The Gibbs Family

Good Bye 2009!!

2009-12-30T13:39:00.001-08:00

Sydney and Colton Christmas Morning

Colton is the best present of '09

Snow Day in Houston! Dec 6, 2009

Sydney, Katy, Wendy and Colton

Sydney and Colton Christmas Eve

Colton playing with Cheerios

I have been terrible about keeping up with the blog! With two active children, 3 dogs, 2 G. pigs and working to establish a new business, time flies by each day. 2009 has definitely been an exciting year for the Gibbs family. We were thrilled to welcome our newest member, Colton on January 31, 2009. We just wish he would have hung out INSIDE until closer to his due date of April 12, 2009. Syd has finished up the first half of 3rd grade and is staying very busy with cheer leading, volleyball and gymnastics. She is giving up gymnastics for the spring and going to try some softball. Katy Bear, our chocolate lab was hospitalized this time last year with endocarditis and we were told New Years Eve 2008 that she would not survive the night. She is lying by my feet sniffing the air occasionally and thumping her tail as there is vegetable beef soup in the crock pot.

Colton is thriving and doing much better than anticipated! He weighs in at 19 lbs 1 oz! An incredible feat considering his 3 lb 12 oz start! His pediatrician has pushed high calorie formula and weight gain all year as studies show good weight gain by preemies in the first year correlates with good brain development and growth. It takes a lot of energy just to survive outside the womb let alone finish developing and grow when you are born too early and he has managed to do both! He is able to push himself into a sitting position and gets onto all fours and rocks. He will be crawling around any day now! We got the tree put away yesterday, so I am OK with him getting mobile now. He is eating stage 2 baby food twice a day and seems to enjoy eating a little more these days. He HATED it in the beginning. He has been taking the synergis vaccines to prevent RSV this season. He will probably get a few more and then be done for next season. Colton will celebrate his first birthday in a few short weeks. Its interesting to think about what I would have been doing right now this time last year had I known my little man was going to make his appearance 10 weeks early.

Colton will start at the Early Learning Center at Salem Lutheran School (where Sydney goes to school) on January 4th. We know the director well from when Sydney was there and we have met all Colton's teachers. He even spent a half day getting acquainted while I volunteered in the library earlier this month. (Colton and I together have logged about 50 hours at the school library this year!) I can't say I am looking forward to dropping him off on Monday, January 4, 2010; but, I have to go back to work.

Speaking of work, I have decided not to return to my previous employer. I have decided NOT to be employed by someone. I have established a pediatric home health company, Jump Start Physical Therapy, PLLC. I have evaluated 3 kiddos this week to start after the New Year, and I have 2 more evals on the books for the first week in January. I have three more referrals to chase in January as well. Ten children with 2 visits per week will be a full time schedule for me. I will probably look into hiring a PTA in the late spring or early summer if business is steady. The paperwork is crazy but I think all in all it will be well worth it.

So as 2009 winds down, we look forward to 2010 and watching Syd and Colt grow.....but not too fast!

Happy New Year!

The Gibbs
Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton

Halloween Pictures

2009-10-24T18:03:00.001-07:00

Colton fell asleep just before our session at JCP started for taking some Halloween pictures of the kids. The photog was a little new and had some interesting ideas on taking pictures. I am not sure why the Ninja would be shushing over the sleeping spider.

Sydney is a Ninja this year for Halloween. The guy wanted her to show of some Ninja moves for the camera. I am not really sure what Ninja moves are, but this is evidently a high kick Ninja move in front of a barn.

Colton woke up about half way through and decided to participate in the pictures. We have him dressed in a friend's spider outfit for these pictures. He seems OK with the costume....at least for now.

I have no idea what the look the photog is going for in this picture. Colton is a sleeping spider and he told Syd to do a Ninja jump. This photo seems appropriate to share with the awkward family photos website. http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/ If you have never visited this website, you are missing out on some funny pictures and commentary.

This picture of Colton is priceless! The little sleeping spider is as cute as he can be!

Colton continues to do very well. He will be 9 months old on Halloween. He is able to sit for 30 seconds to a minute by himself while holding and playing with a toy. He is very interested in toys and very interactive with all of us. He is sweet as he can be. He eats stage 1 solids twice a day and is getting ready for some stage 2s very soon.

Syd is doing great in 3rd grade and is looking forward to her 9th birthday at the end of next month. She's going to have a swimming party at FINS! She is doing cheer leading at school, playing volleyball at the Y, and taking gymnastics at K2 academy. She is a busy, busy girl! I think she might have to cut back some when I go back to work after the first of the year.

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

The Gibbs family

6 Month Photos

2009-08-22T13:55:00.001-07:00

Colton and Sydney took some great pictures at JC Penny last week! All is well here. Syd started school on Friday and is very excited about 3rd grade. Colton continues to grow and grow!

Mac Is Here!

2009-08-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

McKinney Alexander Curry arrived today! He weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz and was 18.5 inches long. Sandy and Mac are doing well. They are at the Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth. The are expected to go home on Saturday.

6 Months Old Today!

2009-07-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

Wow! My new highchair is so big!
Little Brother and Big Sister
Beautiful Baby Boy
Big Blue Eyes....Just like his Sister!

Wow, time is going by so fast! Colton is 6 months old today! He went for his 6 month appointment yesterday and weighed in at 14 lbs 4.5 ozs. He was 25.5 inches long. He is doing great and is developmentally on target for his adjusted age of 3.5 months. He is testing out at 4-5 months for most skills. He has been a traveling baby on vacation to Moody Gardens in Galveston and spent the day at Schlitterbaun in Galveston hanging out under the shade while Mom and Dad took turns playing with Sydney in the water park! He made his first trip to Lufkin over the Fourth of July to visit family and friends. He is very healthy and happy and is a joy to his family.

Sydney is doing great as well. She starts 3rd grade next month. She will be a little saints cheerleader this year at Salem Lutheran. She has been taking gymnastics this summer, working on swim stroke refinement at FINS and going bi-weekly to the library in an effort to read all 50 American Chiller books.

We are all excitedly awaiting the arrival of a new cousin due any day now!!

Best Wishes!

The Gibbs

Super Baby!

2009-06-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Colton smiling! He smiles and flirts all the time now! Colton is 4.5 months old now, or 2 months old for his adjusted age.

Super Baby! Colton dressed in his new super baby outfit compliments of Ellen and Candy. Colton really is a super baby doing so well after such a rocky start!

Colton hanging out in his little lamb swing at his Aunt Sandy's Baby Shower in Keller, Texas this past weekend. He LOVES his swing!

Colton with Grandpa Nick at the baby shower and BBQ.

Sydney all dressed up for the baby shower for Aunt Sandy!

Colton taking a bath. Obviously, not his favorite activity! Check out those blue eyes!

Colton continues to do very well! He was seen for his 4 month check up earlier this month and weighed in at 12 lbs 4 oz. That is 10 percentile for babies born the same day has him! He is 23 inches long which is 3 percentile. His pediatrician wants to continue to fortify him with the special premature infant formula until he reaches closer to 50 percentile for babies born the same day as he was. Evidence shows preemies who gain good weight rapidly in the first year tend to do better with all areas of development which is why they are continuing to push his weight gain. His pulmonologist and GI doctor have both discharged him from their services to the care of his pediatrician Dr. Belinoski. Developmentally, he is on target for his due date and making good progress.

We all went to Keller, TX for my Sandy's baby shower and a BBQ family get together. Colton did very well on the trip and slept well in the hotel. He is not a big fan of hot, loud Mexican restaurants but he seems to enjoy hanging out with big groups in cool, quieter places. Colton met a lot of people for the first time! Sydney enjoyed playing with her cousins and visiting with everyone too.

Colton is looking forward to his first trip to Lufkin over the 4th of July weekend and then to the beach for a family vacation later in July. He is a well traveled baby thus far! He goes to Syd'

s swim meets, he attended the museum earlier this week, he attends practices and play dates for his sister and even accompanies Mom on some shopping trips. He is a very good baby and rolls with the punches quiet well.

Have a good Father's Day weekend!

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

Colton Todd Gibbs

Hello Everyone! We are here and finally doing another update....at last! We have been working on getting things settled and organized with the little man home and we are finally getting there. Colton is an absolute joy to have at home. He is a very good baby. Colton is weighing in at around 11 and 1/2 pounds. He is over 22 inches long. He will be 4 months old on the 31st and his adjusted age is about 6 weeks. He is still eating around the clock, going 3-4 hours max at night between bottles most of the time. He has teased us once or twice with 5 hour stretches and those were wonderful! The GI doctor told us many babies get a good 6 hour stretch in once they hit 12 lbs. Hopefully that is coming soon for us! He continues to eat breast milk fortified with 22 cal supplement. I tried to talk his pediatrician into stopping the supplement but she won't let him until his weight is more on track with infants born on his birthday. He remains below the 10th percentile on weight at this time for babies born on Jan 31. His pedi gives him credit for adjusted age on everything else but is adamant he press on with weight gain. (I looked up where he would be if he was born on his due date and he would be in 90 percentile for that date!) He had an echo cardiogram done last week and all is well with his heart and his PDA closure. He is down to only wearing his apnea monitor at night and we are hoping to kick that to the curb after his next pulmonology appointment on Tuesday.

Aunt Kim and Colton Meeting

Karen, Tracey, Lora and Sandy hosted a "Sip-N- See" for Colton on May 16th. (Thank you!!!!) We were thrilled to see so many people turn out to see our little man. We are humbled that so many people traveled great distances to meet Colton and give us so much support. Here is Aunt Kim getting her first look at Colton, and Colton of her.

My Smiley Boy

Colton smiles now! He grins ear to ear for Mom, Dad and Sydney. He is smiling away in his bassinet while Sydney is talking to him and getting him to smile so Mom can snap a photo.

Colton in his Moses Basket

My beautiful baby boy resting in his Moses basket under the patio while he watches Sydney, Ryan and Nate play in the pool. Colton is very content and easy to take on outings. As long as he has fresh diapers, bottles and people to coo at he is very content and easy going.

Colton and Sydney Wishing you a Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day! Sydney made a cake and decorated it like the flag in honor of the Holiday. Sydney and Colton, with a little help from Dad, posed with the cake.

The following link should take you to a Walgreens site where you can view more pictures of our family. You can also order prints from this site if you want any for yourself--just have them developed at your local Walgreens.
http://photo2.walgreens.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=125709005/a=21604977_21604977/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=walgreens/
We will try to update more frequently with pictures. We have so many cute pictures but I can only figure out how to upload 5 at a time to the site.

Colton's middle name, Todd, is in honor of his Uncle, Sgt First Class Todd Clayton Gibbs. Todd was KIA in Iraq on December 7, 2004. "Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal." ~From a headstone in Ireland. Happy Memorial Day

The Gibbs Family

Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton

Happy Easter and Happy Due Date!

2009-04-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

Colton and Dad hanging out

Sydney chillin with her baby brother

Sydney helping Dad with the mulch

Sydney dyeing Easter eggs

Colton finally reached his official due date of April 11, 2009. He weighs in over 9 lbs. now. Technically speaking, you can't say that he would have weighed 9 lbs. at birth as growth in utero and outside of the uterus happen at different rates. So while technically he was 10 weeks old on April 11, his targets will be adjusted based on his prematurity. For example, if he's not walking by 12 months, it won't be unusual as he will likely be acting more like a 9 1/2 month old on his first birthday.

Wendy and I were still talking about how February and March seemed like a blur to us. We had so much help during that time and couldn't have done it without the support of family and friends. Wendy and I both are trying to get refocused on things we neglected over the past couple of months. Our first and foremost priority remains our family (Colton and Sydney) but we are starting to whittle away at that proverbial to do list. I finally managed to get the weeds pulled in the front flowerbed and mulch put in this past weekend. Sydney was a big helper and said she enjoyed doing it. How many 8 year old girls do you know who would get out and help their old man put mulch in the flowerbeds and actually say they enjoyed it! I'm sure the neighbors are glad that we got that done as well. We didn't want to earn the label of "the rednecks next door who don't take care of their yard"!

Wendy has been working on thank you notes and getting the birth announcements out in the mail. Many of you reading this should receive your announcement this week. If you don't receive one in a week or so and would like us to send you one, send us an email! Please don't be offended or think we left you off as we've not intentionally left anybody off the list. It's difficult to proofread your list and get it right on just a few hours of sleep. Don't be shy and let us know if you would like to have one if you don't get one.

Colton continues to be fed every 3 hours around the clock. As Wendy mentioned in the last blog update, he's starting to focus more on faces when he's awake. Any concerns we had with the muted voice are all but gone. When Colton gets fired up, it sends our black lab (Shadow) to a safe refuge, complete with tail tucked under. Poor Shadow - between the crying baby, loud beeps from the oxygen machine, apnea monitor going off from loose leads, and the recent thunderstorms, she is officially in her own private hell.

Colton sees the pediatrician again this week for a follow up and some immunizations. He also visits the pulmonologist soon to determine if apnea monitor, oxygen for feeding and caffeine supplements are still needed. Otherwise, we will continue to the routine of: eat, sleep, poop, repeat. When he reaches the 12 lbs. mark, we can start looking at spreading out some of his feedings. So our immediate goals are to ditch the oxygen, apnea monitor, caffeine, keep him well, and pack in the calories. Too bad I can't transfer some of my belly fat and calorie intake to Colton - he would hit that 12 lbs. mark in no time!

