Timeline

In case you haven't been reading all the postings...this will get you caught up:

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
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

Some new pics

The pictures still look bad through the incubator glass. I had to get a shot of this....Evan loves to cross his feet. On his right foot, Marianne made a little sock to cover his burn wound. He would keep kicking the dressing off with his left foot. Now with the sock, he can't do that. You can see his right arm is free from the arterial line, but he still keeps his arm in position like it's still on. His left arm has the PIC line in it. This is the view we see of Evan most of the time since the respirator tube is on the opposite side. We know the back of his head very well!


In this shot I was trying to get a picture of Evan with his "guard dog", Sarge. Sarge keeps an eye on him when we can't be there.







I was trying to get a full-length picture of Evan on his respirator side. As you can see, he's not as wired up now as he was before. That tube in the forefront is the suction tube they use in his mouth. The suction tube they use for his lungs is in front of his left hand. Evan loves to have his hand resting on the respirator tube.

8/4/06: Day 21 (Fri.) 3 Weeks Old!

Wow, three weeks...it has sort of flown by, but in some ways still has been like an eternity for us. His September due date (hopefully around the time he will come home)...seems like a year away at this point. I was joking with the attending physician today that Evan will be walking by the time he decides to come off the respirator!

I had a good talk with the new attending physician (Dr. Cahan)...she told me the steroid treatment hasn't been normalizing his CO2 levels as she had hoped. He's had really good results on his blood gas lab results, then they'll adjust (turn down) his respirator settings, but then his next lab results will show that they need to turn the respirator settings back up. She is planning on finishing this course of steroids on Sunday, and maybe starting another course of small doses if he still doesn't show the results they are looking for. She is thinking of maybe testing him and putting him on the regular respirator in a few days. She doesn't want to be too hasty in doing that since she doesn't want to risk his lungs deflating. They are attributing his slow weaning to that darn pulmonary hemorrhage he had during that first week he was admitted.

The doctor said no change to the IVH conditions I posted about earlier. That's good news...no change is good. His chest x-ray was also looking fine. His primary nurse Marianne was working today and she has figured out why he seems to be so fussy at times. Normally, the nurses will only suction his lungs about every 4-6 hours. Marianne found that when he starts getting fussy, he needs suctioned...about every hour. He calms right back down after she does it. They are feeding him 1 ml every three hours now, so he is tolerating the breast milk.

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UMC Charges: $6,591.05
Running Total: $207,160.84
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8/3/06: Day 20 (Thurs.) The Snot-Man

A rainy day up in Tucson today...luckily I got to the hospital before the downpour. It was neat though since we could watch the rain roll in from Mt. Lemmon from one of the NICU windows.

I had a good visit today (not like I ever have a bad visit)...Evan was lucky to have 2 nurses work with him today. Today Marianne was off so he had Karen and Mary. Karen is a nurse at St. Joe's Hospital on the other side of town and was called in to UMC since they had so many babies to take care of. Karen was a real hoot, someone who had a great sense of humor despite all the stress in the NICU. Small world, but she has relatives who live in Hereford and Bisbee, so she's well aware of the boring drive to Sierra Vista from Tucson.

Evan did have a head ultrasound and chest x-ray today, but they didn't get the results interpreted yet. I'll check tomorrow on those results. His right arm was still free from the art line...they are taking blood samples from his left heel instead. Now that his right arm is free, I noticed his upper arm is really chunky! He still tends to keep his arm in an upright position (he doesn't seem to know that he can put that arm straight down now).

Evan's oxygen saturation all of sudden dropped into the 70's...as it turns out, he needed to be suctioned. Karen squirted a bit of saline solution into the suction tube and ended up pulling out a big glob of snot (as she called it). Sorry for the lack of a better medical term! It was amazing to see his O2 levels go right back to normal after she did it. The nurses have been rotating him from his belly to his back and have been noticing a lot more gunk coming up from his lungs (according to them, that's not a bad thing). The oscillating respirator also shakes a lot of the stuff loose. Since he can't cough it up due to the respirator tube, it has to be suctioned out manually.

