January 12, 2009

This adventure is really testing Jeff and my strength. We meet with the doctor all the rest of the NICU team today to go over Vann's progress, setbacks and anything else that they felt was important. Overall, we are all hoping that Vann is starting down a good road of just growing, learning to breath on his own and eating more! The good news for today was that he was taken off the ventilator and put on the CPAP (you can see it below).

We learned today that even though his head scans have been stable, we still aren't out of the woods yet. Since he is a preemie and has some brain bleeds he has a higher risk if having PVL, which can cause some variation of cerebral palsy, learning disabilities, mental/motor disabilities. They begin looking for this when he is 4 weeks old and throughout the first few years as this is something that does not show up all the way. We are keeping our fingers crossed that everything to do with his head will remain stable, but no matter what we will love him just the way he is!!!

If he continues to do well on the CPAP, we will be able to hold him more often and we will inch closer to being able to feed him ourselves....wow, I can't wait!

Weight Update:  Vann now weighs 2 lbs. 5 oz.

January 9, 2009

They warned us it would be a rocky road and that is exactly what it is like. Vann will have a great day and then the next won't be so good. They have been wanting to get him off of the ventilator and on to the CPAP this week, but he just isn't cooperating as far as his stats go. He is having issues urinating again, and his sodium levels are quite low, so they are trying to get that back to normal. The good news is they have increased his feedings every 12 hours. He isn't digesting all of his feedings, but doing a lot better, so they are pushing him a little. 

We told him about all the wonderful friends and family that were praying for him to get better, so he wanted to open his eyes for everyone to say a big THANKS!!!

Daddy holding me for first time! January 5, 2009

After being extremely patient, Jeff finally got to hold his son for the first time tonight. It was absolutely precious. Vann slept the entire time (2 whole hours). We can't wait to hold him again!

Mommy holding me!

Sorry this is so late, I just finally downloaded the video of when I got to hold Vann for the first time. Keep your fingers crossed that Jeff will finally be able to hold his son tomorrow!

January 4, 2009

Well, it has been a long week for little Vann. After 5 good days, we knew that a bad one was coming. They began treating Vann for a couple of different infections as they could tell he wasn't feeling good. His blood pressure was really low, which wasn't allowing his kidneys to work efficiently and causing him to hold on to a lot of fluid. As you can see in the picture below, the little guy is quite puffy.

After some antibiotics and some rest, Vann began to turn the corner yesterday and had a really good day. He is urinating extremely well, and all of his numbers are getting back where they need to be. He is back on the conventional ventilator and the doctors are hoping by the end of the week he will be on the C-PAP (allows him to breath on his own). They are also hoping to start his feedings again in the next few days!

The big news of this week, besides the fact Vann is feeling much better, is he has moved into bigger diapers, YEAH!!!

January 1, 2009

Happy New Years from The Edwards family!

The good news is they did another head scan on Vann's brain yesterday and everything looks stable, which means the bleeding in his brain has not gotten worse and they are hoping it will start to break down and go away. This can take a while, so they will continue to monitor it.

Tuesday of this week was a little bit of a set back. We knew it was coming after 5 good days. Vann had some blood in his diaper, which they are almost sure it was a small infection. They have begun antibiotics, which seem to help some, but still some blood. They are going to keep an eye on this and make sure it isn't something to do with the kidneys. 

The last few days he has been a little unstable do to all the poking and prodding the doctors and nurses have had to do, so we are praying that the little guy with be able to rest peacefully within the next few days.

They have also had to stop his feedings since he hasn't felt good, so let's hope they can continue those soon.

December 29, 2008

Mommy finally got to hold her little dude! 

Jeff and I have been patiently waiting to hold Vann, and tonight they told me that I was going to be the first to hold him. They wanted me to hold him for at least 

1 hour depending on how he handled it...let's just say he has never looked so comfortable in his life. I ended up holding him for 2.75 hours. 

Yesterday, December 28, 2008, they attempted to take Vann off of the ventilator and give him a cpap (mask over his nose, allows him to breath on his own). He lasted the the entire day before they decided to put him back on the ventilator as he just wasn't strong enough yet!

He is really enjoying his feeds, so they have inc

reased them to every 3 hours and if he continues to do well, they will increase the amount to 3 ml. instead of 2 ml. 

This morning, Jeff and I tagged teamed a diaper change, we are starting to get more comfortable and Jeff is GREAT and changing diapers!

All in all, our little guy is tough and appreciated all of the thoughts and prayers. They are working, so keep them coming.