The Easter Bunny was good to both Sydney and Colton. Wendy made my grandmother's famous coconut cake and a nice meal for Easter. Sydney and I made it to church this morning as well. We can't get Colton out in a big public place yet so we couldn't all go as a family today. :( We continue to be grateful for the love and support of our family and friends. And we give thanks today for our risen Savior and the blessings upon our family. All the best to you and your family.....Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

2009-04-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

We are loving life at home with our little man, even if we are a bit sleep deprived! As you all know, Colton came home on Monday, March 23rd in the evening. Everyone is adjusting and doing well. Colton is now one week from his due date of April 11 and is starting to look and act like a full term infant.

Colton initially came home with an NG tube. He pulled it out on Wed, April 1 in the evening. The doctors have decided to leave it out at this time as he is making excellent progress with eating by mouth. He is weighing in at 8 lbs 11 oz and is 20.5 inches long!

Colton is starting to be awake more often and more alert. He looks around and attends to faces. He has definitely decided that being held is better than lying around wrapped up like a burrito in the bassinet. There is never a shortage of anyone wanting to hold him.

Colton after finishing up his first bath at home. He is doesn't cry much during his bath, but rather looks worried and concerned during his bath.

All wrapped up in his towel after his first bath at home. It is a huge mess and production to get him bathed!

Colton contemplating his crib. Notice the clean baby face! You can really see his chubby cheeks!

Sweet baby boy. He loves his pacifier. Pacifiers help with reflux, so we let him go to town. Sydney never took one, so this is new for us.

We will update and post more pictures soon!

Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton

April 2 - Eat, Poop, Sleep...Repeat

2009-04-02T07:23:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Colton continues to do well at home. It's been a little crazy around getting the routine in order and catching up on things that were put on hold while we were in the "NICU mode". Colton now weighs about 8 1/2 lbs. As the title of the blog entry suggests, we have him in a normal infant routine (as normal as can be with NG tube, apnea monitor, oxygen nasal canula and 5 medicine doses per day can be). He is still being fed around the clock every 3 hours.

We'll post a more lengthy update soon with some pics. Love Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton

Colton's Homecoming

2009-03-25T17:51:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the delay in getting a new blog update out to you guys. We've been busy settling in with our new family member and getting into a routine.

On Monday, March 23, 2009, Colton finally got to leave the NICU at Texas Woman's Hospital after 7 weeks and 3 days. He started out on January 31, 2009, at 3 lbs. 12 oz. and left on March 23, 2009 at about 7 1/2 lbs. He is still about 2 1/2 weeks shy of his original due date of April 12, 2009. So as challenging as it's been these past 7+ weeks, Colton has made tremendous progress.

We left the hospital after 6:00 on Monday. We had picked up Syd early from school that day as she wanted to accompany her baby brother home from the hospital. Getting out of school early wasn't all that bad either!

We all got to see many of the doctors and nurses that had been with Colton throughout his 7 week stay. Sydney got to say goodbye to the nurses who taught the Siblings Class each Wednesday. We also saw Dr. Gee, the neonatologist who was there when Colton was born. Dr. Hernandez, who was with us in the early days as we were dealing with the PDA not closing. And of course, Colton's heart and "brain" surgeon - Dr. Bloss - the pediatric surgeon who closed his PDA and did his circumcision. Wendy also mentioned that many of the nurses who had cared for Colton stopped by in the NICU as she was going over discharge procedures. I think what sets these doctors and nurses apart from many others is that their bedside manner matches their medical acumen. We thanked them for all they did for Colton but respectfully told them that we hope not to see them again for business purposes! :)

As we were walking out of the hospital, it still didn't feel real that we were finally going home with him. Wendy and I both had butterflies in our stomachs. Sydney was super excited and couldn't wait to get her little brother home. Houston traffic was surprisingly light on our trip home. That was my worst fear - getting hung up in rush hour traffic trying to get him home. Well, some schools are still on Spring Break in the Houston area so I think that definitely helped. Glad to say the ride home was uneventful.

Our neighbor Karen was nice enough to have dinner waiting on us when we got home. She had also bought balloons and decorated the house for his arrival. As we've said many times on this blog, we are truly blessed with wonderful families and outstanding friends. It's made all of this NICU and preemie experience a little more bearable having the support of everyone.

As I've said before, we look forward to the day that we can start to repay this kindness.

After getting settled in and coming down from our adrenaline rush, we went to work trying to create our new routine. Colton has to be fed at least 70 ml (a little over 2 ounces) at least 8 times a day - that's every 3 hours around the clock. Typical newborn feeds are about every 3-4 hours so it's not that unusual. However, Colton also requires the oxygen (nasal canula) during his feeds. He wears an apnea monitor 24x7 with an alarm that makes a car alarm in an enclosed parking garage sound like a whisper. I think the crystal in our china cabinet has all but shattered. Our poor dogs have been traumatized by the apnea monitor alarm as well, especially our black lab, Shadow. Shadow hates any type of electronic beep or alarm (think smoke alarm beeping when the battery is low). For the record, dogs can take Xanax and Shadow is getting good use out of her prescription. The apnea monitor is very sensitive which is a life saver in the event of a true apnea episode. We are hoping to continue only dealing with false alarms on the monitor as opposed to the real deal. Colton will continue to wear his apnea monitor until he is seen by a pediatric pulmonologist who can make the determination when it is no longer needed.

I'll have to say our learning curve for this new routine has really started to pick up. The first night, we worked out a few kinks in the routine and things are starting to go more smoothly. Colton is getting all of his required feeds and amounts which is very important. We also have a little Kangaroo pump, which is a device that helps deliver any remaining milk that he didn't take from his feed to his nasal gastric (NG) tube.

We had our first pediatric visit today as well. We went over Colton's discharge summary which is basically a huge summary report with all of Colton's history from birth to March 23, 2009. Colton and Sydney have the same pediatrician and she is conveniently located 5 minutes from the house (as opposed to Texas Woman's being 75 miles round trip). Dr. B. felt Colton looked really good today and felt he's made good progress based on his early history. Colton will be following up with a pediatric gastroenterologist and pediatric pulmonologist within the next month among other doctor visits. I think it's important to point out that while Colton is out of the NICU, he still has quite a few doctor visits in his future. He also has to overcome a few more challenges with taking all feeding amounts being one of the most important milestones.

We appreciate everyone understanding that we can't have visitors for Colton until after cold and flu season. Right now, late April/early May feels about right. In the meantime, enjoy these blog updates and celebrate with us as Colton has come home to be with his family in Tomball. All the best....Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

March 23 - Colton is coming home!!!

2009-03-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

After 7 weeks and 3 days, Colton Todd Gibbs is finally coming home! We just spoke to the NICU and he passed the appropriate milestones to be released.

He will be coming home with oxygen for feeding, an apnea monitor and a few other things like an NG tube (for feedings and meds) and a pump to push any milk through his NG tube that he doesn't finish. He is still a couple of weeks away from his original due date. He will be popular at his pediatrician and other doctors. And there still is a lot of work ahead for him and his family.

However, we will have him home in Tomball. We will not have to do the 75 mile round trip daily to see him for a couple of hours. And we can work on getting him stronger for his meet and greet in a month or so.

Look for another blog update late tonight or early tomorrow with pictures and further updates.

Good doctors, good medicine, good care and prayers and Faith got him to where he is today. Thanks for your love and support and please keep him in your prayers to continue to grow stronger each day.....All the best....Love, Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

March 21 - Starbucks for Colton

2009-03-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

Colton hanging out (and over!) the open crib in NICU on his 50th day of life. He is 7 weeks old. His due date remains 21 days away now. He is currently 7 lbs 6 oz. He is demonstrating longer and more significant periods of quiet alertness that are consistent with approaching term age.

These are the letters made by Aunt Katie for Colton. Colton can't wait to meet cousin Reed!

Beautiful curtains for Colton sewn by the very talented Karen! His nursery should be on MTV's "Cribs" show!

Colton has started his caffeine habit early. His doctors have him using caffeine to regulate his breathing. They have him up to a therapeutic level in his blood and they re-tested him on the OCRG again Friday. Results will not be available until sometime Monday and those results will determine if he is coming home yet or not. The nurse trained us on giving all his meds today.

Colton weighs in at 7 lbs 6 oz today. The neonatologist have upped his feeding amounts to 70 mL to keep him growing strong and to develop his brain. He finished 6 bottles yesterday, stumbled with one a bit with his 8:00 am feed with a nurse and finished his 2:00 feed with Mom. He gets NG feedings at 11:00 am and pm to help conserve energy and maintain growth. They will look into upping him to 8 bottles if he continues to do well with 6 bottles per day and gain weight. Maybe he can get up to 8 before Monday and get rid of that NG tube! The caffeine has helped him eat better by bottle and should continue to do so.

Everything is pretty much ready at home for Colton's arrival. His name is hung in letters made by my sister-in-law Katie McKinney and they look amazing! My friend Karen made some AWESOME curtains and table cover for his room! His room is looking fabulous! We have a sweet little outfit ready for him to wear home. Now we just need him here!

More updates as we have them. The results of the OCRG should be in sometime Monday and that will dictate what happens next. Until then, he will be working on eating bottles, growing and developing that little brain.

Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton-pass-the-Starbucks Gibbs

A Few More Days In The NICU

2009-03-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

Colton has had a set back in his homecoming plans. Colton did not pass his OCRG (oxycardiorespiragraph). That is a study of his heart rate, breathing rate and oxygen saturation over a period of 6 hours. He had episodes of increased breathing rate and oxygen desaturations that need to be addressed. He will be placed on caffeine to regulate his breathing, which is very common for premature infants. Once they have a therapeutic dose of caffeine on board, they will repeat his OCRG and that will determine if and when he can come home. If all goes well, he should come home late Monday or on Tuesday. It takes a few days to regulate the dose to what he needs and then he must repeat the OCRG study and have the pulmonologist interpret the results..

Otherwise, he continues to do very well. He is eating bottles better and the neonatologist thinks he may be able to complete his bottles once his breathing issues are sorted. Then he won't have to come home with an NG tube. He is up to 60 mL, or 2 ounces, at each feeding that he must consume by mouth or by NG tube. He often starts out great and then falls asleep, unable to finish. He continues to do well maintaining his temperature in the open crib. He is weighing 7 lbs 2.5 oz.

Hopefully he will be home with us early next week without further delay.

Wendy

Colton's homecoming delayed :(

2009-03-18T08:37:00.001-07:00

More details soon - but it will at least be Monday or later.

BREAKING NEWS - Colton coming home on Thursday, March 19!

2009-03-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

Just got off the phone with Wendy. Doctors informed us that Colton can come home on Thursday, March 19! This allows us to have him home one night then follow up with the pediatrician on Friday. More details later but thought I would post this info sooner rather than later! - Bret

March 15 - Open Crib Day

2009-03-15T17:16:00.000-07:00

Colton moved to the open crib today! He is now working to prove that he can maintain his own body temperature without the help of the isolette. He moved into the new crib at 2:45 today. He also had orders written on his chart for Mom and Dad to begin to learn to use and place the NG tube (his nasogastric feeding tube). On Monday, the social worker will begin to arrange for all the equipment he needs to be discharged home. Mom and Dad will also learn his medications and how to administer them.

Colton has come a long way from 3 lbs 12 oz weighing in last night at 6 lbs 15 oz just under the 7 lb mark. While he may appear to be an average sized full term baby, he is very far developmentally from a full termer. Colton has done excellent in the weight gain department on his diet of breast milk and calorie fortifier via the tube. The neonatologist have strict guidelines based on age and weight for nutrition for the preemies. Even if they do better than expected in the weight gain department, as Colton has done, that doesn't mean they even begin to compare to a full termer. Colton should have spent the last 6 weeks (plus a couple more!) growing and developing in utero. To be able to grow and develop outside, means he has had to sacrifice development in order to learn to breath, digest food and survive on the outside. All preemies seem to struggle in some areas and work like a champ in others. Colton seems to have the digest food and grow part down pat. Actually eating the food by bottle and remembering to breath properly are harder for him. If it was easy to grow the babies on the outside in the isolette, I imagine they would let everyone get out of the 3rd trimester. I have heard it can be trying...I wouldn't know! I have 2 children and I have only been pregnant a little over 13 months total!

As a pediatric physical therapist, I am acutely aware of what is normal development for a premature infant. When Colton is 6 months old, doctors and therapists will expect him to behave as a 3.5 month old infant due to being born 2.5 months early. As with a full term infant, he will excel in some areas and lag a bit in others as he works to develop. Infants born before 32 weeks gestation often lag behind even more due to additional complications they may have. Most preemies catch up with their full term peers by 2-3 years of age. Basically, he is ahead of the curve by getting to come home before his due date! Even if it is with some equipment.

Sydney took off and grew like a weed after we brought her home from the NICU 8 years ago. Since she was 2 years old, she has been 90 percentile for height after starting below the 5th when she was born (Sydney was born at 32 weeks and 3 days gestation). One of the most frustrating things for us was people who assumed she was older and therefore expected her to act the age they thought she was based on her height. We were acutely aware then based on veiled comments or body language how people thought she was not acting her age. It is unfair to expect a 3 year old to have the skills of a 4 year old. The same holds true for Colton. It's tempting to think he is ready to leave the NICU and will be "caught up" or "normal" strictly based on his weight and size. Unfortunately, our society expects certain behavior and characteristics strictly based on size. Make no mistake about it, Colton is doing very well, but he is still a fragile premature infant. I am very thankful he is not had a failure to thrive, which can be very common diagnosis for preemies who do not gain weight well.

