PDA is large

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

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

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!

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!

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!

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

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!