Thank you everyone for all of the prayers and prayers, I would not be on here giving you good news like I have without all of those wonderful prayers everyone is sending up for our sweet boy. Today, they did some more blood gases and told us they were great so they were gonna take him off the vent around 1:30. This is the most scared I have been since we have been here, I have just cried all day. He just seems so tiny to be breathing on his own. And my biggest fear, was they take him off and he doesn't breathe, ugh, it's so hard. I know I'm a nurse but when it has came to this little guy I have caught a big case of stupid. It's like I don't know anything anymore, I just panic about everything, maybe it will get better. Since they have taken him off he has been doing great, at this last visit he was on 27% oxygen(we breathe 21% so this isn't much)and is on 5 liters per minute on what they call a high flow nasal cannula, it basically pushes air into his nose, and he can choose to breathe it in or not, so the breathing now is strictly up to him. He is doing great so far, the nurses say that in these preemies that their nervous system is not yet developed so sometimes they "forget" to breathe and their heart rate drops some, when this happens we or the nurse has to touch him or poke him a little bit to stimulate him and remind him to breathe, then all is well again, so we have been doing that today. They say this will keep getting better with time, until he doesn't do it anymore. Before I left tonight I left him strict instructions to breathe breathe breathe and to NOT forget :) I told him if he never listens to another things I tell him to do, it's especially important that he do this. Maybe he will listen! I have an appointment in the morning with my hematologist then we will go back to the nicu. Please continue to pray for our sweet baby. And we appreciate all our friends and family that are giving us so much love and encouragement. Goodnight Everyone!!
Oh and tomorrow is a milestone, Parker will be 1 week old!!!
Hi Crystal. My name is Kay McGee. My son Matt and Landon went to Mars Hill together. I heard about little Parker's story through an email and from Misty at Listerhill. I wanted to share with y'all our experience from this summer. Our daughter Kelly and her husband Ned live in Columbia, Tn. At 28 weeks pregnant Kel's water broke. She immediately went to Williamson Medical and was sent to Centennial Women's Hospital and put in the care of Maternal Fetal Group. (not thinking this is the same group you use. her drs. were Lombardi, Lenzi and Fortunato.) Everything rocked on pretty good and we were basically "camping" on the 6th floor. (The High Risk Pregnancy floor.) With plans to be there until 36 weeks. However, at 30 weeks Kelly's cord prolapsed. I was with her and ran down to the nurses station and got a nurse, dr. Lombardi was sitting there writing notes. Everything happened fast and furiously. As soon as I heard Lombardi say emergency c-section I started calling Ned. Luckily he was working at Vanderbilt that day and was there in a matter of minutes. I'm sure you're aware of the close proximity of all the hospitals... 14 minutes after Lombardi announced "emergency c-section" Zane Daniel Smith was born. He weighed 4 pounds and 1 ounce. He was rushed to the NICU and put on the vent. Luckily he was only on the vent less than 24 hours and it was probably because of the general anesthesia Kel had. He did have a UAC and a feeding tube. I particularly hated the feeding tube. Even knowing how essential it was, I still hated it. We spent the next 5 weeks in the NICU learning all about caring for a preemie. The nurses soon learn which families come every day and which ones are dedicated. They will help you tremendously and encourage you to be a hands on participant in Parker's care. Learn all you can so when you take your preemie home you'll be ready! He will be coming home before you know it! Centennial closed from 6am-8am and 6pm-8pm. Kel and I would stay all day and if Ned didn't make it before 6 he would be there at 8pm and stay for a couple of hours. Leaving was the hardest.... We would drive back to Columbia every evening, 47 miles. Get up the next morning and head back... loaded down with a camera, snacks and breastmilk! I got pretty good at driving in the N'ville rush hour traffic! LOL I'm going to encourage you to make friends with other NICU families and rely on them for support when you need it. Give it when they need it. It's something about going through the same thing that helps. I still keep in touch with my NICU buddies. And we all look forward to seeing each other at NICU reunion. It will be a roller coaster ride with many highs and lows. I saw plenty of miracles in the NICU. Never, ever underestimate the power of prayer. They normally tell you not to plan on going home until the baby's due date. They usually go home sooner! Zane was due August 7th, was born June 3rd and went home from the NICU on July 7th! Centennial had a list of things the baby had to accomplish before he could go home and some things the parents had to complete before they could take him home. Zane had an occupational therapist that taught Ned & Kelly how to give him a massage and assessed his coordination regularly. He also had a speech therapist that worked with his suck, swallow and breathe techniques when he was developed enough to start this. I know the protocol at Baptist is probably different from Centennial but if you have questions or just want to talk to someone who has been there please feel free to call 256-766-7446 or email kmcgee99@aol.com I have a blog that chronicles our experience you may like to read sometime www.kaymcgee.blogspot.com
ReplyDeletePlease know we are praying for you, Landon and Baby Parker! I look forward to reading about his progress. Kay McGee