Jeff and I would like to thank everyone for all of the prayers and support that we have felt over the past 12 days. It has been a very trying time yet filled with so many blessings. God has been so good to us. We have a beautiful baby boy that we can't wait to bring home. We know that some days are going to be harder than others, but we rest assured in knowing that God will provide us with the strength we need to make it through each day.
As you can see in the pictures, Sam has several things hooked to his tiny body. I will try to explain some of the things that are happening with him. When he was first born he was on a CPAP machine, but because he was overworking himself trying to breathe on his own they placed him on a ventilator to keep him from working so hard. He also has an IV in his hand, a feeding tube in his mouth, heart monitoring, a light over him that acts as sunlight for him because of a little jaundice (this is why his eyes are covered), and a couple of other things that I'm not sure how to explain or what they are called except for PIC line and arterial line. Sam has an umbilical catheter. An umbilical artery catheter (UAC) allows blood to be taken from an infant at different times, without repeated needle sticks. It is mostly used to continuously monitor his blood gases. They tried to feed him some milk (one teaspoon) Sunday night. He did good for the first feeding, but after the second and third feedings tests showed that his little belly wasn't quite ready. They told us that they would try feeding him again in a couple of days. The doctor told us his stomach was the size of a "pea" where a full term baby's stomach is the size of a grape.
With all of that said, we have had several really good days. The nurses and doctors worked very aggressively to get Sam off of the ventilator yesterday (04/06/09). They had to get good enough readings from the blood gases to adjust the times per minute the ventilator was breathing for him. Last night they were able to take him off the ventilator!!! He will now be back on the CPAP machine.
Jeff had the opportunity to change Sam's diaper and take his temperature yesterday (04/06/09). It was a wonderful feeling to be able to actually do something for him. Jeff did so good! I was proud of him. We are looking forward to the day that we actually get to hold our little boy. Please continue to remember us in your prayers. He does "hear" us when we cry out to Him.
As you can see in the pictures, Sam has several things hooked to his tiny body. I will try to explain some of the things that are happening with him. When he was first born he was on a CPAP machine, but because he was overworking himself trying to breathe on his own they placed him on a ventilator to keep him from working so hard. He also has an IV in his hand, a feeding tube in his mouth, heart monitoring, a light over him that acts as sunlight for him because of a little jaundice (this is why his eyes are covered), and a couple of other things that I'm not sure how to explain or what they are called except for PIC line and arterial line. Sam has an umbilical catheter. An umbilical artery catheter (UAC) allows blood to be taken from an infant at different times, without repeated needle sticks. It is mostly used to continuously monitor his blood gases. They tried to feed him some milk (one teaspoon) Sunday night. He did good for the first feeding, but after the second and third feedings tests showed that his little belly wasn't quite ready. They told us that they would try feeding him again in a couple of days. The doctor told us his stomach was the size of a "pea" where a full term baby's stomach is the size of a grape.
With all of that said, we have had several really good days. The nurses and doctors worked very aggressively to get Sam off of the ventilator yesterday (04/06/09). They had to get good enough readings from the blood gases to adjust the times per minute the ventilator was breathing for him. Last night they were able to take him off the ventilator!!! He will now be back on the CPAP machine.
Jeff had the opportunity to change Sam's diaper and take his temperature yesterday (04/06/09). It was a wonderful feeling to be able to actually do something for him. Jeff did so good! I was proud of him. We are looking forward to the day that we actually get to hold our little boy. Please continue to remember us in your prayers. He does "hear" us when we cry out to Him.
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