While I was there, the respiratory technician (RT) made some adjustments to his ventilator. The nurses were about to test his blood gases when the RT appeared, but they decided to wait about a half hour, then pull his blood sample to see how the adjustments affected his results. I was still around when they got the results back from the lab and according to Karen his results were excellent....so they expected the RT to come back and make some more adjustments. So, more positive steps to get Evan onto the conventional respirator (and eventually off it entirely).

I got to change his diaper again...according to Karen, that was the heaviest diaper he has had (it was absolutely soaked). He was acting really fussy prior to the diaper change, so he definitely doesn't like to be wet, even in his sleep stage. The nurses also let me "feed" him through the tube...he's now getting 2ml every 6 hours, which is a step forward.

Evan seems to be having less and less IV drips running...so that's another good sign. All he is getting now through the IV is Fentanyl, Adivan and TPN (which stands for total parenteral nutrition). Once he gets off the respirator, he should be IV free (as long as he can tolerate the breast milk feeds). Fingers crossed we'll get to that point soon!

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UMC Charges: $7,002.30
Running Total: $200,569.79
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8/2/06: Day 19 (Wed.) Arterial Line Removed

When T and I go up to visit, we really try to be drama-free. Our visit started out to be that way, but of course, Evan had to give us a little scare. His primary nurse Marianne was on duty so it was nice to have someone give us all the news without having to pry it out. On the days she isn't working, Evan will get some random nurse who isn't always the most forth-coming with info. Marianne had overheard the doctors say they may switch him over to the conventional respirator in a few days. Although the conventional respirator is a bit harsher on preemie lungs, it will give Evan more of a chance to breathe on his own. Right now, he is trying to breathe against that oscillating respirator and that is a hard thing to do. They have continued to turn down the amplitude on the oscillating respirator, so he isn't vibrating as badly anymore.

As for Evan giving us a scare...I had thought he had scratched his stomach since I saw a thin line of blood appear on his tummy. He had started to be fidgety again, so I thought he scratched himself with his right arm (his right arm has the art line and a catheter-like thing where they take blood from him). As we stood and watched him, we saw more blood appear on his stomach when he touched his right arm to his stomach and we figured out the blood was coming from the art line.

T told Marianne about it and she ended up getting the doctor on call to come take a look. Evan has had that art line since he got there, so the doctor ended up taking it out, cleaned up his right arm since it was covered in blood and planned on reinserting it later. They also use that art line to monitor his blood pressure, so they put this little blood pressure cuff on his leg to keep monitoring his levels. While the doctor was taking out the art line, Evan's heart rate went sky high (I think I saw it hit 190 at one point). The doctor wasn't too concerned since she said his oxygen saturation was still in the good range. After she was done fiddling with his arm, he calmed down a lot. They said Evan's vital signs are interesting...he'll have a big jump in his blood pressure, but his heart rate will stay normal, or his heart rate will shoot up and his blood pressure stays low. They aren't sure what is causing it, but it isn't something that is alarming them.

Tomorrow Evan will get another head ultrasound and chest x-ray. The head ultrasound will check again on the IVH areas in his brain...since the last result showed no change to those areas in his brain, they anticipate this one will show the same. The chest x-ray will reveal if his lungs have completely healed from that hemorrhage about 2 weeks ago. He is still getting breast milk feeds every 12 hours. So, things are starting to look up...the next stage will be moving him back to the conventional respirator. Hopefully more good news after tomorrow!

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UMC Charges: $6,738.00
Running Total: $193,567.49
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7/31/06: Day 17 (Mon.) PDA is Healed!

Some good news today...they did Evan's chest ultrasound and it showed that his PDA is all healed. No PDA ligation surgery, yea! We had the opportunity to talk to Dr. Edde while we were there and she was pleased to give us the good news. She is considering starting a mild steroid treatment in hopes of giving him a little push to wean off the respirator. I think she had said this was her last day as the attending physician, so I think she was going to confer with the oncoming attending physician to be sure of the treatment plan.