This week will be a blur of training and preparation to bring Colton home. The target date remains Friday for his homecoming. I plan to send out birth announcements after we get Colton home, settled, and get the NG tube and stickers off his face so he can have a beautiful picture without medical equipment to accompany his announcement. That is probably still a couple of weeks off.

In addition, RSV season runs through the end of April, so Colton will have to put off company until the end of April. I know everyone is very anxious to see my little man in person; but we will have to wait for his debut on the red carpet. Thank you for your understanding. RSV is a simple cold in adults and older, healthy children. RSV can be deadly for premature infants. This is something both the doctors and the nurses are crystal clear about - your child can die if they are exposed to RSV in the coming weeks. Short of Jesus Christ knocking on the door to visit, we may respectfully ask everyone else to wait until cold/flu/RSV season is over. Next RSV season, Colton will receive special RSV vaccinations to prevent infection. His lungs remain premature and at high risk of damage from illness. We just want to be clear that we are not trying to be rude but have to put Colton's health first. Trust us - we want to show him off and will do so when the danger of the season is over!

Thanks for your support and we look forward to everyone meeting our little man later this Spring. We will continue to update with pictures and reports. Look for a huge spread on homecoming day!

Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton

March 14 - 6 weeks today

2009-03-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been 6 weeks since Colton joined us in this world. He is still almost 4 weeks from his original due date. The little guy ain't so little anymore. He is less than 1 ounce from the 7lbs. mark!

You might have noticed more infrequent updates. We haven't had a ton of significant news day-to-day. However, that has changed today.

Wendy spoke to the neonatologist today about how Colton seems stuck at the 6 bottles per day (remember 8 bottles is the target) and the fact that he is still gaining weight like a champ. Given Wendy's background in working with young children and the fact that, medically speaking, Colton appears to be doing well, it looks like we will target next Friday, March 20 as the day we bring him home! Of course Colton has to keep on track like he is now but we are optimistic that next weekend is the weekend we finally get him home.

Colton will still be a preemie when we get him home. He will likely come home on oxygen for his feeds. He will have an apnea monitor for when he sleeps. He will also have his NG tube (tube that you currently see in the pics going through his nostril and into his belly) to make sure he is getting the proper amount of milk and likely administer his Zantac for his reflux. We will get a crash course this week on all of this stuff at the NICU. We just took infant CPR tonight (good times on a Saturday night) so we are hopeful to never need that training in action. However, this is all stuff we believe we can handle and more importantly, the great staff at Texas Woman's believes we can handle.

We will spend most of this coming week putting the finishing touches on everything he needs before coming home. As tough as these 6 weeks have been on us, the real work begins when we get him home. I'm sure our pediatrician will get to know him very well over the next year! We are still in the cold/flu/RSV season. For those who don't know what RSV is, it's a potentially deadly infection of the lungs and breathing passages. Preemies especially are susceptible to RSV and that's why we'll have to be vigilant about limiting his exposure to others over the next month or so. RSV season generally runs from September - April.

Stay tuned for more updates on Colton and all the best to you and your family....Love, Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton

Homecoming Planning

2009-03-11T14:57:00.000-07:00

Dad is doing a pretty good job of helping me with my bottle!

Bret getting ready to bottle feed Colton

The neonatologist called me to discuss Colton going home! The neonatologist on rotation this week said that if all continues as well as things are going we can expect Colton to be home by the end of next week! She wants Bret and I to take CPR this weekend, they will set up apnea monitor training for us and they will arrange for him to have an apnea monitor and O2 at home. Just before he comes home, he will do a sleep study that will determine if he needs O2 at home for his meals or not but it is easier to set it up and cancel it if we don't need it rather then scramble at the last minute. Currently, he has oxygen at each meal both the bottle feeds and the tube feedings. Eating and breathing at the same time is still rough for him.

Colton drank 5 bottles yesterday and he is to do 5 again today so that he can bump up to 6 tomorrow. His Dad even fed him a bottle for the first time yesterday! He continues to steadily gain weight and now weighs in at 6 lbs 8 oz. He officially weighs 2 ounces more than his sister did when we brought her home! However, we did bring her home just before 35 weeks gestation and Colton is now over 35 weeks gestational age. He should be a little over 7 lbs by next Friday, assuming he keeps on gaining as well as he has been doing.

We are very cautiously optimistic right now, as we are fully aware any set backs will change the game plan. We have several last minute preparations to make before we bring the little man home so we will focus on getting those knocked out.

Thanks again for all your love and support!

Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton

March 9 Back-To-Back and the "H" word

2009-03-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today was a really good day for Colton! He went up to 5 bottle feeds after scarfing down 4 yesterday in his alloted time. The tricky part is back-to-back bottles. The neonatologist also wanted Colton to try to do some breastfeeding as well today. She also said she would push 6 bottles tomorrow provided he finished 5 today. The nurse gave Colton a bottle at 11:00 am. I was particularly bummed out because I usually try to feed him at 11:00 but I was trapped at the doctors office because the doctor was running very late.

Upon my arrival at 12:30, the neonatologist was just getting to Colton. She gave me the good news and told the nurses to have the lactation consultant come for the 2:00 feeding. She also said his weight was good, 6 lbs 3.9 oz and he was done with the lasix for now. While I was excited he was going to try breastfeeding, I was worried about him doing back to back bottles sometime today and didn't want him tiring out. I held him chest to chest while he slept and we waited for it to be 2:00. Colton did very well according to the lactation consultant. He got to try for 10 minutes, but his weight in grams did not change, meaning he didn't even really get much. The nurse said to go ahead and try to bottle feed him, she could push what he didn't eat by his tube. I started feeding him and he ate like a champ. He was a bit slow at the end, which is his usual style, but he finished it in time. He ate his back to back bottles! Our fingers are crossed that he will finish the rest of his bottles today and not try to sleep through a meal after getting the hardest part over.

His pediatrician came in for a visit as he was finishing up his bottle. She said things are looking very good and she actually mentioned the "H" word! Assuming all goes well and he doesn't have any surprises it is not unrealistic to think he could come home by the end of next week! She is always way more optimistic than the neonatologist; they won't even discuss the "H" word except in hushed voices as if the very mention might set the babies back for weeks! His pediatrician was discussing with me that he will very likely come home with oxygen for when he is eating, an apnea monitor, and medicine for reflux. He will have some additional test to determine if the oxygen and apnea monitor are necessary, but the general consensus of the doctors is that he is going to be sporting those items. His task to come home are:

1. Eat 8 bottles per day and get rid of his NG tube.

2. Move to the open crib and maintain body temperature without help. (Must complete #1

before he can move to the open crib)

3. Do 1 and 2 while still gaining weight at a rate of .5 to 1 oz per day on average.

As the pediatrician and neonatologist point out, Colton is in charge. On any given day he can decide to "go preemie" and not eat, lose weight, or demonstrate he can't hold his temperature.

Keeping cheering Colton on, he is past the half way mark and the end may be coming into site for the NICU! For those of you keeping count, this was day 38 of life in the NICU.

And in other good news, the running late doctor is very pleased with the healing and progress of me! We are continuing with the same plan of care and he will check it out again next week.

Colton has a new friend to meet when he gets home. Sarah is a lovely young lady also born at 30 weeks gestation in January to parents that live around the corner from us. Sarah arrived home from the NICU in Tomball today. Welcome Home Sarah!!!

Thanks again to everyone for their love and support! Looking forward to celebrating with everyone in the upcoming weeks!

Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton "I can eat back to back bottles" Gibbs

March 7 - If Projectile Pooping Was An Olympic Sport...

2009-03-07T19:23:00.001-08:00

Preparing for the world record

Colton would win a gold medal! Let's start off on a light note about Colton today.

With the amount of food Colton's getting, let's just say "production" is up. "Production" is to be expected in these types of situations. However, little kids don't come with pressure valves indicating pressure build up is high and release is imminent. This ain't our first rodeo so we know little kids can be weapons of mass production. We are also aware that little boys sometimes find it funny to have target practice when their diaper is off. What Wendy and I weren't prepared for was a world record being set in projectile poop at the Level II NICU today.

So as we are changing his diaper and tidying up his baby condo (a.k.a. isolette), Colton gives an indication that he's not quite finished with his business. No big deal, he's actually done this a couple of times. Just hold the diaper in place and let him finish his business. They weigh the diapers to track output of production so it's good if you can get everything in one diaper. Well, as Wendy is preparing for the eventual output, I'm standing behind and to the side of her with wipes in hand. It's kinda like a pit crew except instead of changing tires and filling up gas, we are cleaning and diapering. Funny thing is there was something full of gas today but it wasn't our car.

The next thing I remember, I'm looking down at my gown filled with a substance that was not there 2 seconds prior. Wendy's hand color changed and the isolette looked like a modern artist had gone wild with the paint. The "artist" also forgot the drop cloth because paint was on the carpet as well. We sat there for a couple of seconds in total disbelief at what just happened. You guessed it. Colton officially earned his man card today by building up enough gas to set the new world record in projectile poop.

I tend to exaggerate on some stories but let me tell you, I am not exaggerating on this. I would be lying to you if I told you I had seen anything close to this before. I could eat beans and jalapenos for a week and pump my colon full of propane and I don't think I could come close to replicating what my son did today!

Folks, I'm not kidding when I said I was 2.5-3 ft. away from his isolette. If there was a bullseye dead center on my gown, he would have nailed it perfectly. How Colton managed to reach the top of the isolette is something that will baffle us for years to come. Newton would be scratching his head because the laws of gravity were completely disproven today.

Well if this had been at home, we might not have found it as funny. The nurses in the NICU got a good laugh and Wendy I couldn't control our laughter after we got over the initial shock. Sydney probably got the biggest laugh today because she nearly passed out with laughter when we told her about it when we got home. Colton is already scoring points with his big sister for literally telling their parents they are full of crap.

I was tempted to get a pic of Wendy and myself but I thought that wouldn't be the best picture for the internet. I did take a picture of the redecorating that Colton did to his baby condo but thought I would spare you the visual image. Colton was oblivious to the whole thing because he fell fast asleep after all that hard work. Needless to say, we will be a bit more prepared in case Colton wants to try a little more target practice in the future!

OK, now that we got past that story, let's move on to an update on Colton. He is 35 weeks gestational age today and weighs 6lbs. 5oz. today. We believe some of that weight is residual fluid leftover from when he had his PDA closed. As a result, his neonatologist is giving him a couple of doses of lasix to rid him of any remaining excess fluid. This will likely result in a few ounces weight loss so don't be suprised if you see his weight down in the next couple of days. He is up to 4 bottles now and is basically on room air when he's not feeding. During feeds, he is on oxygen (nasal cannula) to help him maintain his blood oxygen saturation.

Next big step is to move to 5 bottles in one day. This will be the first time that he has "back-to-back" bottles in a 3 hour period. He is fed every 3 hours around the clock. Typically, things slow down at bottle number 5 due to the stress of those two bottle feeds in a row. His isolette temperature is at the lowest setting now. Next step is to move to an open crib. 8 bottles in one day and being in an open crib are 2 of the last remaining major requirements before getting discharged. Again, hard to predict these things but we are hopeful that Colton won't see the new Level II NICU in the new building come April.

Wendy should get to try some "non-nutrative feedings" (breastfeeding just after pumping milk) with Colton this week. This gets him used to latching on in hopes that he will breastfeed instead of Wendy having to use the breast pump exclusively. Speaking of Wendy, she is feeling better now that she has completed her last course of antibiotics.

Well, that's enough excitement for one day. Thanks again for everyone's prayers and support over these last 5 weeks. Our family has persevered thanks to our strength, Faith and the support of our family and friends. Colton has a few more hurdles to go but we are starting to see light at the end of this long and dark tunnel. Here's looking to brighter days....All the best...Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

Friday March 6: 3 Bottles Down!

2009-03-06T17:05:00.000-08:00

Colton did a great job yesterday and ate 3 bottles with the nurses and OT's. He is working on doing the same today. I got to feed him part of his bottle at 11:00 with OT and he did a nice job of eating some for Mom!

He is continuing to grow well and is right on target for his gestational age. His gestational age will be 35 weeks tomorrow as he turns 5 weeks old. But as his neonatologist pointed out, he is actually ahead of the curve as he is supposed to be floating in amniotic fluid with umbilical cord support rather than eating by mouth, breathing and maintaining his body temperature!

He is working on weaning down to room air today between feedings but will remain on O2 for his feedings.

If all goes well for him over the next day or so, he will add in a 4th bottle. It is that jump to the 5th bottle coming up next week that is a huge milestone to achieve and can hang the preemies up for a few days. Keep your fingers crossed that Colton will conquer his bottles like a champ and keep moving forward at a good steady rate.

March 4 - And Then There Was 3?

2009-03-04T16:36:00.001-08:00

Wendy and I visited Colton today for his 11:00 a.m. feeding. Wendy did most of the feeding today with a little help from the OT at the end. Colton gets his 2nd bottle tonight at 11:00 p.m. The neonatologist feels that if he does well at his 11:00 p.m. feeding tonight, he will move up to 3 bottles tomorrow! We are keeping our fingers crossed that he does well tonight.

