Sunday, February 8, 2009

Feb. 8 - Wendy holds Colton for the first time!



Hi everyone. Sorry to be posting so late but we've had a busy afternoon/evening. We visited Colton today after lunch today and Wendy got to hold him for the first time! The umbilical line has been removed and the PIC line inserted so this finally allowed us to hold Colton. I'm not sure there would be anything you could offer to Wendy in exchange to wait another day to hold her baby. Let me just say it was just what the doctor ordered (for both Colton and Wendy). And there might be prettier sights in this world but I would have been hard pressed to find one at that moment.

Sydney and I both decided not to overstress him by moving him from person to person to be held. He still has tubes running to his PIC line and being held is unfortunately new to him. The most important thing for us right now is to touch him soothingly so he doesn't associate touch with being poked and prodded.

Colton started his indomethacin medicine to help attempt to close that PDA. He received his first dose today at 11 a.m. He gets another one tonight at 11 p.m., followed by another 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. dose on Monday. On Tuesday, they will run the ECHO of his heart again to check to see if that PDA will start to close. This is our last shot at closing that PDA without the surgical intervention.

Colton's bilirubin count dropped slightly overnight as well. He also got a bath (cleans up pretty nicely!) and weighed in at 3 lbs. 13.5 oz - a slight weight gain. His bruising is improving and his coloring looks good. I've noticed some of the photos I post make his brusing look worse than in person. However, I think it's just some of the camera angles and shadows. Not to say he's still not bruised but he is really looking tons better these days.

Wendy's dad (Nick) is in for the week and will be helping out. Unfortunately for me, I will not be visiting Colton tomorrow :( as I have to get back to work and catch up on a few things. I hope to arrange some sort of flexible work schedule to so I don't miss too many chances to visit with him. I have a great boss (and I'm not just saying that in case he reads this ;) and HP is very family friendly. My boss tells me to prioritize family above all else at this time. So I will hopefully get the balance right while Colton is in the NICU. Even though I can't do much for Colton even when I'm at the hospital, it's tough not spending my time with him. As you can imagine, it's tough laying your head down on your pillow at night knowing your child is at a hospital 30+ miles away. However, we know that it's important to keep up our health as we won't be any good to him when he comes home if we are down and out.

Nick will be driving Wendy to the hospital tomorrow so he can see his grandson in person for the first time. He is spending a week with us and then his wife, Joan, will be here the following week. Wendy and I can never tell everyone how much we appreciate the support of our friends and family. You hear the word "blessed" overused some times but it's appropriate for our situation right now. If I ever had any doubt about the quality of our friends and family (which incidentally I never did), I can put any of those doubts to rest.

We met a gentleman today who actually lives north of us and has been making the trek to Texas Woman's everyday for the last 6 months. His granddaughter was born at 24 weeks and weighed in at 12 oz. Think of this way - grab a can of Coke and that was the size of his granddaughter! He is hopeful that she will get to finally go home this month. He is also a man of Faith and has not given up hope. Small world - he has another granddaughter that goes to the same school (Salem Lutheran) as our daughter (Sydney). I think it's important to remember that when you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, just remember that your neighbor or someone you know might have it a little tougher. Let's all pray that his little granddaughter gets to go home soon and sees a world beyond tubes, beeping alarms, and nurses.

Thanks again for all the love and support everyone has shown to us and keep the Faith! Love, Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton

2 comments:

Kelly said...

Awww...the sweet little man! So glad that Wendy finally got to hold him!!!

Good to hear that Nick is there and how nice that you get to trade him off for Joan when he leaves.

I'm praying that the medicine will prevent having to do surgery on that PDA.

Pam said...

Brett, you are amazing! Wendy is incredibly lucky to have you! Your love for and your pride in your family spills over in every word you type!

I know how wonderful it was for Wendy to get to hold that precious little boy today! I can't imagine having to wait that long to feel him in my arms!

Things sound better each and every post. I'm also praying hte medicine will do the trick with the PDA.

Tell brother Nick I said hi and give Wendy a HUGE hug for her Aunt Pam!

Much love to all of you!