Evan was so nice and calm when we first got there, but then, turned into mister fussy again. T and I watched him like a hawk since he was flailing his arms around (we were worried he would dislodge the respirator tube). It seems like every time they give him his dosage of Ativan, he gets really agitated. It was sad watching his little face grimace like he was trying to cry. It was like he was really trying to get that tube out. One of the nurses put a little bit of this sugar-water mix on his lips...she says that the mixture causes the brain to release endorphins (sort of like when you eat chocolate). He did start calming down a bit afterwards.

<12:05am>
O.k....the steroid treatment is a go! He'll be on a course of steroids for the next week (3 times a day, with the next three days being the highest dosages). His night nurse said he's been very calm (he hasn't pulled out his respirator tube thank goodness). Fingers crossed this will get him off the respirator! The nurse also said they started feeding him breast milk again (very small doses for now).

I'm driving up solo tomorrow so I can spend a bit more time with him.

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UMC Charges: $8,276.25
Running Total: $179,526.89
--------------------

7/29/06: Day 15 (Sat.) PDA Treatment Started

Although Evan celebrated his 2-week birthday yesterday, he is 33 weeks (adjusted gestational age) as of today...so getting closer to that 40-week full-term target age. We had a good talk with his resident (Andrea) today, but were bummed to hear she will be shifting over to TMC in a week or so. The residents switch locations every 30 days. She assured us the resident taking her place will be fully informed of Evan's condition.

Evan was even more fidgety today than we had seen him in the past. The nurse thinks that he's reached that tolerance point for the Fentanyl and is starting to feel things a bit more. They bumped up his dosage to get him to settle down a bit more. They also took an upper-body x-ray to make sure his PIC line is in the correct location after his nurse noticed that when she touched the area on his arm where the PIC line is, he became more agitated. The x-ray came back with no indication that his line was out of place, so he was just not a happy guy today! He kept opening his mouth wide like he was trying to yawn (or trying to get that respirator tube out).

They started him on the medication to help close his PDA problem. He'll get that medication over the course of three days. We'll know more on Tuesday when they do an ultrasound on his chest. The ultrasound will be able to tell if the medication worked or if he has to have the PDA ligation surgery. He did get a little blood transfusion today since his platelet counts were down a bit. Although he's A+ like both T and I are, he gets O- blood during the transfusion.

We had a good long visit with him today. I got to take his temperature and change his diaper again. Most of the time T and I had our hands on him trying to get him to settle down, but it didn't work too well. Hopefully tomorrow we can get an updated picture of him to post. :-)

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UMc Charges: $7,680.65
Running Total: $163,010.09
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7/28/06: Day 14 (Fri.) Two Weeks Old! PDA Diagnosed

Today we took a break and didn't drive up to Tucson. When I called the NICU to get an update on Evan, the nurse told me she was going to have the resident doctor (Andrea) call to discuss the results of an EKG they did. Andrea called me back about 30 minutes after I had called and told me the results of the EKG weren't in the computer yet. She did say that Dr. Eddy (who is the main doctor) would speak with us on Saturday about starting steroid treatment on Evan to help wean him off the respirator. There are good and bad points of using steroids, but the benefits far outweigh the risks. The one big risk is that steroids supress the immune system which can make him prone to infection. The benefit would be that steroids cut down on the lung inflammation, which would help him breathe easier.