His weight was 5lbs 14.5oz as of this morning. When I spoke to his nurse this evening, he is now at 5lbs 15.9oz. That's essentially .1oz away from 6lbs. It's hard to say exactly but he may be over the 7lb. mark when he gets to come home in a few weeks. The tough part in all this is there really is no way to predict when he comes home exactly. It's all up to him and how he does on his bottle feeds. There are some other milestones/tests he must pass as well and we'll get to those as he moves closer to the coming home date.

Texas Woman's is undergoing a huge expansion right now. They have opened up their new wing and are currently remodeling the "old" section (where we are right now). In Colton's "Pod" (section of the NICU), there are about 8 babies right now. Well, that will be changing over the weekend. The Level III NICU (where Colton spent the first couple of weeks of his life) will be remodeled soon, so those babies are moving to a section of the Level II NICU. Long story short, we will be busting at the seams in our pods with babies soon! As if the NICU wasn't a stress simulator before, it will make Houston rush hour traffic a walk in the park. Level II NICU is supposed to move the new part of the building in April. Our hope is that Colton will never get to see that new real estate. :)

Wendy continues to improve and we keep chugging along with day-to-day activities. However, we always keep Colton close in our thoughts when we aren't spending time with him at the hospital. Looking forward to the day we bring him home, get past cold, flu and RSV season, and get to show off what we think is the cutest little guy in the world. All the best to you and your family....Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

March 3 Two Bottles of Milk on the Agenda

2009-03-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

Colton is moving upwards with his bottles. He will try two bottles today. He finished his first bottle today at 11:00 am in 16 minutes with his OT and his doctors decided he should try a second tonight at 11:00 pm with the nurses. He is receiving the same amount of milk, 49 mL, but they are adding 4 packs of extra calories to his feedings to make sure he is getting enough calories. He weighed 5 lbs 11.4 oz today, up .1 oz from yesterday. His stomach is not able to take any more milk at this time with his reflux. If he does well with two bottles, they will add in a third and so on. The Neonatologist told me today that many babies get stuck and have a bit of a set back when the 5th bottle is added in because then they have to do back to back bottle feeds which the babies find very stressful. He is currently using the Dr. Brown's bottle system which the OT thinks works very well for him at this time. Bret and I will get the opportunity to try to bottle feed him in the very near future. He remains classified as "difficult" for bottle feedings by the OT but she assures us that he is much safer now. His neonatologist said he can try some non-nutritive breastfeeding beginning next week!

Colton also had a visit with the Opthamologist this am. He passed this screen for ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) and will follow up in 2 weeks as all his vessels have not matured at this time.

The hospital also called today to set up a car seat check for Colton, which is one of their steps for discharge planning! This is the first step of discharge planning we have seen! It doesn't mean discharge is coming very soon, but it is a step in the right direction.

Today was the first day I drove down alone to see Colton. The drive went as smoothly as it can in Houston. Our round trip mileage is around 72 miles. The trip down can take anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour depending on traffic and the same for the return. The bad news is the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo begins tonight. This will significantly increase traffic in the area of Texas Women's Hospital and may potentially block one of our routes that we use. I think the rodeo lasts for 3 weeks. It will be a race to see if Colton gets home first or the rodeo ends.

In Colton's picture today, he is showing off his little "foot blanket" made for him by his big sister, Sydney! Isn't that sweet!

Thanks again to everyone for all their support. We have definitely needed it this past month.

Check back tomorrow to see if the little man ate his second bottle in a timely fashion!

Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton

March 2, 2009 First Bottle Down

2009-03-02T16:54:00.000-08:00

Pouty Face!
Colton had a good Monday. Everything thing came together for Colton during his 11:00 am by mouth bottle feed with OT today. He demonstrated a coordinated suck-swallow-breath with moderate force with the suck and finished his 49 mL in 19 minutes with at least 3-4 minutes of rest and burping. He was eating at the recommended rate of 3-5 mL per minute! He was very awake and at least moderately interested in the task at hand. Decreased strider was heard during the feeding indicating improved functional swallowing. He was given O2 at 100% on 1/8 L during the feed. He continues to be on a reduced percentage of O2 when not feeding due to periods of apnea and bradycardia. His OT warned us that he might not finish his bottle tomorrow and that it might take several days before he consistently finishes his prescribed amount in 20 minutes and moves up to try 2 bottles a day.

Colton weighed in today at 5 lbs 11.3 oz. The nurses report he is showing increased periods of alertness and wakefulness. Good signs that he is ready to begin to learning to eat and to interact with his environment.

Some people have asked me about more info on the NICU and prematurity. The March of Dimes has good info:http://www.marchofdimes.com/ as does this website: http://www.prematurity.org/baby/index.html.

Today was Colton's 31st day of life. His gestational age is 34 weeks 3/7 days. He will be 35 weeks on Saturday, still 5 weeks from his due date. We still have a ways to go until we get him home and settled. We have to take each day one at a time. The past 31 days have been the hardest of my life by far; however, the love and support of family and friends have been very helpful to me and my family. Some of you have reached out to make me laugh over the past week or so and I appreciate those laughs more than you know! Keep them coming, please!

Lastly, I am showing good improvement per Dr. Hammill's report today at his office. I am on the mend and doing well.

We will let you know how my little man is doing again tomorrow.

Wendy

March 1 - Month 2 Begins.....

2009-03-01T19:14:00.000-08:00

Wendy, Sydney and I visited Colton today at the hospital. Sundays and Wednesdays are the only days that Sydney gets to come into the NICU to visit. There is supposedly a 20 minute time limit for siblings to vist and poor Sydney starts worrying about the time the minute she walks in the door! However, the nurses are cool about the time as long as the kids are on their best behavior. Sydney got her "baby brother time" today so she was happy.

It's strange sometimes walking with Sydney into the same NICU where she spent the first 12 days of her life. I can remember how scary those times were for Wendy and I. However, Sydney is now one of the tallest girls in her class. I have to brag a little and also mention that she is also one of the brightest. She also is a very loving child and Wendy and I couldn't be more proud of her. She is a visible reminder of hope for us that Colton one day will be out of this NICU and will, God willing, be a happy and healthy boy.

If you have never been inside a NICU (and I hope most of you reading this never have to), it can be intimidating. Little micro preemies on ventilators, alarms going off warning of low heart rates, desaturation, etc., and a stress level in the air that you can almost cut with a knife. Admittedly, Level II NICU is not as intense as Level III. However, it's still a far cry from a normal nursery. I feel bad for Wendy because she never got the experience of a normal delivery where family and friends come see her and the baby in her room. However, I plan to make Colton's homecoming a very special day for all of us. A homecoming that we hope will come sometime this month.

Colton continues his slow progress on his feed. He is still on oxygen (nasal cannula) to assist with his bottle feeds and alleviate the desaturation events that are common with acid reflux. He was doing great up until the 8:00 feed last night. He desaturated twice and had an apnea episode associated with one of those desaturations. They had reduced his oxygen from 70% to 30% during the day yesterday. Between the bottle feeds and reduced oxygen, it was just a bit too much for him. He's now back on 100% oxygen and will likely be until Monday. We are hoping it's just a minor setback but illustrates that we will have a ways to go before we get him home.

He now weighs over 5lbs. 10oz. so his weight gain has been a positive sign for the last few weeks. His neonatologist is happy with the positive weight gain. However, the ability to take bottles without wearing down too much (desaturation) is key to knocking down the next milestone.

The daily trips are starting to add up not only in mileage (over 2,500 miles driven since Jan. 31 without ever leaving Houston) but in wearing us down. However, he's in one of the best NICUs in the country so the daily drive is a small price to pay for the level of care he is receiving at Texas Woman's. It's nice having doctors who have "been there - done that" when it comes to dealing with preemie issues. It makes things better to have doctors who remember why they went into medicine in the first place - care of people. We've truly been blessed with some good doctors and nurses whose bedside manner matches their medical experience.

We'll continue to update everyone via this blog. Stay tuned for more updates, including pictures and videos. All the best to you and your family....Love, Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

Feb. 28 - One month in....

2009-02-28T17:08:00.001-08:00

Colton is officially 1 month old today. He came into this world 10 weeks early (30 weeks gestational age), low heart rate requiring chest compressions, broken arm, bruised up, wide open PDA and weighed in at 3lbs. 12oz. He now is over 5 1/2 lbs, had his arm and PDA fixed, got rid of all of his bruising and his taking off with his feedings. February 2009 has been a blur and a roller coaster to say the least. But Colton has made tremendous progress, been lifted to great heights through the great care of his doctors and nurses, and of course lifted up in prayer by countless people all over the world.

Wendy, Sydney and I spent some time with him today during and after his bottle feed. He did well again today, only leaving a miniscule 10ml in his allotted feeding time. Slow and steady progress but we will take any progress we can get!

My mom (Kay) left for home today. We would like to thank Sandy, Nick, Joan, and Kay for spending time away from their homes to help us out in our time of need. They helped with Sydney, buying groceries, doing laundry, cooking, etc. We certainly could not have survived the first month without their help. We would also like to thank all the friends and neighbors who brought by food over this past month. Let me tell you how nice it was to not have to worry about dinner after spending a day at the hospital and doing the 72 miles round trip in what has to be the worst traffic in the world - HOUSTON TRAFFIC! I think all 5.5 million people have cars in this town! Anybody that has driven here knows we don't have the best drivers in the world. :)

We would also like to thank everyone who has called, stopped by, or prayed for us. We owe a lot of people for their support and continue to look forward to the day that our debt to you can be repayed.

I continue to admire Wendy's strength through all of this. Not only is she dealing with the same emotions as I am, she is also dealing with that incision. She is definitely improving but we still have a ways to go to get her healed up. It's frustrating to her because she's not one to normally take the time to slow down and let herself heal. However, she is doing what needs to be done to heal now so we'll get her back to 100% in time to get Colton home.

We are so ready to get Colton home and get back to some sense of normalcy. I'll be happy when the most excitement with Colton is that he peed on his outfit during a diaper change. So we are hopeful that March 2009 is when we finally get our little guy home.

BTW - several people have mentioned that they would like to leave comments on the blog. Previously, I had only turned on the feature allowing registered Blogger users to leave comments. I'm turning on the feature allowing anyone to post a comment so keep it clean! ;)

All the best to you and your family....Love, Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton

Feb. 27 - Wendy comes home

2009-02-27T19:22:00.000-08:00

Well, we got Wendy home from the hospital today! It's good to have her back home. Moms are the "CEOs" of the household, except they don't always get the big bonuses and bailouts like their business counterparts. Although Wendy will miss being down the hall from Colton, she likely won't miss the constant barrage of nurses taking her blood pressure and temp all hours of the night.

We nearly had sticker shock tonight picking up Wendy's antibiotics. 14 pills that retail for over $1,200! Luckily, my copay was only $50. The clerk at Walgreens gave me the $1,100 price at first and I about fell on the floor. He of course added that's what your insurance saved you! Thanks dude - like my blood pressure wasn't up already. Thank God for insurance! That's like $85 a pill! If we ever have to get it refilled, I think Brinks has to deliver the meds to your house.

Wendy and I hung out during Colton's bottle feed today. He definitely did better this time around finishing a little over 3/4 of his feed in the allotted 20 minutes. His weight today is 5lbs. 9oz. He continues to thrive.

We'll keep the blog entry short tonight as it has been a long day. Check back this weekend for more updates and pics! Love, Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

Juicy Couture...Newborn style

2009-02-26T09:03:00.000-08:00

Hello! Colton and I have been spending some quality time cuddling in the NICU over the past week. It has been good to see so much of him but very difficult not being with Sydney and Bret. I have missed them very much and I know this has been very difficult for them. I know Sydney has enjoyed her time with her Mimsi and we are very appreciative of the help. The good news is I should be discharged tomorrow afternoon. I am feeling fine. I will have to follow up with the doctor several times next week as he checks the progress of healing and insures infection is not an issue. He anticipates it will take several weeks to completely resolve.

The nurses had noted over the past few days that Colton has had several periods of O2 desaturation. The neonatologist ordered an upper GI for Colton to check for reflux. This is not an uncommon issue for preemies. After all, the muscles are lax and the esophagus is very short in a tiny premature baby. The test showed that he does have reflux which is probably contributing to his desaturations. They are putting him on reflux medication and on nasal canula O2 at this time. He should be able to wean off the O2 as the medication starts to work.

Colton weighs in at 5 lbs 4.4 oz today. He has essentially gained 1.5 lbs in his first month of life. This is pretty much on target with the 1.5 to 2.0 lbs he would have gained had he still been in the womb. He is maintaining good growth despite the reflux. They are eager to get him to full feeds since they have removed his PICC line and he has no IV's for supplementation. He is fed via NG (nasal gastric) tube at this time. He is almost to what would be considered a full feed for his size and age via the NG tube.

Several people have asked me what weight he has to be at to come home. Weight doesn't matter in his preemie world. Birth weight and weight to date don't really matter as much as gestational age and progress. (Unless you are not gaining weight...then weight is an issue! The babies are supposed to gain 6-8 oz per week at Colton's current status). Eight full feed bottles, maintaining your body temperature, and maintaining your O2 sats are some of the major milestones that must be met to come home. Colton has a long way to go with the bottles. He has only tried bottle feeds with the OT 2 times at this point in time. Once he takes a full feed bottle in 20 minutes or less, without any complications then he will be allowed a second bottle in a 24 hour period and so on and so on. It is a slow process to make sure he doesn't burn to many calories trying to eat and being "out of the box". The box is his isolette where his environment is controlled. Most premature babies will go home around their due date give or take a couple of weeks. Colton will be 34 weeks gestation on Saturday. Full term is considered 37-40 weeks gestation. His original due date was April 11, 2009.

