29 Feb - My poor son...

Feb 29, 2008

If you are still praying for us- Liam needs continued prayer for his eyes. He has another follow up exam on Mon so please be in prayer that his vessels are growig properly! The vessels have to grow through his eyes in order for him to have vision. In preemies they can grow abnormally or not at all. Liam had the surgery cuz his weren't growing. Now we need them to grow and grow correctly. And Liam is up to 3 lbs 11 oz. He still gets most of his feeds thru the NG tube in his nose. He nurses a few times a day but we still supplement with an NG feed after he nurses. He needs to build up the strength and stamina to nurse. So- as of now we are just waiting for Liam to learn to take all of his own meals and then we can go home...

24 Feb - Pictures

The Heisman pose...





The first time biggest sister Rylie got to hold Liam


and for big brother Ian...


and also for little big sister Aidan...

Feb 22, 2008

Liam graduated out of the NICU yesterday! It was bittersweet for me. I have made so many friends over the last 12 weeks in the NICU that I will miss. Liam also was in his own isolation room with lots of space and privacy. The convalescent nursery was an adjustment but it means we are a big step closer to home- Liam is no longer in intensive care! Liam gained 30 grams today. YEA! And being in this nursery will allow us to focus more on his weight gain and nursing. He is back up to 3 lbs 7 oz. And he is starting to get the hang of nursing. We still have a way to go to get him home but at least our focus has shifted to feedings. Liam had an eye exam this week and his surgeon said his ROP is regressing- which is what we want to happen. Now his blood vessels should grow properly.

We are praying for continued healing for Liams eyes and normal progression of his vessels, continued weight gain, and learning how to eat all by himself.

I tried to load pictures of him this morning but the computer here at RMH wouldn't work right. I promise to get some up soon!

Feb 19, 2008

Well, I didn't get to get home and post a new picture (darn cuz he is too cute)... I am now trying to get Liam to nuzzle each day so he can work up to a nursing session so it isn't easy for me to leave anymore. He did pretty good today. He still isn't gaining weight tho... His Dr said he would give him another day but they will probably have to increase his calories in his breast milk by adding more formula to it. SO- we need prayer for weight gain! Liam hasn't had his follow up for his eyes yet. But still be in prayer that they will heal and grow perfectly!
Liam found his thumb this week and loves to suck it. But he is so little for it and doesn't have the coordination to get his thumb back when he moves it away. He gets so mad trying to get it back. It is fun to watch him become a baby... I put him in the bouncy seat for the first time and I realize my little boy isn't as big as I think he is! ;-) You have to look hard to find him in it- lol. He is down to 3 lbs 5 oz- which to me is big considering where we started...

Feb 17, 2008

Liam is doing better. He is on room air! No cannula! YEA! All he has on him are his pulse ox and his leads (monitors heart rate & respiratory rate). He was constipated from the surgery and reintroduction of food but after having a suppository he is doing good moving his bowels. We thought he might have a hernia yesterday because he was VERY swollen "down there". The practitioner came and checked him out and said she couldn't feel any bowel in his scrotum and to keep an eye on it. I'm thinking- Lord- I can't take anymore surgeries or intubations! But after getting his suppository the swelling went down and today it looks perfectly normal. His nurse said he must have a gardian angel watching over him... ;-)

Liams Dr from his first month came to visit today. She said something interesting- Liam has PVL which is the extra fluid that was in his brain. She said that his case was unusual because you normally see damaged brain tissue and then extra fluid. Liams just had a little extra fluid then showed a bit of cystic changes. I'm not sure what that means but I do know it is better than it should be and not what they normally see. And Liams nurse again said he must have an angel watching out for him. If they only knew how many people and prayers have gone before Gods throne-

Liam is now a feeder/grower baby. He just needs to eat and grow. He is now 3 lbs 7 oz. I will get a picture on here tomorrow.

Our prayers for Liam are that his eyes would heal and grow perfectly so he will have good vision...
Good weight gain and growth...
No illness or setbacks anymore...

Feb 15, 2008

Extubation day!
Liams nurse today had never had him before. She could not believe the difference in him from before extubation and after. She was shocked. He was ticked all day-pulling on his tube and flailing his arms and legs in the bed... As soon as the tube was out he was my sweet little boy again! They put him on the cannula for now just in case he has any issues just coming off of surgery. He was doing great when I left. No desats. They didn't want to reintroduce food to Liam until tomorrow because they like to do things slow. But- Liams IV's wouldn't work. One of them was filling his leg with fluid instead of it going in the vein so it was twice it's normal size and the other clotted off. So- they started him back on food at 8:00 pm. I am praying the feeds go well and he can get back up to his normal self again. Whew.... What a week...

Prayers today are for complete and perfect healing to Liams eyes...
and No problems with feedings...

Feb 14, 2008

Thank you to whomever surprised my family by bringing dinner last night...
And thanks to you all for posting and reading...
And Thanks go to the Lord for His Mercies!