The rest of the call went well...nothing else major to report about. About thirty minutes later, the phone rings again and it's the NICU. Andrea was calling again to tell me she saw the results of the EKG. She said that the EKG shows that Evan has a PDA, which stands for Patent Ductus Arteriosus (it sounds like a Harry Potter spell to me). :-) It is a very common condition that the majority of preemies get. Not to get too medical technical on you, it basically means, a blood vessel near his heart and lungs did not close as it is supposed to do after birth. When a baby is still in the womb, that blood vessel sends blood directly into the aorta (bypassing the lungs which aren't being used yet). When a term baby is born and starts breathing, the PDA starts to close automatically. Since Evan wasn't born at term and didn't start breathing normally, his PDA didn't get that signal to close. Andrea says that almost 80% of the babies in the NICU have PDA, so he's not alone.

So, treatment is for him to get doses of indomethacin over the next few days (the only drawback is that this medication works best if the baby is within 2 weeks of birth and Evan is right on that time limit). If that medication doesn't close the PDA, then he will have to have surgery to close it. The PDA ligation surgery (if he has to have it), is a very safe operation and is always successful. They would go through his back (so it's not open-heart) and the result would be a very small scar that would fade over time. So, fingers crossed the medication works, but if he has to have surgery, it's not anything to worry about.

So now, with that second phone call, the steroid treatment is on hold since the PDA treatment takes priority. The PDA could also be contributing to Evan not coming off the respirator more quickly, so we'll be glad to get that cleared up. After the PDA heals, he may not need the steroid treatment anyway.

We'll get more details tomorrow after our visit.

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UMC Charges: $9,825.95
Running Total: $155,329.44
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7/27/06: Day 13 (Thurs.) IVH Status Unchanged

Another trip to Tucson today...I had the opportunity to talk with the resident doctor who is looking after Evan. The resident is really nice and easy to talk to...but she makes me feel old. Are doctors getting younger or am I just getting old!? :-)

They did another head ultrasound today to re-check those two areas I wrote about in an earlier post. They didn't see any change from the original ultrasound, so that is a great thing. It means it isn't getting worse and chances are, those two areas will just heal as his brain grows.

The doctor predicts (if all goes as it has been going), that he will be weaned off the oscillating respirator possibly late next week. She can't predict if he will go back on the normal respirator or if he will be able to go onto the CPAP. A little speck of light at the end of the tunnel...but, don't be surprised if he relapses again (all part of what preemies do).

One odd thing is that they did a genetic test on him (as they do will all newborn babies at UMC)...and he had two abnormal results. The doctor told me they will re-do the test later since they think the results aren't correct due to Evan having a blood transfusion prior to the test. One abnormality is with his thyroid level...that result didn't surprise me since I've been hypothyroid since '99. The doctor wasn't aware of my medical condition and wrote that into his chart. The other abnormality I can't remember what it was...all is remember is it's a long word. The doctor said Evan was only off by a point or so on the optimal range for that test (again, showing that the results are probably off due to his transfusion). Both result abnormalities aren't something short-term to worry about anyway according to the doctor.

The doctor told me down the road they may have to do some sort of plastic surgery on Evan's foot due to that bicarb infustion burn. She assured me the burn/wound specialists are keeping an eye on his foot everyday and are working on healing it the best they can. I didn't get to see his foot today since it was bandaged, but even his day shift nurse Marianne says, his foot will look worse before it looks better. We're still in the looking worse stage.

They re-started feeding him micro-doses of breast milk today. He is still getting complete nutrition through his IVs, so they are still just testing him to see what he will tolerate.

That's it for today!

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UMC Charges: $6,971.50
Running Total: $145,503.49
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7/26/06: Day 12 (Wed.) PIC Line Adjustment

We're almost settled into our hospital routine (not something I'm overjoyed about though). Today I drove up earlier in the day without T since it seems the past few days we've been so rushed to get on the road after he comes home from work, visit with Evan before shift change at 6:45 and then have to turn right around and head back home. It was nice to have a bit more time to sit with him and talk with one of his primary nurses, Marianne.

A tiny bit of good news is that they are slowly turning down the amplitude on his respirator. I didn't have the chance to talk with any of the doctors to ask them what signs they look for to take him off that oscillating respirator and onto the nasal CPAP or regular respirator. Now, it seems like we just have to be patient and let time mature his lungs.