One more big milestone for Colton today was getting dressed for the first time! (Hence his post title today!) He has worn the hospital tube top for a week or so with his cast on his right arm and PICC line on the left. Now that both of those are gone, he can wear clothes from home! Colton put on his first outfit today. It is newborn size and is a bit big on him but he looks so cute! Bret picked it out of his closet and brought it up yesterday. Stay tuned for more pictures of him in outfits from his endless supply of clothes! The boy is more than set on adorable little outfits!

I also got to bathe him for the first time tonight! Little mundane tasks like this that we normally take for granted turn out to be very special events.

Thanks again to everyone for their support.I can't wait until our whole family is at home and everyone can come by to meet our newest member.

Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton

Feb. 25 - Let's try that bottle again

2009-02-25T19:36:00.000-08:00

Colton had another shot at the bottle today (milk, not alcohol :) and got about half the bottle down within the allotted 20 minutes. He did desat (blood oxygen level drop) some but did not require any oxygen. This is an improvement over yesterday's bottle feeding attempts. The Occupational Therapist (OT) commented today that he is acting just like a typical baby that is 33 weeks gestational age and that feeding will hopefully improve with time. He will rest on Thursday and just be fed through his OG tube and will resume bottle feeding with his Occupational Therapist (OT) on Friday.

The little guy is weighing in at 5 lbs. 3 oz. now. This is close to the birth weight of his big sister when she was born 8+ years ago (she weighed 5 lbs. 8 oz. at gestational age 32 1/2 weeks). Colton will hit 34 weeks gestational age this coming Saturday - still 6 weeks away from being a "full term" baby (40 weeks).

Sydney, Mimsi (Kay - my mom) and I visited with Wendy and Colton again this afternoon. Wendy's incision is showing signs of improvement but still has a way to go before that thing heals completely. It's still difficult to say how long she will be in the hospital but we are hopeful she might come home this weekend.

Sydney enjoys the Sibling Class that some of the nurses hold each Wednesday in the NICU waiting room. They teach the kids all about the NICU and what to expect while their sibling is in the hospital. Sydney is becoming a regular at these sessions and the nurses have gotten to know her pretty well. She has definitely made an impression on them because they always ask about Sydney when we see the nurses throughout the week.

We are 26 days into this adventure. February 2009 has been a blur and a roller coaster ride. Our life isn't normally this crazy although I can see why some people might think that. Since Hurricane Ike, we've had a few curve balls thrown our way. Wendy and I were laughing today about some of the challenges life has thrown at us lately. You have to maintain a sense of humor about these things or you'll go mad. The funny part involves this technician we have gotten to know a little at our vet's office. This tech was with us when we nearly lost our chocolate lab, Katy, over New Year's. Katy developed a severe infection and nearly died. Well, in the midst of Katy's medical issues, our boxer, Jo Jo, also had some eye issues that required a visit to a pet opthamologist. If that sounds expensive you would be correct. So while we were carting Katy from the emergency vet each night and morning (ka-ching) to our regular vet, this tech was super nice and supportive to us. Well, Katy made a miraculous turnaround after being written off New Year's Eve night.

So I take our 3rd dog (yes, we are that crazy) Shadow (black lab) to the vet for a normal checkup on Tuesday morning. First thing I do is catch our vet office up (we have a Gibbs wing opened up after those vet bills in December) on all that has been going on with Colton and Wendy. Then we start talking about Shadow and how we got her. We got Shadow when my brother, Todd, asked us to watch his new black lab puppy while he had training in the field (he was in the Army). He said he wanted us to watch the dog for 6 weeks. Well 6 weeks turned into 8 weeks and the rest is history.

Many of you reading this blog know that I lost my brother in the Iraq War in Dec. 2004. In fact, Colton's middle name (Todd) is in honor of my brother. Todd was a good man (better than I could ever hope to be) and we miss him dearly. But, like me, he also had a great sense of humor. So I'll preface the last part of this story by saying that Todd would find humor in it.

So this tech, who went through Ike like the rest of us in H-town, lived the saga of Katy and Jo Jo this past December with us, and who thought the weight of the world was on us with Colton and Wendy both in the hospital, asks a very simple question: How is your brother doing these days? I swear this lady must think we are the Kennedy family or something because I had to tell her about my brother as well! Wendy and I got a good laugh out of this story because we would go insane otherwise.

There is no doubt that we have had our share of burdens lately (I left off the fact that my company cut my pay and benefits as well this past week) but we have more way more blessings than hardships. We have a strong family that is solidified by the love we have received from our extended families and friends. Our Faith is strong and our belief in a brighter tomorrow keeps us moving forward. In the famous words of one of my personal heroes, Winston Churchill, "Never, never, never give up."

All the best to you and your family...Love, Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

Feb. 24 - Not quite ready for those bottle feeds

2009-02-24T18:26:00.001-08:00

"Man, what a tough day, I need some sleep!"

Well, Colton tried out the bottle feeds and decided he was not quite ready just yet. The Occupational Therapist (OT) worked with Colton today and things just really didn't go well. Unfortunately, the process was too taxing on his system and he actually had a period of desaturation (blood oxygen levels dropped). He also had one apnea episode last night, a first since his PDA was closed. It's a stark reminder that he still has a way to go before we can get him home. The roller coaster ride continues. However, we keep moving forward and hope for better news tomorrow.

On the positive side, Colton did get his PIC line removed. This is basically a long term IV that is inserted and is used to provide additonal supplements such as lipids. The good news is that he no longer needs these additional supplements. Plus, you want these PIC lines out in the long term as the risk for infection goes up the longer you have them in place. They moved his OG tube (where the milk is distributed to his belly) from his mouth and put in a smaller one through his nose. This allows us to continue to try to out bottle feeds, an important step in getting him closer to going home.

Wendy is still receiving medical care for her wound and no ETA yet on when she will be discharged. The doctor wants to see some good signs of healing in that wound before she can come home. We miss her a bunch but know it's best to get her healed up before she comes back home to us where she belongs.

Our cousins (Nancy and Jerry) came by today to visit with us and brought Colton some new clothes. We also had some friends drop by with more food last night. We continue to be humbled by the love and support of our family and friends.

More updates tomorrow. All the best to you and your family....Love Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton

Feb. 23 - No Cast and No Bad Infections

2009-02-23T14:20:00.000-08:00

Good news to report today on both Wendy and Colton. Wendy's cultures came back and indicated that there are no bad infections hanging out in her incision. This is great news as C-section wounds tend to be one of the top causes of major infections. They will likely keep Wendy until her incision shows good signs of healing. On the positive side, she is just 2 floors away from Colton and can visit him anytime.

I visited with Wendy and Colton and got to hold the little guy a while. Well, the x-rays showed that his right arm has healed nicely and the cast was removed! He is moving that arm real well so we don't anticipate any long term effects of the broken arm. In fact, the ortho doc has essentially discharged him.

They went up on Colton's feeds again (33ml) and he will have an Occupational Therapist (OT) consult tomorrow to begin bottle feeding. First feed is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and Wendy is planning to give him his first bottle. The neonatologist is projecting discharge between 36-38 weeks gestational age and we are at 33 weeks 2 days today. So we are looking at probably another 3 weeks and he can finally come home where he belongs.

More updates tomorrow....Love Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton

Feb. 22 - Updates on Colton and Wendy

2009-02-22T17:12:00.001-08:00

Colton moving his right arm which is healing nicely - or giving me the universal "talk to the hand" gesture

Mimsi holding Colton for the first time

Sydney, Mimsi (Kay - my mom), and I went to visit Wendy and Colton at the hospital. Wendy is hanging out with IV antibiotics and having her wounded tended periodically. We'll find out moreon the cultures tomorrow but she is not running any fever and her white blood cell count is normal. So we are hopeful that we'll get this issue nipped in the bud and get Wendy back on her feet soon.

Colton continues to thrive and his feeding are now up to 28ml per feeding. All his plumbing is still in good working order and he is properly holding his temperature. Mimsi got to hold her grandson for the first time as well. Last time Mimsi visited with Colton, he was still in Level III with a breathing tube. He's made tremendous progress since day one and I continue to be amazed at how well he has faced down and overcome many of his challenges. As crazy as life has been lately and with all the challenges thrown at us, we are strong because of our Faith and the love and support we have from all of you. I've always believed God won't throw more at you than you can handle but I must admit I look up from time to time and ask - "Just how tough do you think we are!?".

All the best to you and your family...Love, Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton

Feb. 22 - Prayers for Wendy

2009-02-22T07:43:00.001-08:00

Good morning. It's Bret posting this morning. I have a special request for my prayer warriors out there. Let me start off by saying the last thing Wendy would want is any focus off Colton and on to her (I feel the same way for myself) but I am concerned about Wendy's incision. Why am I concerned? The Infectious Disease Doctor is concerned about the range of possibilities for infections - some of which *can be* (note I didn't say she has an infection) life threatening. Now Wendy is in good hands at the hospital and has been taking IV antibiotics. The cultures that will tell us what we are dealing with likely won't be back until Monday (Feb. 23). I'm asking my prayer warriors out there to pray for Wendy's well being and that we are not dealing with any of the bad infections that can sometimes arise from these types of wounds. Wendy, I love you very much, you are my soul mate and wonderful mother. I know you probably don't like the fact that I posted a prayer request for you. But you know what? Tough. I love you very much and I will do what I can both medically and spiritually if I think it helps you to get better. Be a good patient (hard for anyone in the medical field) and follow the doc's directions!

We are visiting Colton and Wendy this afternoon and I'll have an update on him later. Thanks for lifting both Wendy and Colton up in prayer. All the best....Bret

Feb. 21 - Wendy and Colton now hanging out

2009-02-21T14:24:00.000-08:00

Well it looks like Wendy will get to be closer to Colton now. Her incision has not been healing properly and she has been admitted at Texas Woman's Hospital to treat the incision and prevent against major infections. They are treating her with IV antibiotics and she is under the care of Infectious Disease Doctor. Our gut instinct was that the incision was not healing properly. While it's certainly not the best of situations to have to be admitted back into the hospital, we jumped on this early enough to hopefully prevent any bad infections. So she will likely spend a couple of days in the hospital. She will be closer to Colton now and be able to see him anytime she wants as he will just be down the hall instead of 26 miles away.

I just spoke to Colton's nurse and the news continues to be positive. They went up on his feeds again to 23ml (from 17ml) at 11:00 this morning and he's tolerating that well. His isolette settings have been lowered to 28.5 (was at 29.5 yesterday) and he is holding his temp well. One of the milestones to get him home is that he holds his temperature. The little guy finally broke the 5lb mark! He now weighs 5lbs 1.8oz, a gain of 2 ounces in 1 day. His cast probably weighs enough that he would be under 5lbs if it was removed but the good news is that he continues to gain weight. I'm heading back down tonight to bring Wendy some things and so we can visit Colton.

So tonight I ask that you keep Wendy and Colton in your prayers. Keep checking the blog for updates and thanks again for the love and support....Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

Feb. 20 - Checking Things Out

2009-02-20T17:17:00.000-08:00

Wendy and I visited with Colton today around lunch time. He was doing well today and got his feedings bumped up again. At this pace and if all goes well, we are hopeful that Colton will move to bottle feeding early next week. His weight stayed the same (4lbs 14.5oz) and he is a little pooping machine. It might seem strange to some of you reading this blog that we would talk about pooping so much. However, his pooping is a great sign that he is properly processing his food and that his digestive system is in working order. Come to think of it, being "regular" is a blessing at any age! ;)

Level II NICU is a totally different experience than Level III. We got used to the quiet and serenity of Level III over the last couple of weeks. Well, there are some really loud babies in Level II! Colton went from being the big guy on the block in Level III to the small kid in Level II. I still say my boy is tougher than most! I know, I know, typical dad bragging on his son! :)

Let me jump on my soapbox for a moment. It's scary times out there right now with the economy and job market and all the other crazy things going on in this world. It would be easy to get down about things and lose hope for a brighter future. While things have certainly been tough on us the last few weeks, we certainly are not the only ones going through tough times right now. We must acknowledge that things are tough, but we don't have to buy in to the doom and gloom for the future portrayed by the media. I know we have leaned on our family and friends for support to get us through tough times. I think if we all stick together, have a little Faith, put in some hard work and have some optimism, we can weather any storm that comes our way. Thanks for being there for us in our time of need and we still look forward to the day that we can return the favor. All the best to you and your family....Love, Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

Go Colton Go!

2009-02-19T15:48:00.001-08:00

Colton is adjusting to life in NICU Level II and in his isolette. He really seems to like it in the isolette. It is quiet, dark and snug in there for him. He is pooping and he went up on his feeds to 11 mL every 3 hours. He will probably get a chance to eat by bottle sometime next week but for now all his feeds are by tube. When he does eat by bottle, he will start with just one bottle feed per day. Evidently, it is very tiring and requires too much energy that can result in weight loss for preemies to eat by bottle. So they build them up slowly. He weighed 4 lbs 15.5 oz today ... with his cast on! The Neonatologist on call today pointed out to me that the cast weighs 3 or 4 ozs when I said he was close to 5 lbs. He is showing good steady gain. He will probably get his cast off sometime next week, the orthopedic surgeon will make that determination. Evidently, it is usually 2-3 weeks for bone healing in preemies. One of the neonatologist told us that as long as the bones are in the same room, they will approximate and heal.

