 1 week and 6 days
Adjusted age: 5 days
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9/20/06: Day 68 (Wed.) Apnea Monitor Must Die!

We survived the first night with Evan home...what's up with babies not sleeping through the night?? We're about ready to through the apnea monitor out the window though. It's as loud as a smoke detector and is easily set off if the leads are setting wrong on his chest. When this thing goes off, it sends you straight up out of bed.

Evan was really fussy when we put him down in his play yard for bedtime. We're using the play yard/pack-and-play in our room...he has a crib in his room also. Initially, we're keeping him close by...we'll eventually put him in his room on the other side of the house. Since he was fussing so much, I ended up taking him and the apnea monitor and slept on the couch so at least T could get some sleep. The one nice thing about the apnea monitor is that it will tell us if he isn't breathing, so I felt comfortable sleeping with him on the couch. He slept well that way...it just seems he needs to have some human touch these first few days while he's sleeping. I still didn't sleep super-well since I was up almost the whole night.

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Chronological age: 2 months 1 week and 5 days
Adjusted age: 4 days
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9/19/06: Day 67 (Tues.) We're Home!!*

Whew...we made it home! Today was a crazy day! We had to be at the hospital at 9:30am to meet up with the respiratory technician from Apria for our instructions. She brought us the smaller oxygen tanks...really easy to set up and use. This makes him so much more portable now! Nice to know we only have to have the apnea monitor on him when we're not directly watching him (like while we're sleeping). That thing is SO loud.

We have a 25 foot oxygen tube, so we can move him around relatively easily. We have him hooked up to the medium size oxygen tank that will last him a few days. Apria is supposed to deliver the large tank tomorrow (that will last about 18 days). They'll come by and swap out the tanks for us on certain days. The small portable tank will last about 24 hours. We have a handful of each of those tanks in garage, so he won't run out.

It was a little wierd leaving the hospital without all the bells and whistles...just him and an oxygen tank. It now falls on us to observe him and make sure he is breathing well. So far, so good! The pups are a little anxious...they've been underfoot all day trying to figure out who this little guy is. Max tried to take his sock off when I was holding him. :-)

He was a little fussy this afternoon...I think it was too much excitement for him today. He did great in the car ride home (all 5 minutes of it)! It's nice to be close to the hospital. We just gave him bath this evening and put him in his sleeper gown. Hopefully it will be a calm night!

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Chronological age: 2 months 1 week and 4 days
Adjusted age: 3 days
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Evan in his "crib"


In the swing with his protector, Max




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SVRHC Charges: $95.51
Running Total: $368,096.54
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9/18/06: Day 66 (Mon.) Coming Home!!

Great news to report...Evan is coming home tomorrow! A bit of coordination had to be done with a clinic in Tucson during the day, but he's coming home with oxygen. The decision was made for him to have an apnea monitor. Dr. Vedock was pushing for him to just have a saturation monitor, but the doctor at the Tucson clinic (Dr. Morgan) decided the other way. So, we won't know on a daily basis how his O2 saturation levels will be. The plan is to set his O2 level around .225 constantly and let him "grow out" of it. He's been floating between .1 and .2, so they say keeping him at that slightly higher level all the time will be fine. At his weekly check ups they will check his saturation levels to see how he's doing. We have to be at the hospital at 9:30am to meet with someone from respiratory. I assume it will be to go over what we have to do.

They have officially diagnosed Evan with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD). It's something that will take time to heal. He'll be going to the Arizona Respiratory Center (ARC) for monitoring.

A company called Apria is setting us up with the oxygen. They have to come to the house tomorrow and set up the big tank. Evan will have a smaller tank for travelling. He did great in his carseat (he slept for about 4 hours in it), so driving to Tucson won't be a problem. We'll have to take him to the ARC in Tucson for periodic monitoring. I also set up his appointment with Dr. Vedock for Thursday. Needless to say, he's going to be seeing the doc probably weekly. During those appointments they will be taking blood to check his electrolytes also.

This is our last night of sleep, so I guess we should enjoy it!

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Chronological age: 2 months 1 week and 3 days
Adjusted age: 2 days
SVRHC Charges: $1,832.74
Running Total: $368,001.03
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9/17/06: Day 65 (Sun.)*

When we visited prior to shift change, we got another report that Evan was not a happy guy all day. The nurses all had to take turns holding him since he didn't want to lay down in his crib. The head nurse was worried he is getting sick, but the whole time we were there, he was perfect. I think it's all in Evan's master plan to make the nurses so miserable that they also will push to get him sent home! ;-)

Hopefully we will hear today from Dr. Vedock on the details about getting him home this week. Some coordination needs to be done with a clinic Tucson, not sure what all that will entail.