The burn specialists looked at his right foot this morning and they are applying a special dressing to the burn. I got to see the wound and it looks really bad...the skin is all black in a square shape. They have to change out his dressing every 4 hours. Hopefully, he won't have too bad of a scar.

He had an x-ray today to check on the PIC line (to make sure it's in the right position). Marianne said they pulled it back a bit since it wasn't sitting in a optimal position. She wasn't sure if they were able to see the condition of his lungs on the x-ray...but she is sure they are healing well since she doesn't get much discoloration when she suctions his lungs.

Evan was really fidgity today, the most I've seen him move around. Marianne told me they are cutting back on his Fentanyl which is for pain and he is probably becoming more sensitive to the environment. In his right arm/hand is the catheter that monitors his blood pressure (the ART line). Since he's been moving around more, he kept flat-lining the ART line and setting off an alarm. Marianne just moves his arm and the monitor corrects itself. She laughs since he always wants to have his arm up (he usually keeps both his arms up, likes he's being held up at gunpoint). She'll put his arm down by his side, but he'll immediately put it back up. He likes to have his arm near the respirator tube.

That's it for today!

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UMC Charges: $7,035.25
Running Total: $138,531.99
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7/24/06: Day 10 (Mon.) PIC Line Moved

Another non-drama day (yea)! I did forget to mention in the previous post that Evan gained a bit of weight (even though they think it's due to water retention). As of Sunday he weighed 4 pounds, 2 ounces (up from 3 lbs. 8 oz. when he was born). Weight has never been an issue with him since he was a decent size for his age to begin with, but it's good to see the numbers go up. When we were there on Monday, T and I were commenting on how much bigger he is looking (especially his feet). Evan has a "neighbor" who is one of a set of twin boys who are 26 weeks old and weigh a little over 2 pounds, so he's the big kid on the block!

Not sure if I mentioned before, they had to move his PIC line from his foot to his left hand, so now his feet are totally free of catheters and lines. But, both his hands are pretty much bundled up since they use his right hand to draw blood and the left hand for the PIC line. Almost every time we see him, he always has his hand on the respirator tube, so he must be feeling the sensation from it. They think his lung issue has cleared up since when they suction his lungs, they have been clear (aside from a little bit of pink tinge which they aren't too worried about). His right foot did get some sort of burn on it that they are healing with this blue gel-like stuff. He's still on the bililights, hopefully it will clear out his system this time.


One thing I have to complain about though...on Sunday, I drove the Trailblazer to the hospital...someone stole my Steeler antenna ball!! Oh, the humanity!! Can you believe!? I noticed he was gone when I was driving home... Bummer! We have found that entering and exiting the UMC parking garage is a lesson in defensive driving since no one watches where they are going.

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UMC Charges: $7,561.25
Running Total: $124,633.29
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7/22/06 & 7/23/06: Days 8 & 9 (Sat. & Sun.) Still Working on His Tan

Two days with little to write about (and that's a good thing). The little guy is back under the bililights...I think he's just working on a tan! They saw his bilirubin counts go up again and thought it was best to get him back under the lights. The yellow-ness looks to me to be mostly in his legs.

They removed the two UVC and UAC lines going into his umbilical cord. I think they both could only stay in for about a week anyway (due to potential clotting). Now he has a line going into his foot instead that is doing the job of those two lines (called a PIC line...Percutaneous Intravenous Catheter). So now he's not looking so wired-up. The PIC line can be used for several kinds of injections and infusions so he doesn't have to be poked so many times.


Today his nurse said they took an abdominal x-ray since she had felt a hardness in his groin/leg area. It turned out to be a minor thing...the PIC line they put in his foot needed to be adjusted since it was causing the edema in that area. It's a common thing from what they tell me.

His blood platelet counts have been steady, so they haven't had to infuse him. He's also tolerating breast milk down his feeding tube. He gets that every three hours. They are increasing the amounts every day to see how much he can tolerate. They plan on feeding him 30ml every day, which is a pretty good amount.