Thanks again to everyone for all the support and prayers. Hopefully, we will have the little man home with us in 3 or 4 weeks!

Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton

Back to Level II

2009-02-18T19:18:00.000-08:00

Colton has once again been transferred to the NICU Level II nursery. Hopefully, he will stay put this time! Colton will eventually be discharged from this nursery to home. Babies in NICU do not go to Level I newborn nursery before going home. He is probably 3-4 weeks out from being discharged home depending on how he does. Colton's gestational age is 32.5 weeks right now (the age at which his sister, Sydney, was born). So he would be 35 to 36 weeks gestational age when he is discharged if all goes as planned. He is breathing just fine on his own in room air and is beginning to learn to hold his temperature in a controlled isolette environment. He will have to hold his temp in a open crib before he can be discharged home. His feeds remain at 5 ml right now because he did not poop recently. Once he poops, they will begin to increase his feeds. The orthopedic surgeon came by and cut his cast a bit as Colton has grown considerably since the doctor put the cast on shortly following Colton's birth. Colton is weighing in at 4 lbs 14 oz as of today. He will quickly be in 5 lb territory at this rate! Thanks again for all the prayers and support!

Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton

Moving Forward!

2009-02-17T18:33:00.001-08:00

Colton had a great day today! He is extubated and on room air. He is also getting 5 ml feeds every 3 hours again as of today via an OG tube. I was able to hold him for about an hour and a half today.

His incision is about 2 inches on his back, which looks huge on him right now but should fade rapidly as he grows.

Colton will move into an isolette incubator later today and should move to NICU LEVEL II status tomorrow ...and hopefully stay there this time!

Thanks again to everyone for all their support!
Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton

Rest and Recovery

2009-02-16T15:42:00.000-08:00

Colton continues to rest and recover in the NICU III. He has been weaning down his vent settings and should extubated tonight. Assuming all goes well, he will begin getting feedings again tomorrow. He will need to spend 48 hours in level III after coming off the vent prior to returning to the Level II NICU. He should get weighed tonight after coming off the vent. He is looking like he might weigh in at 5 lbs! We will hopefully post pictures of him off the vent and being held again tomorrow!

Love, Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton

Feb. 15 - Hanging out in Level III

2009-02-15T18:20:00.000-08:00

Colton is continuing to recover from his PDA surgery from yesterday. He is still intubated but is on room oxygen only. He is also sedated to minimize post-operative pain. We are hopeful that he will be extubated tomorrow.

Wendy, Sydney, Grammy (Joan) and I visited with Colton today and his doctors. Sydney drew a picture of Colton and cut it out and we taped it to his crib. Kids really pick up on details because Sydney had strategically placed bruises on the picture that matched those that her brother had in the early days. We didn't get to hold him today but we did hang out with him for a few hours. We visited with his neonatologist and pediatrician and they both felt he was doing great after his surgery. His in-hospital pediatrician is actually good friends with Colton's pediatrician that we'll use when he comes home. She is a very competent pediatrician and has a personality and bedside manner that rivals any doctor I have ever met. It's good to deal with doctors who are "real people" and have similar life experiences as you.

We'll visit with Colton again tomorrow and continue to keep you updated on his progress. We don't know exactly how many people are visiting this blog but we have heard through the grapevine that quite a few people keep up with Colton on this website. We truly appreciate your love, concern, support and prayers. Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton

Valentine's Day Heart Repair

2009-02-14T08:17:00.000-08:00

Colton had surgery at 9:45 am to close the PDA with Dr. Robert Bloss. Dr. Bloss is a pediatric surgeon who has performed over 3,000 PDA ligatures in Houston. We were told he could do PDA surgeries in his sleep but I asked him nicely to stay awake during the procedure on our son! Colton tolerated the procedure well. Basically they clamped off the PDA with a small titanium clip. The surgery was performed in the NICU III at bedside. They commonly set up in NICU for surgeries for the preemies. They close down the unit during those procedures. Colton was intubated prior to surgery and will remain intubated for 48-72 hours for pain relief medications. He will be NPO during this time and probably for a short time following extubation. He continues to have his PIC line and will receive TPN for his nutritional needs. He will remain in the Level III unit for a minimum of 3 or 4 days. We will keep everyone updated on his progress as we know more. We got to visit with him afterwards and will spend some more time with him this afternoon. Thanks again for praying for our little guy and keep the Faith! Love, Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton

Feb. 13 - PDA Surgery Required

2009-02-13T14:24:00.000-08:00

After consulting with Dr. Gee and the cardiology team, we have decided to move forward with the PDA ligation surgery to completely close the PDA. This is something we have been monitoring very closely and discussed with several doctors. Both Dr. Gee, who has followed Colton's case since Day 1, and the cardiologist recommend this procedure. So he is scheduled for this procedure at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow.

Colton needs prayer more than ever now for successful PDA surgery and no complications.

"Grammy" (Joan) is staying with us now and helping us out so we appreciate her being here. Nick (Wendy's dad) headed back to Alabama today and we appreciate all he did for us during his visit. Grammy got to hold Colton today and spend some quality time with her grandson.

We will update you as soon as we can after the surgery. Love to all....Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

LEVEL II NICU

2009-02-12T19:10:00.000-08:00

Today brings more good news for Colton! He has moved from Level III to the Level II NICU! He will eventually discharge to home from here, but he does still have a ways to go. Colton tolerated his feedings just fine yesterday so he was bumped up to 10 mls every 3 hours today. A baby of his weight should get approximately 45 mls every 3 hours. Don't worry, he is continuing to get his TPN in his PIC line to accommodate his needs as he learns to digest food. Colton will not get to try eating by mouth (he currently is feed through a OG --oral gastric--line directly to his belly) until he is past 32 weeks gestational age mark. That milestone of 32 weeks arrives on Valentine's day. They will probably wait a few days past to make sure he is tolerating all well before asking him to suck-swallow-breath. To all my SLP and OT friends...he is showing good signs with sucking the pacifier and bringing one hand to the mouth!

Colton continues to make great forward progress and I am more than thankful for all the wonderful words of encouragement, prayer and support from our family and friends as well as people who don't know us but have learned of us from family and friends. So many people have shared wonderful success stories of their pre-term infants and it gives me a great deal of hope and peace.

My Dad's wife, Joan arrived tonight. My Dad, Nick, will be leaving tomorrow and Joan will be helping us out for this week. I will miss my Dad but I am thrilled to have Joan here to help me out for the week to get things in order for bringing Colton home. I am looking forward to getting more active this week and getting back to driving. I had a "T" incision during the C-section and while it is healing, it is a bit slower than the first C-section with the regular bikini cut.

Finally, I want to thank all my wonderful friend and neighbors who have supplied us with delicious food this past week! I will be getting proper thank you's out to you guys but let me just share with you all what a lifesaver that has been. We are all very appreciative, especially Sydney who has loved all the different dishes and especially desserts!

I hope you like the picture of our little man in his "pimp daddy" hat!

Best wishes and thanks to everyone!

Love,

Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton

Feb. 11 - Pimp my crib and pass the milk

2009-02-11T18:54:00.000-08:00

Alright - it's clear to me now that someone out there has real close connections with the Big Guy because we had more good news today. First, when we got to Colton's area in the NICU he had graduated from an open crib with a radiant warmer to an isolette (incubator). Now you might be thinking isn't it a bad thing to be moved from an open crib to an isollete? In this situation, it's a good thing. The open crib with radiant warmer was primarily needed for Colton due to the high bilirubin count (light therapy) while also regulating his body temperature. Now that the bilirubin count is down, he just needs a little help keeping his body temp regulated. Eventually, he will likely move back to an open crib but only one without a radiant heat source to regulate his temperature. So this was a positive sign that they don't necessarily believe he will need any more light therapy.

We were however disappointed when we saw a tube back down his throat. Previously, they had that tube in there to remove excess air and/or fluid that was accumulating in his stomach. Well, turns out that the tube is now a gavage feeding tube - which means he is starting to get that nourishing mother's milk! Feeding is another milestone that should not be underestimated in a preemie. We had thought he was still a few days off so this was another pleasant surprise. He is only being fed about 5 ml of milk every 3 hours but had his 3rd feeding of the day when we were there. They will continue to measure his output and increase feeding amounts accordingly. There are so many important nutrients that come from mother's milk that science will likely not ever be able to replicate. I believe that this will help Colton gain even more strength as he continues to fight his way from the NICU at Texas Woman's to where he belongs - with us at home! Mother's milk is to babies as spinach is to Popeye!

Wednesday is sibling visit day so Sydney got to go with us again today. Sydney got to hold her baby brother for the first time today! She was super excited and can't wait to get back up there on Sunday.

He now weighs 4lbs6oz (up from 3lbs12oz) and continues to gain strength and momentum. It's important to celebrate the successes but also remember he has a long way to go. We'll take all the good news that comes our way and pray for even better news tomorrow.

Appreciate everyone's support and love and looking forward to the day that we can return the favor....All the best - Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

Feb. 10 - Everything is in "Moderation"

2009-02-10T19:10:00.000-08:00

Well - we got a bit of good news tonight! According to the latest heart ECHO, Colton's PDA went from "Large" to "Moderate". What this means is that the PDA is reducing in size and appears to finally be closing! Now of course we need the whole thing to close to get past this milestone. But, the fact that it's starting to close is a very positive sign. We are so grateful, thankful, elated and pumped that we got this great news tonight! Go Colton Go!

Wendy, Nick and I visited Colton again today. I did not get a chance to go by the hospital on Monday as I spent my first full day back at work. I was immediately amazed at the difference one day has made. He is truly starting to look more and more like a full term baby - albeit still on the small side. His color is looking great, he is cooing and making little baby noises when you hold him, and he cleans up real well. He's a good looking kid if I do say so myself! In fact, rumor has it that all the girl babies are on a waiting list to be moved closer to his area. :)

He was completely off his light therapy today which means his bilirubins dropped to an acceptable level. He also had the tube removed from his mouth that helped drained any excess air and fluid in his belly. Remember, he is still being fed by IV as they wait for the PDA to completely close. So today we really got our first glimpse of him without any tube, tape, or anything else stuck to his head or face.

I finally got to hold my boy today for the first time. It was great to spend a little quality time with him and tell him about all the fun things we have planned. I told him I have too much estrogen in my house (wife, daughter, 3 female dogs and 2 female guinea pigs) and needed a little more testerone to help balance things out. Don't get me wrong, I love all my girls but it will be nice having another guy around the house. I told him about all of the football games we'll be watching - hopefully he won't pick up my bad habit of yelling at the TV.

Tomorrow is sibling visit day so we'll have Sydney up again tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, she will get to hold him for the first time.

While we are elated at the great news today, we all realize that this is a process. Wendy and I are both ready to get him home but we are probably looking at mid-March before that happens. But, we will take each success and celebrate it as we did tonight. Colton is a strong kid, is much loved, and has people praying for him all over this great land. I'll never tire of thanking everyone for their love and support. We'll continue to keep Colton in the capable hands of the good doctors and nurses at Texas Woman's NICU and under the watchful eye of God who is definitely hearing your prayers and is in complete control. With love and respect - Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

Feb. 9 - Grandpa Nick comes for a visit

2009-02-09T18:04:00.000-08:00

Wendy's dad (Nick) is in town this week and got to visit his grandson for for the first time. Even at 30 weeks, it appears that Colton has more hair than his grandpa!

Not much change to report today. A quiet day is typically a good day at the NICU. Colton's bilirubin count fell below 10 as of this morning and will be checked again in the morning. I'm not sure what the trigger point is for removing the light therapy but hopefully that will come sometime this week.

Colton's last dose of indomethacin to close that PDA is at 11:00 p.m. tonight. Around midday tomorrow, he will have his heart ECHO performed again to check to see if he's made any progress on getting that PDA closed.

More updates tomorrow and thanks again for everyone saying prayers for our little guy....Love, Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

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

2009-02-08T19:31:00.001-08:00

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

Feb. 7 Update - Week #2 Begins!

2009-02-07T14:27:00.000-08:00

Well, we all made it through the first week. I think Wendy and I are starting to come down off the adrenaline some and starting to breathe a little more now that Colton is making progress. It's been a rough start for all of us but we are grateful for all the love, support, prayers and hope.

We got to make a 2nd trip up to the hospital to see Colton yesterday. Wendy also got her incisions checked out by one of the docs while we were there. I've got her slowed down a little today because in the midst of all this with Colton, Wendy needs to heal from that c-Section. The incision will take some time to heal but she is getting there. I always said if it was up to men to have babies this would be a desolate planet. I have to say I admire Wendy's strength.

So the latest is the PDA has not reduced in size. Likely, this thing is not going to close on its own. So we hope to talk to the neonatologist (Dr. Gee) tonight or tomorrow to see the next course of action. The PDA is evident on the heart ECHO as well as hearing the murmur with a stethoscope. His breathing is not labored but his respirations are higher than desired due to that PDA still being open. We should have more details on next steps tomorrow.

The little man is still under the lights for his bilirubin although that bilirubin count did reduce slightly overnight. He had a couple of good poops last night so his plumbing is working correctly! He has his splint now on his right arm so that fracture can begin to heal. He also had another ultrasound of his abdominal area to detect any bleeds or other issues and I'm happy to report that came back normal. He had an arterial IV line removed as well. They had difficulty with the inserting his PIC line last night and they will likely try again tonight. The PIC line is more of a long term IV and will allow the NICU to remove Colton's umbilical line. Long term, it's good to remove the umbilical line due to increased risks of infection. Once that umbilical line is removed, we will finally be able to hold Colton. We are hopeful the PIC line is successful tonight so we'll all get a chance to hold him tomorrow (including Sydney).