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Chronological age: 2 months 1 week and 2 days
Adjusted age: 1 day
SVRHC Charges: $1,800.34
Running Total: $366,168.29
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Getting his bottle from Dad

9/16/06: Day 64 (Sat.) Due Date!

Today was Evan's predicted due date, so he has hit the 40 week mark! Since he was a preemie, we now start all over on his "adjusted gestational age" (he's 0 again)! I think he'll catch up quickly to his chronological age though. So down below on each post, I'll list his chronological age and his adjusted age.

Evan had a good scrubbin' in his "spa". Yes, Marianne, we still use "Evan's Spa" for his bath time down here! The nurse practioner, Sue (who is great), helped out since I didn't realize babies are so slippery! We put his spa under one of the bed warmers, so he was a happy guy. We slathered him up like a holiday turkey with baby lotion. Afterwards, he zonked out, as usual.

On an unrelated, note, thank goodness the Gators won over Tennessee or it would have been a very unhappy household! I was at the hospital during most of the game and missed out on T screaming at the television.

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Chronological age: 2 months 1 week and 1 day
Adjusted age: 0
SVRHC Charges: $1,800.34
Running Total: $364,367.95
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9/15/06: Day 63 (Fri.) 9 Weeks Old!

Another mini-milestone....9 weeks! He's getting so old! Hopefully a step closer to going home. His doctor is on call all weekend, so I'll surely run into her sometime this weekend at the hospital. From what we heard, Evan did fine through the shots last night. They gave him Tylenol an hour before the shots and have a standing order to give it to him as needed. The morning shift nurse said they plan on just giving it to him all day anyway. He was sleeping away when I saw him before work. His O2 flow is still fluctuating between .2 and .1. That's not too bad since last week he was floating between .4 and .3. So, he's making progress!

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SVRHC Charges: $1,814.23
Running Total: $362,567.61
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9/14/06: Day 62 (Thurs.) Getting shots tonight. 2 Months Old!

It was a quick visit today since I had a dinner up in Tucson to attend. Evan was sleeping soundly when we arrived afetr 4pm. We sat by his side since we didn't want to disturb him and then leave. He was down to .1 on his O2 again. Before we left, we realized his cannula was completely out of his nose (and his saturation levels were fine). It was sort of funny since he was laying on his stomach (almost laying straight down on his face, and the cannula was smashing his nose down. We told the nurses, and they decided to just let him stay in that position since his saturation levels were so good. Although we all know it's bad to put a baby to sleep on his stomach, Evan has had lots of tummy time at UMC and he sleeps really well in that position. Of course it helps to be on a monitor that alarms if he's not breathing correctly, so we'll definitely not put him to sleep in that position when he comes home. :-)

Evan is also getting his 2 month shots sometime tonight. That won't be fun since he's getting 4 at one time. They plan on giving him some Tylenol first since one of the shots is one of those thicker immunizations.

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SVRHC Charges: $1,916.50
Running Total: $360,753.38
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9/13/06: Day 61 (Wed.)*

Not much to report today...Evan got moved back into the "isolation" room since the twin girls got discharged. It's like he has his own apartment. :-) It's nice to be away from the nurse chatter and you can dim the lights. He's still fluctuating between .2 and .1 on his oxygen. Apologies for the short post, but I am trying to get to bed early for once!

Evan had a case of the hiccups

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SVRHC Charges: $1,815.34
Running Total: $358,836.88
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9/12/06: Day 60 (Tues.) The Story Keeps Changing*

O.k...every day seem to be something new. This morning, I rolled out of bed at 4am to be at the hospital at the start of shift change. Every morning before I would go into work, I would stop by the hospital to check on things (usually around 6:30-7:00am). I would get these reports from the nurses that Evan was just ultra-fussy and inconsolable. So, I decided to see for myself (and my extra hands can free up the understaffed nurses to do what they have to do). All I have to say is, it's just not normal to be up at that time (and driving on the roads)! Luckily, I only have .7 of a mile to drive to the hospital. Evan was a complete angel for me. He drank his bottle and fell off to sleep. So, amazing what a little attention will do for a baby.