He is still on the oscillating respirator and his CO2 level is looking good (they fluctuate in between the 40s and 50s). I think earlier I posted his CO2 levels should be in the teens, but that number is wrong...the nurse told me his CO2 monitor was probably not on tight and had room air slipping under it, causing the reading to be so low.

That's it for this weekend...we'll be driving up tomorrow after work.

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UMC Charges (7/22): $6,832.35
UMC Charges (7/23): $7,956.65
Running Total: $117,072.04
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7/21/06: Day 7 (Fri.) One Week Old! IVH Diagnosed

O.k...back to the little guy...celebrating one week today! That puts him up to 32 weeks gestational age as of Saturday. Today was one of those days we hope we have more of...absolutely nothing extreme to report about. He was pretty much in the same situation as yesterday...sedated so the oscillating respirator can do its job. His blood gases keep improving and they did feed him with a drop of milk today...steady gains! His chest x-rays are also clearing up....each one is better than the previous one, so his lungs are slowly healing.

The doctor did tell us his head ultrasound showed a mild (for you medical techies...grade 1 and 2) intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in his brain. They say this is very common due to the trauma of a preemie birth. There is little risk of any complications since his grades are so low (low grades are good in this case). ;-) IVH grades range from 1 being very mild to 4 being severe. They will do another head ultrasound in about a week to see if the hemorrhage is growing or shrinking. Since his vital signs are so good, they anticipate that it is healing itself. It was great for the doctor to tell us that Evan's case isn't anything they haven't seen before, so he's not unique (for once it's good to not be unique)!

We got a book called "The Essential Guide for Parents of Premature Babies" and has been a great read to get us caught up on all the NICU terminology. It's reassuring to read that Evan fits right in line with a lot of the book, which helps answer many of our questions.

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Chronological age: 0 months 1 week 0 days
Adjusted/Gestastional age: 31 6/7 weeks
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UMC Charges: $8,019.90
Running Total: $102,283.04
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7/19/06: Day 5 (Wed.) Lungs Healing

First off, Happy Birthday to my Mom down in Florida!! I don't think we're planning a trip up to Tucson today. I'm working on getting paperwork done for medical leave, Evan's birth certificate and other stuff.

I spoke with Evan's nurse this morning (Marianne). She was the nurse on duty yesterday when he had the bad day. She said he is doing much better now. His morning chest x-ray still was a cloudy-white, but not as bad as yesterday. She said the doctors are just letting him run his course, there's not much worry at this point.

She said last night when they suctioned his lungs there was a little bit of a pink tinge indicating some blood, but this morning when she suctioned him again, he was all clear. Yesterday, prior to his episode right when we got there, Marianne had given him a dose of blood platelets which they think may have helped him heal faster. They think he had some sort of scratch in his lungs that caused all that blood to appear yesterday (which is a common thing due to that darn respirator). Last night, his red blood count was low, so he got a little bit of blood again. They are continuing to check his blood gas counts every few hours.

They hope to take him off the bililights maybe tomorrow since the jaundice is working its way out. Marianne said his leg bruising is almost gone also. So all in all, it's a good day so far. I'll call the night shift nurses this evening to see how all goes today and post more later.

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Chronological age: 0 months 0 weeks 5 days
Adjusted/Gestastional age: 31 4/7 weeks
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UMC Charges: $9,506.05
Running Total: $86,086.84
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7/18/06: Day 4 (Tues.) Pulmonary Hemorrhage*

I think I may be off on my day numbering, so bear with me. :-) Wow, amazing how things can change from day to day. All part of being a preemie. Today our little guy was not a happy camper.

I had called earlier in the morning for a check on how he did through the night. He was moved into an incubator (which is actually a good thing), but his blood platelet counts were down and they had to give him a bit more blood. They are trying to wean him off sedation to see how he manages, so all this could have played a role in the distress he had today.