On a personal note, we are appreciative of all the calls, emails, prayers, food, and support during this time. If we haven't returned your call or responded to your email, please know that we are reading everything and appreciate you. It's tough with the schedule we are keeping right now to get to everything. We are both looking forward to the day that we can repay everyone's kindness. It's important for you tall to know that we won't forget what you are doing for us - that you can take to the bank!

The hardest part for Wendy and I both is not being in control of anything. As a parent, there's not much you won't do for your children. I can tell you that Wendy and I either one would trade places with him right now if we could. While we remain optimistic and are pleased with all of his progress, the worry and fears can overtake you if you let them. We put our faith in the good doctors and nurses at Texas Woman's NICU and most importantly our Faith in God that he is in control 100% and will see us all through this.

Colton started out 10 weeks early, had to be resuscitated at birth, was bruised all over, had a broken arm, was intubated to assist with breathing and had a host of other issues. One week later, the guy is breathing completely unassisted and truly has made great progress in most areas in such a short time. I certainly will give credit to Colton, the doctors, the nurses and all of the trained medical staff for the tremendous progress that Colton has made this week. But I'm thoroughly convinced (and good look convincing me otherwise) that prayer does work and it's more than good medicine coming into play right now. Keep the Faith as will we.....Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton

Feb. 6 Update - Where did that CPAP Go????

2009-02-06T13:09:00.001-08:00

Wendy and I just got back from visiting Colton at the NICU today. To our pleasant surprise, the CPAP was no longer connected! This is great news as he is now 100% breathing on his own!

Also, we got great news today from his head ultrasound. No brain bleeds! This had been a concern due to his traumatic entry into this world and the bruising around his head. So we are very thankful for this great news!

The ECHO of his heart did indicate that the PDA is still there. However, Dr. Hernandez does not know the size of it yet as it needs to be evaluated by a pediatric cardiologist. Due to his stability and the fact that he has been extubated, they will try to the medicinal route to try to close that PDA. A pediatric cardiologist at Texas Children's Hospital will read the results of the ECHO to determine if the PDA is closing. We hope to hear news on this later this evening. Keep your fingers crossed and those prayers going that the PDA is starting to shrink!

We also had a concern with him not moving his right arm. Well, turns out he had good reason for not moving it. His humerus is broken! An x-ray did confirm a fracture of his humerus that was not initially seen on his first x-ray due to the angle of the image. Dr. Epps evaluated Colton and he will be splinting him tonight. We told you he had a rough start!

Colton is also opening his eyes some to see all those scary people hovering over his crib. He also protests profusely when his diaper is changed. Today, I turned on my cell phone video camera when Wendy was changing his diaper. He definitely let us know his displeasure as you can see in the attached video on this post! That cry is music to our ears and we will gladly welcome that cry at home.

More updates soon! Love Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

Overnight Update....by Wendy!

2009-02-06T04:35:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Col-T continued to do very well overnight! His night nurse states he has been on the 6 setting for cPAP since midnight and appears to be tolerating it just fine. His bilirubin did spike up to 14 overnight and so he is back on the lights. We totally expected this as they were pulling the lights to decrease his fluids to trigger that darn PDA to close. He has not had the echo yet today but it is scheduled for later today. We should know by this evening if it has closed. The nurse said he was moving his right arm more for her overnight. She has been with him several nights and been able to observe him. She also said Colton protested some over the night. She believes he might be beginning to feel hungry and asked if it was OK to offer the pacifier. I told her that is fine, I had observed his oral care being done by the nurse yesterday and he seemed to like it and would attempt to suck on the sponge, so it might offer him some comfort. He won't be given a tube feeding until the issue of the PDA is resolved. Once that is resolved, it is my understanding he will get an NG or OG tube and be given the tiniest amount of milk to see if it is tolerated. Bottles will not even be in the picture until 2 criteria are met. The first is that he has to tolerate 8 tube feeds per day and he must be over 32 weeks gestation. He will be 32 weeks gestation on Valentine's day. He will be fed EBM. (expressed breast milk). The nurse told me they have already performed his head ultrasound this morning and results will be available later today. The plan as I understand it for this weekend is to pull his umbilical line vein and place a PIC line. While I am not thrilled with him having a new line, this transition will allow him to be held, which will be wonderful! I can't wait to hold my tiny baby boy.

Hasn't Bret done a fabulous job with the blog? I am so proud of him not only for the blog but for how well he has handled everything from his wife in complete denial that she is in labor to every challenge we have faced in this week. I am lucky to have such a wonderful husband.

I am also very lucky to have such vast support from friends and family. I have been blown away with the e-mails, text and phone messages. I can not tell you how much they all mean to me. I know I haven't been able to respond to each one yet, but I want you to know I am getting them and they are just what I need to keep my spirits up. I am doing well and healing well. I have had a marked decrease in post operative pain over the past 12 hours and can actually get out of bed by myself now!

Thank you all for your love and support! We will update again this evening.

Wendy, Bret, Sydney and baby Colton

Feb. 5 Evening Update

2009-02-05T14:41:00.001-08:00

We went to visit Colton about 11:30 today. He continues to make progress with his respiratory system. His CPAP settings will be reduced from "10" to "8" today and he is still only on room oxygen. If he shows progress at the 8 setting, then they move him to 6 and finally to 4. What this all means is that if he continues at this rate, he will be CPAP free within a few days. This is a huge milestone in moving from the Level III NICU to Level II.

We spoke to his neonatologist today (Dr. Hernandez) and she is removing his light therapy (for bilirubins) and reducing his fluids for now. She hopes this will help trigger the body in closing that hole in his heart. He still has the murmur so the hole is still open. However, he will have his heart scanned tomorrow to see if that hole is starting to close. If the hole is closing, that would be some of the best news we have received yet. If it isn't closing, he might be doing well enough on some of his other targets to try the medicinal route to close that hole. At any rate, we should have answers by tomorrow afternoon on if the hole is closing or not. We continue to pray for a good outcome on his PDA.

We got to remove his hat today and see a little more of his face and head. Wendy got to change his diaper today which was really good since she has not been able to hold our baby. She also held him up as his little bedding was changed. Colton decided to relieve himself a little more when his diaper was off! So his urine output is good which is yet another good sign of kidney function.

We also got to hear the little guy cry for the first time today! With that breathing tube in, he was not able to make any crying noises. Wendy kept messing with his right arm (as a pediatric physical therapist is prone to doing) and he showed his complete dissatisfaction of being messed with! We've determined that he has his mom's disposition when he is mad.

We do have a new concern with his right arm. He's not really moving it although he does make a fist and move his fingers on that arm. Wendy's pediatric physical therapy instinct kicked in and she brought it to Dr. Hernandez's attention. Colton will be evaluated by a pediatric orthopedic specialist tomorrow to determine what's going on. Wendy suspects something with the brachial plexus but that diagnosis will need to be made by the orthopedic doctor.

All-in-all, a good day for Colton. Continued stability of vital body functions, respiratory improvement on CPAP, and quality time with mom and dad. More updates tomorrow! Love - Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

Feb. 5 Morning - Let There Be Poop!

2009-02-05T06:45:00.000-08:00

We called the overnight nurse this morning to check on Colton and he had a good night. Sorry for the catchy title but the fact that Colton had a good poop is a great sign. His bilirubin, which had been creeping up, has leveled off and actually went slightly down (went from 9.2 to 9.0 overnight). His breathing continues to do well with the CPAP. He will be evaluated later this morning and we will find out the next course of action for his PDA. Look for another update this evening and keep praying! Love, Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton

Feb. 4 Evening Update - A new milestone reached!

2009-02-04T15:23:00.000-08:00

Wendy, Sydney, Mimsi (paternal grandmother) and I visited Colton at 4:00 today. Earlier, his neonatologist (Dr. Hernandez) came by to let us know that the breathing tube was coming out! When we visited Colton, he was only wearing a CPAP which is a form of ventilation covering his nose. Removal of the breathing tube (extubation) is a positive step and important milestone in his continued improvement. His nurse had assessed him at 4:00 today and said all of his vitals looked good. So we were very happy to have this bit of good news today!

As far as the PDA, Dr. Hernandez and the other docs in her practice are discussing Colton's case this evening as to next steps: wait and monitor hole in his heart to see if it will start closing or go forward with the surgery. We should know more on that tomorrow.

As I type this, Wendy is getting her staples removed and we are preparing to all go home for the evening. Starting tomorrow, Wendy and I will make the daily trip to see our little guy and get updates on his progress.

I am attaching a few photos that we took today. Colton's color is looking much better although the bruising is still evident.

Thanks again for all the prayers and support (we are humbled) and keep praying for our little guy. Love to all....

Feb. 4 Morning Update

2009-02-04T08:08:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone: Thanks again for all the prayers and support. We are appreciative and look forward to the day that we can return the favor. Wendy and I hit a low point yesterday after the new of the hole in his heart and the likely surgical intervention. We did however feel better after visiting with Colton's nurse (Sara) yesterday as she was a wealth of information. It turns out that the procedure to close the hole in his heart is done bedside by a skilled surgeon who had done thousands of these procedures. It does require anesthesia and is certainly not without risk but it's not the full blown open heart surgery with the rib spreader. They evidently go into his left side and do the procedure through an incision. They would go between his ribs and stitch the opening in his heart. As with any surgery, there are some risks involved, including anesthesia and possible damage to his vocal cord due to the proximity of the nerve that controls the vocal cords during this procedure. It's one of those judgment calls you have to make to decide which option has more downside and which option is riskier. It's something we'll continue to monitor for now. It also helped having a visit from my good friend Ron and his wife Marian. Ron is one of those guys that is naturally funny and can always bring a smile to your face. He has a twin brother and they were born at 30 weeks as well. He weighed in at a whopping 2 lbs at birth and this was over 40 years ago. As he likes to point out, he more than made up for weighing 2 lbs. Let's just say he weighs a little bit more these days!

They are also slowly trying to get Colton's breathing tube (intubation) out by reducing his dependence on any assisted breathing. As mentioned before, he is taking most breaths on his own. As they get him to the point of unassisted breathing, they will monitor his vitals (CO2 emmissions, blood oxygen saturation, etc.). They already reduced some breathing assistance and his vitals remained stable. They will likely move it down another notch today. If he maintains vitals properly over the next day or so with no assistance, the tube can then come out. They also will likely start backing down from the sedation levels on morphine. Removal of the tube and discontinuing sedation are both milestones that could help trigger the body to start closing the hole in the heart. When a baby is in utero, that artery is open as vital blood between mother and baby travels through it. When a baby is born, the cord is no longer connected, air enters the lungs and other post-birth actitivies help trigger the body to start closing that hole. The hope is as Colton starts doing more things on his own, this will help trigger his body to start closing that hole. Although it's likely the surgical intervention to fix the hole is needed, this does at least give us some hope of the hole closing on its own.

They also will likely start backing down from the sedation levels on morphine.
Wendy will be released from the hospital today. She is obviously sore from the c-Section but that has not stopped her from visiting her boy in the NICU at night. As in nature, never try to keep a mother away from her babies!

Sydney and Colton's paternal grandmother (Kay "Mimsi") will be visiting during family hours today. Sydney will also attend a class for siblings of babies in the NICU as well as get another chance to visit her baby brother. It should be a good experience for Sydney and will give her the chance to talk to other kids her age that likely have some of the same questions. We'll then take Wendy home and start the process of daily visits to the NICU. It's about a 72 mile round trip daily but a small price to pay to see your child in the care of one of the best NICUs in the country.

More updates as we get them - Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton.

PDA is large

2009-02-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

Bad news on the hole in his heart (PDA). It is a large one and will likely require surgical intervention. We will likely give it a day or two to see if it closes but looking like surgery will be in his future.

Feb. 3 Update - Pray for PDA closure in heart

2009-02-03T09:29:00.000-08:00

Wendy and I visited Colton at 11:00 a.m. this morning. Let's start with some good news. First, he remains stable in terms of heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation. His anemia seems to be resolved from the blood transfusions he received yesterday and they will continue to monitor his progress there. He has developed a heart murmur which is suspected to be caused by the PDA (artery that typically closes after birth) not having closed. They will check the size of the PDA opening via an ultrasound today. If it is deemed to be too large and not closing on its own, it will require surgery to close. We ask for prayers that this artery will close and be resolved without surgical intervention. Medicinal treatment for this PDA is not recommended as it may cause issues with the kidneys and/or his gut. We are hopeful that the murmur has appeared because the PDA is actually closing. In some cases, the murmur appears as the PDA becomes more narrow and starts to close. We are hopeful that Colton's PDA will be closing and the little guy won't have to be subjected to surgery. In terms of the possibility of a brain bleed, that situation still exists due to the aggressive extraction at birth. One thing we have working in our favor is that Colton has not had any seizures which are typically classic signs of a brain bleed. Please continue to pray for our little guy and we will update you with more details as we have them. Love, Bret, Wendy, Sydney and Colton

February 2 Update

2009-02-02T12:31:00.000-08:00

We visited Colton at the NICU at around 1:30 today. He is still under the lights for bilirubin. The big concern today is that he is anemic and appears to be losing blood somewhere. They have ruled out possible bleeding in the abdominal area as well as the lungs. The concern would be a possible brain bleed. However, a scan of his head won't happen until about Day 10. In the meantime, he is getting blood transfusions and will be monitored closely. In addition to the anemia, he will have a spinal tap this evening to rule out meningitis. We spoke with both his neonatologist as well as his pediatrician while he is here at NICU. The pediatrician stated that he is doing well for his start and gestational age but mentioned that he will have to be monitored closely. The positive to take away today is that he is stable. Please continue to pray for Colton and we'll keep you posted as we get more details. Thanks to everyone for their prayers, thoughts and support. Bret and Wendy.