While I was there this morning, he was on about .3 ml on his oxygen, so there wasn't any huge decrease. BUT, when T and I visited after dinner, he was down to .1 ml! So, this makes a change to the plan of him coming home on oxygen. Dr. Ettinger was there and told us the plan is to keep him on the Lasix for about 5 more days. They plan on doing another chest x-ray after he's done with the Lasix to see how his lungs look. Since he's down to .1, they're going to start weaning him onto room air (aka no more cannula as long as he can handle it). I think the doctor said they would observe him on room air for about a week to make sure all is well. So, some more baby steps that are adding up to us going home soon (without oxygen).

Evan was being so good in this video...waiting patiently for his bottle to be warmed up


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SVRHC Charges: $1,804.97
Running Total: $357,021.54
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9/10/06 & 9/11/06: Day 58 & 59 (Sun. & Mon.) Not Coming Home Yet

We got some disappointing news today...they did a chest x-ray on Evan and found he had a bit of haziness in his lungs. They put him on Lasix as a precautionary measure to help pull out any possible liquid in his lungs. When we changed his diaper before we left, it was super heavy, so he is definitely getting rid of any excess water. We didn't get to talk to the doctor, so I'll post any additional info we get. Since he's on Lasix, he won't be coming home anytime soon. Maybe not until next week. :-(

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SVRHC Charges:
$1,924.71 (9/10)
$2,051.89 (9/11)
Running Total: $355,216.57
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9/9/06: Day 57 (Sat.) Still Maintaining

Our little snuggler is still doing fine. No great change to his O2 levels (which is a little disappointing). We were hoping by now he would be down a click or two. He is still hanging out in the .3 range. The nurses say at times they still have to bump him up to .4 or .5 when his saturation levels start dropping. So, it doesn't look like he'll be off O2 in the very near future.

The head nurse on the day shift (Christa) said that Dr. Ettinger had talked with her about about sending Evan home on O2. I don't think Dr. E has cross-talked with Dr. Vedock about it since Dr. Vedock was the first to bring that possibility up Thursday night. I think both doctors were making sure we would be the ones home with him full-time. Evan could very well be one of those babies who needs O2 for a longer period of time; and keeping him in the hospital for possibly weeks or months when we could care for him at home just doesn't make sense. So, hopefully, a decision will be made early this week.

They also want to start to do the car-seat test with him, so we brought his seat back during the night shift. They need to see if he can still maintain his breathing while in it for 30 minutes. If he passes that test, that is a big step towards going home. If he doesn't pass, then we may have to get him a bed that fits like a car seat and will keep him in a horizontal position.

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SVRHC Charges: $1,795.71
Running Total: $351,239.97
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9/7/06 & 9/8/06: Day 55 & 56 (Thurs. & Fri.)*

I'm trying not to slack in my blogging! Honestly, there hasn't been a whole lot to blog about daily since Evan is doing fine. Thursday night we had the chance to talk to Dr. Vedock (she's the D.O. under Dr. Ettinger). She said that around Tuesday they were going to evaluate the possibility of sending Evan home on oxygen.

It matters over a couple of factors...if he shows over the next few days that he isn't making progress coming down on his O2 level and is still eating well, then they'll send him home on oxygen. If he is showing signs of coming down on his O2 levels, then they will keep him in the hospital for another week or so until he is completely weaned off.

So, to bring him home on oxygen and an apnea monitor won't be too technically difficult for us. There is a bit of coordination we have to do with a place in Tucson, but it doesn't sound hard. On Monday, we have to attend an infant CPR class at the hospital. I think they make all preemie parents go through the class before they discharge the babies home.

He got a Hepatitis shot and his first vaccination for RSV. He has to get a shot every month for RSV during the cold and flu season. Shots...how fun!!

Our big milestone for the weekend is to get his car seat installed. His crib and play yard are both set up and ready to go!

We were trying to catch him smiling...this is a long one, over a minute.


He was just zoning out in this one.


Trying to get him with his eyes open.


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SVRHC Charges:
$4,798.31 (9/7)
$1,795.71 (9/8)
Running Total: $349,444.26
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9/6/06: Day 54 (Wed.)*

I had a whole post written and the computer crapped out on me and I lost what I wrote! Arrgh! Since I'm too tired to re-write it, here are some vids from today instead.

After his bath....note the head control he's getting


Before the meltdown


After the meltdown...loving the swing!


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SVRHC Charges: $1,810.21
Running Total: $342,850.24
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9/5/06: Day 53 (Tues.) Another Happy Birthday

I have to start off with a happy birthday to Nathan Whitworth who was born today at the SV Hospital! He's the son of friends of ours, Jeff and Stacy. So, Nathan and Evan were nursery mates for a bit today! Nathan and Evan were both visited by our very good friends, Joe and Deb Pedone. Anytime you want to babysit Joey Eggshells, you are more than welcomed!! You guys are the closest we have to family here, and we appreciate your visit!