Liam had a rough day. His eyelids are still very swollen but are starting to go down. He is still bradying and desating but they seem to be coming less than before. His blood gases have been beautiful so we know his problems are coming from the surgery and not his lungs. He pants and bears down, tightening up his muscles showing he is in pain. They can not give him too much narcotic because it will make him sleepy and they want him off the vent asap. If he is sleepy and in pain he won't take the energy needed to breath. He isn't getting food so he is back on iv nutrition.

Please pray that Liam would rest and improve greatly overnight and he would get extubated soon! Please pray that he would get his feedings back so his tummy wouldn't be empty! And pray for complete and perfect healing for his eyes.

Feb 13, 2007

I have been in Liams room since his surgery and just now headed out of the hospital finally... Liams surgery took longer than the Dr had hoped. He said Liam still had fetal eyes. It was hard for him to do the surgery because Liams eyes had not progressed beyond his 23 week gestation. Even tho it was complicated he said he was pleased with how it went. Which is great. We won't know until later how Liams sight will be affected (near sighted, loss of peripheral vision) but he will have sight!

Liams eyes are extremely swollen. Picture a bullfrog with his eyes bulging out- that is how he looks. They extubated Liam this afternoon due to agitation and bradycardia (slowed heart rate) but he continued to brady and then would de-sat. Long story short (and its long!)-Liam just tuckered out and quit breathing completely. They decided he needed to be reintubated at 5:00 tonight. He is restng comfortably now and is getting another blood transfusion for anemia. The surgery took a big toll on him and his body. He is on morphine for pain and he will get eye drops for infection prevention and to keep his eyes dilated. For proper healing Liam has to have his eyes continually dilated for 10 days.

We are praising God for the successful surgery and we are praying for complete and quick healing to his body! We pray that his swelling would go down, for extubation soon and for proper healing of his eyes!

Feb 11, 2008

UGH!! Liam's last eye exam went perfectly. We are all shocked at how Liams eyes could have gone so bad in two weeks time. None of it makes any sense. The Dr. today didn't even have the same results as the last Dr who did the exam. It's hard to explain- but two weeks ago Liams growth was good but this week his growth isn't even the SAME as the last one. He lost growth in his vessels. How can you LOSE growth?? Liams Dr came in and apologized today because he said he was shocked and didn't understand it either so he wants to talk to the surgeon himself. It just doesn't make sense.

Anway- They have moved his surgery up to tomorrow (Tues) at 5:00 pm. He will quit his feeds in the morning and get 2 IV's and get reintubated. Praise the Lord that Liams lungs are great- as he should not need the vent for long. He will hopefully wake up and yank that sucker out!

Please pray with us that Liams eyes would not be too bad for repair- that he will have minimal scarring of his vessels and that all of the procedure will go well with quick healing.

Thank you for your posts of support! It means so much to my family to see your prayers and encouragements!

Feb 11, 2008

Well-
Liam has to have laser surgery on his eyes this Wed. Because of his prematurity- his blood vessels are not growing like they should and in order to keep vision in his eyes they need to do surgery right away. I'm frustrated.... Liam was going off the cannula tomorrow and now he will have to be reintubated on Wed for the surgery. He will be sedated and paralyzed and it will take 45 minutes to one hour for each eye to be done.

Please pray that there will be no complications, that the surgery would be a success and Liam would be able to get extubated quickly!

Liam nursed for the first time today- and was graduating to a big bed but I feel like we are stepping backwards again....

Please pray-

Feb 6, 2008

Still praising the Lord for Liam's progress... Liam is still only on 21% oxygen and they have now weaned the flow on his cannula from 2L to 1 1/2L. His weight gain is still slow but he is at least still gaining. We are up to 3 lbs 3 oz. Right now we are at a stand still and just waiting. Liam needs to grow and get stronger. He needs to get off the cannula and learn to eat on his own. We haven't tried that yet- learning to suck, swallow and breath is a big skill to aquire and hopefully soon he will be able to start trying it!
Prayers are for continued weight gain
Continued success with weaning the cannula
No setbacks or illness of any kind!
I would love to be home this month and with God all things are possible!

Thank you to all of you near and far and those I have never met who still believe in the power of prayer and lift Liam and our family up to the Lord!

Feb 2, 2008

We are thanking God again for His blessings- Liam has been on only 21% oxygen since my last post! The Dr. is very happy. Room air is 21% oxygen so that means Liam is breathing just what you and I do! He still has the cannula as his little body isn't ready to go off of it yet but he is doing really good! When I went in yesterday he had the cannula in his hand down by his chin and he was satting 95 and sound asleep. Which means he wasn't even using the cannula (breathing all on his own) and he was doing great! When I checked on him this morning his nurse said he didn't even desat last nite!!!

He still needs to gain weight. He is very slow at doing that so we need to see him gaining a good amount of grams per day. He is tolerating his feedings with the formula added to the breast milk really well so they will probably boost it by another two calories this next week making it 24 calories per ounce. He gets 26 cc per feeding which is just less than an ounce.

I am still praying for the earthly impossible which is getting home this month with Liam.... but we know with God all things are possible so we continue to pray for that. The hospital thinks is will be March as long as everything continues to go well. So- the prayers are for continues progress with his weight and strength, continued progress with his low 02, and no setbacks-illness,infection, etc...!!