Happy Birthday Colton!

2009-02-02T06:58:00.000-08:00

Baby Colt arrived January 31, 2009 at 7:59 pm. He weighed in at 3 lbs 12 oz and is 17 inches long. He was born at 30 weeks gestation. He is in the NICU level 3 Nursery and intubated at this time. He is expected to be in the hospital for 4-8 weeks. We will have more information in the upcoming days on how he is doing. He is still being assessed by the neonatologist and adjusting to life outside the womb.

He was born via c-section. He was in a position that they had some trouble getting him out and that is why there are bruises on his body. In addition, he had to be resuscitated at birth. His APGAR at one minute was 4 and 8 at five minutes.

Sydney was very excited and got to spend a few minutes meeting him on Sunday.

We will update on his status as much as we can in the upcoming days and weeks.

Thank you to everyone for all their love and support during this time.

Love, Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Baby Colton

Get Ready!

2009-01-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

We have been very busy getting ready for Colton's arrival. Sydney attended a Sibling class at Texas Women's Hospital where she learned how to diaper, swaddle and hold a baby. She enjoyed the class and earned a certificate and a Big Sister T-shirt.

Bret cleared out our spare room and painted it on Saturday. We put the crib together today and arranged the furniture. We are using the same crib, changing table and glider that we used with Sydney. We are having the glider cushions recovered. His room is not finished but here are some pictures of it before and after!

The Third Trimester!

2009-01-10T08:51:00.001-08:00

As of today, I am officially in the 3rd trimester at 27 weeks, or month number 7. The pregnancy is going well with no complications or concerns. I am feeling good but definitely notice I am pregnant now. Bret is giving me the weekly progesterone injections without any problems. We will do those through week number 34. We recently had to start giving some injections to one of our dogs and Bret is doing that as well. In the past, I would have had to handle something "medical" like that, but Bret is getting into giving shots! We are getting very excited and it is time to start getting Colton's room together. I ordered his bedding several weeks ago and it came in this week. We don't have the room painted or the crib set up yet. That is on the list for next weekend, as football is slowing down and winding up. Here is a photo of the bedding, I will post more pictures after the room is painted and the crib is set up. Have a great weekend!

Colton Todd Gibbs

2008-12-09T16:12:00.000-08:00

Baby Boy Gibbs has a name! Bret and I chose the name Colton. His middle name, Todd, is in honor of Bret's brother Sgt. 1st Class Todd Clayton Gibbs who was KIA on December 7, 2004 in Khalidiyah, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Colton was seen for an ultrasound again today and things are looking great. He weighs in at about 1 lb and 6 oz. In the picture above, he is facing forward and has his hands in his face. The ultrasound facility was running about 2 hours behind schedule today which made for a very long day for Bret and I at Texas Women's. We had a lot to accomplish today. We had to visit the financial office, pre-register at the hospital, have the ultrasound, have a glucose tolerance test (GTT) and see the doctor. We were down there for 4.5 hours today! You can't eat during the GTT, so needless to say I got really cranky and impatient since I had not eaten since breakfast around 6am and it was already after 12:30 by the time we got to the lab station. If you don't know what a GTT is like, you have to drink a nasty sugar syrup in less than 5 minutes and then wait one hour for a blood draw. That was even worse than visiting the financial office! Dr. Smith confirmed things continue to look great. I have orders to decrease my lifting at work and give myself weekly progesterone injections. There are evidently studies that demonstrate giving extra progesterone may help prevent pre-term labor in women who have had a pre-term labor and delivery.

All in all, things are going very well. I am feeling just fine and getting very excited about the little man's arrival. Tracey and Lisa have passed on some great clothes and baby items to me and I am very thankful! Many friends and family have given some great gifts, thank you! I am 22 weeks and 3 days today. If the little guy tries to make an appearance at the same time his sister did, he would arrive just after Valentines Day. I feel very confident we are taking every measure to ensure he stays put longer. I am fine with him showing up Mid-March or later. Below is a video of him from today's ultrasound. He is a very active little guy in there! Happy Holidays!

It's a BOY!

2008-10-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

We found out via ultrasound this morning that the baby is a boy! The picture above shows his legs and the arrow points to the proof he is a boy. He is growing well and looks great from everything they could see today. He measures 17 weeks and 5 days. He has been measuring about 1 week ahead at every ultrasound. Sydney was so excited! She loved watching the ultrasound and quickly learned to "read" the baby's position. The tech and the radiologist got a kick out of her and her excitement. They whispered to her that it was a boy and then she got to tell her Dad and I that we are expecting a boy. She also announced that she wants to do ultrasounds on babies when she grows up now. We have come a long way from the days when she wanted to be the person to hold the sign for the digger when it crossed the road! The video is a 3D video image of the baby. His head is at the top, his arm and leg look like they are coming out of some blankets. We are scheduled to have another US in about 6 weeks and they tech said the images would be even better at that time for the 3-D ultrasound. He is still a little guy at around 5 inches and weighing just a few ounces. Enjoy his first video below!

Heart Beat

2008-10-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

We went for a check up on Tuesday afternoon and I got to hear the heart beat! The rate was 151 bpm, which is in the middle of normals. Non-scientific data suggest lower heart rates are associated with boys while higher ones are associated with girls. Sydney's heart rate was usually in the 160's. I have no clue what to make of 151 since it is essentially right in the middle of the 130's to 170 range.

I am getting very anxious to find out if this baby is a boy or a girl. I have had 3 dreams the baby is a boy and one dream the baby is a girl. Sydney says she has had a dream the baby was a boy. Sydney is really wanting a sister. She is worried about a little boy peeing in her face. The Chinese age-gender prediction calendar says I am having a girl. It said I was having a girl with Sydney. Bret and I are truly OK with either, I just want to know so I can finalize the bedding and decorating for the nursery! I want to get things ready early with the upcoming Holidays. If I was computer and blogging savvy, I would insert a poll so everyone could vote if they think it is a girl or a boy. My talents lie elsewhere, so just e-mail me if you have a guess or opinion as to the gender of this baby. And don't forget....my new e-mail address is wendygibbs914@gmail.com . The old one will remain in service until November 1st.

There is a good chance that we will find out late next week if the baby is a boy or a girl at an ultrasound. The ultrasound was originally scheduled for Friday morning but the doctor has a parent teacher conference so she is supposed to be having her office contact me about rescheduling. Hopefully, they will move it up and not out.

I have been feeling great, most days I am so busy I forget I am pregnant until I finally lay down to relax and go to sleep. Heartburn is about the only symptom I have other than frequent trips to the bathroom.

The Second Trimester!

2008-10-04T10:10:00.001-07:00

We have reached the second trimester today! I have completed 13 weeks and have started in on week number 14. Baby measures a little over 3 inches now and has completed development of most major organ systems at this point. We had a little bit of a scare this week with some spotting and bleeding. The physician referred to it as a threatened abortion and stated that it was probably due to a subchorionic bleed. Dr. Smith visualized the baby on the ultrasound again and baby was kicking and moving around like crazy as well as showing excellent growth from the week before. Dr. Smith says this baby must be a boy because he has already started trying to cause trouble! I got to take a few days off from work and relax around the house. We will have another check up in a few weeks and go for an amniocentesis during week 16. After that, we will know if this baby is a girl or a boy so I can at least refer to it as "he" or "she" while we work on names.

Baby v. Hurricane Ike

2008-09-27T04:46:00.000-07:00

Baby has completed 12 weeks today! This next week is the last of the first trimester and what a roller coaster ride this has been. Hurricane Ike has dominated our lives since September 11, 2008 right through this week but the baby has been blissfully unaware and thriving in utero. We saw Dr. Smith earlier this week and baby is measuring perfectly on target for dates. We got to take another peak at baby with the ultrasound and you can see for yourself the explosion of growth that takes place in only 4 weeks. Baby measured 15 mm crown to rump at the first ultrasound and baby measured 53 mm this week! I forgot to ask what the heart rate was so I can try and guess if baby is a boy or girl. I was just so glad to see baby moving and see the heart pumping away after all the stress of the past couple of weeks.

On Thursday September 11, it became very clear that Ike's path was going to impact the Houston area. The frenzy that over took the city was impressive. We felt fairly prepared to ride out the storm and we had no interest in getting in the car with a family of 3.5, 3 dogs and 2 g. pigs and risking stand still traffic on the freeways as had occurred with Rita. In addition, we felt we lived far enough inland that we had little to worry about and wanted to be at our home to mitigate any damage that did happen. (We live in Tomball, which is Northwest of Houston.) The evening the storm was supposed to come in we had finished all our preparations early as had our neighbors. We had drinks and desserts with some neighbors and enjoyed the cool, breezy evening. Everyone went home to catch up on the weather channel and "hunker down". Bret and I went ahead and went to sleep with the TV on and Sydney sleeping in our bed with us. Around 1:00 in the am, we woke up as the power was flickering. On TV, the meteorologist on the scene, either Mike Sidael or Mike Bettes I think, was rolling on the ground. I guess he had fallen and they continued to film him as he tried to get up. I thought to myself, "that can't be good".

Bret and I decided to get up and check things out. We could hear the wind whipping about outside. Occasionally our windows rattled and when the wind caught the exhaust pipe on the roof just right it made a noise like a kazoo. We watched the two tallest pine trees a block over bend over and over again at right angles. At approximately 2:20 am, September 13, 2008, the power flickered out and did not return. Our power did not return until after 7:00 pm on Wednesday, September 24, 2008. (Essentially 12 days without power!) That is what has been the absolute worst thing about this whole experience for us. And I know we are very fortunate. We have neighbors with trees in pools, trees on fences, trees on houses and trees on cars. Our home sustained no damage and the biggest thing we had to clean up was a cabinet door that flew from somewhere and landed in our front yard. Remember the 2 big pine trees from a block over? We saw them the next day across the driveways and yards of the neighbors. Luckily for them, they damaged nothing when they fell. A cool front then moved through on Saturday night after Ike, bringing thunderstorm and dumping huge amounts of rain the increased the flooding over the areas and caused the ceilings to collapse in several homes that had roof damage. It also brought cooler temperatures that made for better sleeping without power.

Riding out the storm was not that bad for us. Surviving the aftermath was pure hell. Getting ice for the cooler was a 2 hour ordeal. Gas lines formed that were over 2 hours long. Stations sold 2 weeks supplies of gas in under 8 hours. Traffic was horrific, it was difficult to move about just in our area. You have probably seen more pictures and video footage on the storm than I have from TV. On the Wednesday after the storm, we decided we had had enough and packed up and went to stay with my sister and her husband in Keller, Texas. They were more than gracious host to allow the pile of refugees that descended upon them. Nothing like 3.5 people and 3 big dogs invading your home. The G. pigs stayed with my neighbor's son who was staying with friends who had power. We stayed with Sandy and Josh for 5 nights and then had to return to Houston. We had to get back to work and get our lives in order even without power. We purchased a small generator that was good practice for Bret for the new baby as you had to tend to it every three hours and put gas in it. It would run a couple of fans, a light, the coffee maker.

We have been working to try to get life back to normal over the past couple of days, however constant reminders and inconveniences of Ike are everywhere. I went to get groceries yesterday to fill our fridge...we ended up loosing everything in our fridge and second freezer. The grocery store was barren. I was only able to get a few things, and most of them were not my usual brand or type. I will go scavenge at another one later today after Sydney's first volleyball game today. The brick fence on the neighborhood adjacent to mine remains in shambles. It looks like Sydney's Legos scattered about. A few of my patients have had to move out of their homes and are currently working on obtaining temporary apartments until their homes can be repaired.

I will go see Dr. Smith again in 4 weeks for a regular OB appointment and will do an amniocentesis in 5 weeks. After the Amnio, we will know in a few days to weeks if baby is a boy or girl! I get the amnio because I am "of advanced maternal age" according to my doctor. I turned 37 in the wake of Ike on September 14. Definitely not my best birthday, but certainly could have been a LOT worse! I'm looking forward to getting started on the nursery and getting some tangible outside proof that there really is a baby in there! My brother Nick and his wife Katie sent an adorable sleeper a couple of weeks ago. It is the first gift for my baby! I love to look at it as it reminds me that the baby is coming. It actually arrived on the day we were leaving for Keller which was probably the lowest day for me mentally during the whole ordeal. It really brightened my spirits and focused my attention on something more positive and exciting. Which is exactly where I want to be!

Baby on the way!

2008-08-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

Bret, Sydney and I are so excited to announce that we are expecting a new baby! We saw Dr. Smith for the confirmation of pregnancy visit on Monday August 25, 2008. Dr. Smith set the EDD for April 12, 2009. This happens to be Easter Sunday! But no worries, Dr. Smith plans to schedule a C-section for two weeks prior to the due date to deliver this one.