Evan had a good day (as usual), and he has a much more hospitable nursing crew for the next three nights. We missed his early evening feeding, but snugged with him for a few hours. He was on around .25 oxygen flow...so we're always happy to see that number go down. They retaped his cannula sometime today since he's still sneaky guy trying to rip it off. He's still eating like a champ...oh...weight check...6 POUNDS! He's a brute! ;-)

When we left the hospital, it was raining like crazy (yes it does rain in Arizona). This rain was a remnant from Hurricane John that hit the Baja. Although we never turn down rainfall...our backyard was flooded and we would be happy if it didn't rain again for a bit. Since the backyard was flooded, we had to take the dogs out to find some higher ground for them to do their business. Max had a great time trekking through the flowing "river" on Verde Drive. Sadie was freaked out as usual. T wasn't too happy since he just gave them both baths on Sunday. Our electricity kept cutting out last evening, hence the reason I didn't post last night. ;-)

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SVRHC Charges: $1,810.21
Running Total: $341,040.03
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9/3/06 & 9/4/06: Day 51 & 52 (Sun. & Mon.)

Evan in his favorite position, laying all tucked up on your chest.

Apologies for not posting...the holiday weekend has us all thrown off. It was nice having an extra day to hang out with Evan. He is down to about .3 on his oxygen. The nurses tell us for the past 2 nights right around midnight, his O2 saturation levels drop into the 80's and they have had to put him back up to .4. Weird! But then his percentage will max out again at 100 and they bring him back down. Hmmm, could he have just needed his nose suctioned? I guess we'll never know!

Earlier today (Monday), Dr. Patel was around and I asked him if there would be a point when the cannula would be more of an obstruction than a help to his breathing. It hit me the other night that if the oxygen flow is so light, the cannula prongs would be blocking his nose a bit (making it harder for him to breathe and giving an inaccurate reading on his pulse oximeter). Dr. Patel did agree with my concern. He said that past cases have shown, when it looks like it's time to pull the cannula out when the O2 flow is very low, babies still de-sat too much. It's almost like they still need that feel of the cannula in their nose.

When he was laying on my chest tonight, I noticed he had one of the cannula prongs out of his nose. I let him stay like that just to see what his numbers would do. He was still doing great on his stomach, but when I shifted him to his back, his numbers started to drop and I put the other prong back in his nose. So much for experimentation on my nasal blockage theory. So, it still looks like our guy isn't going anywhere for a while. I still think he's going to do like he always does, makes a big jump when you aren't expecting it. Just like when he made huge jumps from the conventional respirator to the CPAP to the nasal cannula all in the matter of days. We're hoping he'll be home in time for Monday Night Football, but we're not holding our breath. ;-)

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SVRHC Charges:
$1,860.21 (9/3)
$1,862.25 (9/4)
Running Total: $339,229.82
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9/2/06: Day 50 (Sat.) Hitting 100% again and again and again

I got to talk to Dr. Patel today...he's the pediatrician on duty this weekend in the nursery. He was the doctor on duty when Evan was born and was the one who initially intubated him after birth. He was happy to see how well he is doing now. Dr. Patel said he felt bad he never got to talk to me after Evan was born since he wasn't on duty the rest of that weekend.

I told him I was concerned that it had been about 3 days since Evan has been maxing out on his O2 saturation levels. Dr. Patel said he would look at Evan's chart tonight and make a change. By the time we came back after shift change, he did knock him down to .4; but all evening, Evan was still almost maxing out on his saturation levels. This means his lungs are finally starting to absorb the O2 he needs. Since he is still hitting O2 saturation levels in the upper 90's, we think he could still come down a notch on the level. We just hope they don't let him sit a .4 for a few days with such high levels. Seeing how they did it at UMC, it's overkill to keep him sat-ing that high....at UMC, the nurses would wean him down (or back up) all the time in reaction to his saturation levels. If they would see him maxing out at 100%, they would immediately turn down his O2 flow (they wouldn't have to wait for a doctor's order). I am thinking at SV, the nurses can't make that judgement call. With the way we have been feeling about the quality of care he has been receiving, we just want him out of there as soon as possible (even if that means we have to take him home on oxygen).