By the time we got there, he went into a little bit of respiratory distress. They found a bit of blood in his lungs and took an x-ray. His lung x-ray came back white (which meant his lungs were a mess). His CO2 readings went sky high (meaning he couldn't blow-off his CO2). The attending doctor and numerous nurses all were working on him to get him back to reasonable levels. His other vital signs were rock-steady, so the nurses and doctor were not in any panic mode.

They took him off the respirator to see what he would do (hoping he would be happy with that), but he didn't do well and they had to intibate him again (not fun). They put him on a different type of respirator, one that breathes 500 times a minute for him so that was finally bringing his CO2 levels back down (he was at 90+ and normal is around 50). They gave him some demerol and were ordering some more sedation to mellow him out and let this other respirator heal him. They plan on doing another x-ray tomorrow morning, so hopefully they'll see clear lungs.

All we could do today was stand back and watch, we didn't even get to touch him. Not sure if we are driving up tomorrow, but I will post an update from the nurses as I get them.



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Chronological age: 0 months 0 weeks 4 days
Adjusted/Gestastional age: 31 3/7 weeks
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UMC Charges: $10,499.60
Running Total: $75,580.79
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7/17/06: Day 3 (Mon.) First Visit*

We drove up to UMC on Monday to see our little guy...not sure what we were in for. I was scared to go in, but everything was just fine. Evan is right on track for a preemie his age, sort of a "textbook" case so to speak. We got to talk to the doctor who was in the NICU at the time (Dr. Wispe)and he gave us a lot of reassuring information. He still thinks he won't be home until his expected due date, but he hopes that if he reacts very well to his treatment, he could be transferred back to the Sierra Vista Hospital to be taken care of there (but we're still talking a long ways down the road).

He has a nurse dedicated to taking care of him (well, there are more than one, but we met the one taking care of him during the day shift). The nurses are more than happy to get us educated on what all the monitors and tubes are for. We had a lot of information overload yesterday we're still trying to digest. But basically the steps are for him to come off the respirator later this week...then he'll go on the CPAP (to force pressured air into his lungs), and then just to the nasal cannula (with just continuous oxygen). We we're with him before and after lunch, and even in that time, they dropped his oxygen down from 28% to 26%, which is a good sign.

He is still a bit sedated since he was fussy Sunday night. They would rather have him sleep and let the respirator do the healing than him fighting it. His legs are looking so much better. They put a different IV line in his body so they don't have to draw blood samples from his feet. Funny, his blood is A+ just like both his mom and dad! He is under the "bili-light" to get the jaundice out of his system. The nurse told us we could be holding him if it wasn't for the bililight....they need to get his sytem cleared out first.

We did finally get his birth length...this kid is 41 cm which is about 16 1/4 inches long. If he would have been a full-term baby, we would have had some issues!! Even his nurse thought he was an older baby. So many things are going in his favor. His weight is still the same (which is to be expected).

So, we'll be going back up today...they are hoping to get him on a feeding line (through his nose directly into his stomach) in a day or so. Currently, he has a feeding line directly into his umbilical cord. They'll be able to start using breastmilk down that feeding tube, so hopefully that will give him a good jolt of nutrients.

I'll post more later! Thanks for all the supportive e-mails. It's hard to get back to everyone, but you pretty much know, no news is good news from us. We're managing well, so don't worry about us. Since we can't hold him yet, there's no rush for us to be there 24/7; so T's still doing some hours at work and we'll go up in the afternoon. I get to chill with the pups in the morning, which they like. I'm recovering really quickly from the surgery, ...the cankles have arrived people!!

P.S....The photo is a bit overexposed due to the bililight.



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Chronological age: 0 months 0 weeks 4 days
Gestastional age: 31 2/7 weeks
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UMC Charges (7/15): $11,187.90
UMC Charges (7/16): $8,541.50
UMC Charges (7/17): $6,414.05
Running total: $66,081.19
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