Feb. 5 Morning - Let There Be Poop!

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!

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

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

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