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SVRHC Charges: $1,795.71
Running Total: $335,507.36
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9/1/06: Day 49 (Fri.) 7 Weeks Old!*

7 weeks old today! I've been noticing that Evan is able to hold his head up for a few seconds at a time. He loves being on his tummy, so it looks like physically he's developing pretty well. He is still at .5 on his oxygen levels (they haven't lowered him since Wednesday). We think it's a bit of overkill to keep him at an oxygen level that high (when he is sat-ing at 98-100%), but I guess it's all part of the doctor's plan.

T and I visited with Evan at about 6pm and I stayed until 1am. I wasn't too happy with the whole vibe in the nursery, so I decided to stay as long as I could stay awake. I just really feel like he's being ignored (in a sense) by the nurses since they are so understaffed. At least while I am there, I know he's being looked after. It's the little things that are starting to really bug me after having him there the past few days. Things like all the nursery lights being on and they don't even try to give him some cover from the glare. The way the nurses all talk so loudly to each other. Whoever is taking care of Evan never introduces herself to us. The way the nurse talks to me (like I'm nuts) when I explain that his nose needs to be suctioned at least once a shift (even if it doesn't look like he needs it). I even heard a nurse tell a crying newborn baby to shut up. Although it's been great having him closer to home, I would feel more at ease if he was still at UMC.

One of the rare times they had half the lights off in the nursery



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SVRHC Charges: $1,920.71
Running Charges: $333,711.65
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8/31/06: Day 48 (Thurs.) Eating and Growing

A new schedule to get used to now that Evan is down here in Sierra Vista. Thank goodness we live near the hospital and it's on the way to work for us. Since the nursery doesn't have a lot of freezer space, I have to bring in a few bottles every day instead a large bulk amount at UMC. They are fortifying the milk to help him gain weight a bit faster. I think I heard them say he weighs 5lbs. 9oz. now, but I'll check on that.

It is funny since to us Evan looks like he's gotten so much bigger, but now that he is beside full-term babies, he still looks so small! The nurses were nice enough to do his feet prints since the prints we had were done very hastily and looked messy. Comparing the earlier feet prints, he has definitely grown. His feet were about 2 inches long at birth, and now they are over 2.5 inches long.

His O2 levels have been steady, so no change to his level. His nasal cannula was half hanging out since the tape holding it on needed replaced. During our evening visit, we asked the nurse (Chrissy) to retape it and it now looks much better. The tape was falling off the past 2 days and we thought someone would take the intiative to change it (um, that didn't happen). Chrissy also suctioned his nose (which we don't think the day shift nurses are doing), and got some nice snot out that was bothering him. He's still eating well, about 60ml/2oz every feeding. They are letting him wake up on his own when he is hungry, but they won't let him go more than 3-4 hours without eating.

If you can tell by my post, I am slightly disappointed in the care Evan is getting in comparision to UMC. Of course it's like comparing apples and oranges to compare the two hospitals. But at UMC, the nurses would make sure his clothes were changed and his bed linens were changed out. I've found that if we don't do it during a visit, it doesn't get done. The nurses also don't practice good inside voices while in the nursery (they talk so loudly all the time). They usually leave the overhead lights on, so tonight we turned one of his fleece blankets into a makeshift tent to cover his face from the light. He's due for a bath tomrrow, so we'll see if the nurses will do it without being reminded.

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SVRHC Charges: $1,822.91
Running Total: $331,790.94
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8/30/06: Day 47 (Wed.) Acclimating nicely

Evan's first full day in Sierra Vista went well. He is doing really well acclimating to the altitude here. His oxygen has been bumped down to .4...so that is great for just the past 24-hours. Dr. Ettinger, his pediatrician, was in the nursery since he was delivering twins today, and he touched base with me about his progress. He said that he's not going to push him by lowering his oxygen, but just let Evan work it out. He is estimating even when Evan comes off the oxygen, he'll still be in the nursery for about a week after that. So, I guess we're going to be there for a while. His other concern is that Evan is steadily gaining weight. Last night he was 5 lbs. 6 oz. so that doesn't seem to be a problem for him. He's been eating like champ, so no doubt his weight will jump.

It's quite a change going from the UMC NICU to the SV Hospital! One of the night shift nurses we met tonight used to work in the NICU of a women's hospital in San Diego, so she is very aware of Evan's needs. The SV nurses were afraid Evan would be disturbed by the noises in the nursery, but even that nurse agreed that the environment Evan was in the past few weeks has made him immune to a lot of noise. He has a little corner to himself; all he has is his oxygen line and his leads for monitoring heart rate, breathing and O2 saturation.

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SVRHC Charges: $1838.22
Running Total: $329,968.03
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