Growing Leaps and Bounds . . .

As a family . . .

To Our Beloved Friends & Family,

We cannot begin to find the words that appropriately describe how our lives have changed since Levi has come home to us. He is truly a gift from God above! Each one of us has become a better person simply for having him in our lives. We have decided that we are going to preserve this page soley for Levi and his NICU/Homecoming experience. It has meant so much to us to have each one of you be a part of our lives. All of you have done so much to help us in our time of need. Please allow us the opportunity to return the favor if you ever find yourselves needing a helping hand. Our biggest prayer is that God would continue to receive the glory due to Him for the Miracle of Levi's life. Please do your part to share his story when the opportunity arises. May God Bless each and every one of you in His rich abundance.

All Our Love,
The Bledsoes

Slideshow - At Home

Slideshow - PICU

Home Again, Home Again . . .

Our apologies to those of you who patiently waited for us to update you on Levi now that he is a NICU graduate. As many of you are aware, Levi decided to build his testimony by being admitted to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) after being home for only 20 days. Despite our over zealous efforts of keeping our home super clean he managed to get RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus). Preemies are quite prone to this virus due to their delicate lungs. In you and I, it is a common cold but to these precious babes, it can be life threatening. Levi was originally discharged on a Monday and that Thursday our older children began to show cold symptoms. We had taken extreme measures to keep them away from other children and even church nursery to avoid illness. It still happened. We were wearing different gloves with each child in addition to wearing a different button-up shirt over our clothes for each child. After getting to spend only three days with him, Teddy and Naomi had to refrain from seeing their sweet baby brother (who they so patiently waited to finally see for four months after his arrival in October). They were supernaturally understanding and helpful in this matter. For two weeks we managed to keep Levi virus free. Four days after the older two were completely symptom free - Levi got it. He was readmitted two Sundays ago and then brought home once again this past Friday. Two days later (Sunday), I was broiling quesadillas and heard his apnea monitor alarm. As always, I jumped the hurdles (babygates) as we call them to run to his rescue . . . this time however I must have caught my toes because I landed with a thud. It would have been cool to have on video since I landed all the way at the end of our hallway under the smoke detector only to realize that was what was alarming. I forgot that any time that I turn on the broiler, the smoke detector goes off. I laid there laughing at myself and then forced myself to get up. I landed with both my hands up by my shoulders. My elbows were both a little sore and my right hip bone felt good & bruised. My left elbow wasn't really in any pain unless I put it in a funny position but something didn't feel quite right. Justin & I decided to go ahead and have it seen just in case . . . sure enough, my left radial head (at the elbow) was fractured. My husband now helps me put my hair in a pony tail and puts up with me telling him exactly how I like our sheets folded. He also had to get booted to the couch so that Levi can safely sleep in his "Snuggle nest co-sleeper " in our bed so that I don't have to take him in and out of the bassinett . . . Levi has been a good sport himself taking his bottles while propped in a boppy pillow and getting diapers changed with one hand ( I might add that I am impressed with how well and quickly I can accomplish both this and burping him - like a pirate =] ) Teddy and Naomi have once again stepped up to the plate by not only doing so many things for themselves but for doing things that I normally do (such as holding up our story books). Just yesterday, Justin had a close call. He came home with a gash in the middle of his forehead where a nail from the nailgun he was operating ricocheted and hit him. All of these came after losing my amazing grandfather, Pom - as we refer to him. I am so fortunate to be his grandaughter. His life as well as that of my grandmother's made this world a better place. - Truly people who acted to make a difference rather than just sitting on the sidelines complaining about how others were doing a poor job. When I think of them, I think of the motto "If you're not part of the solution than you are part of the problem". I find a great deal of comfort in knowing that they have once again united . . . I will patiently look forward to the moment when I will embrace them in their new, healed, and perfect bodies when my time on this Earth is also over. My husband too lost a dear friend unexpectedly. We've come to realize that one must focus on the good in life - appreciate what you have rather than dwell on what you do not. We have the best family members in the world . . . Our friends do tooooooo much to help . . . Ms. Lisa, our babysitter, has been terrific. She even helped me give our kids a bath after they had been playing in the mud all afternoon. Levi's Home health Nurse came by this past Tuesday and informed us that his lungs sounded clear and that he weighs 8 pounds and 11 ounces (Most likely a nine pounder by now). He is so perfect. He is already grabbing at his toys and pulling my hair a little too well =]. Teddy & Naomi love to bring him a variety of toys, books, and baby blankets. Teddy informs me that he thinks Levi is hungry and we should go feed him (even when he is sleeping soundly). Thanks again for all the support! If you are interested in Marching with the March of Dimes at the SC State Fair Grounds on May 3, 2008 contact the Midlands Division(803)252-5200.

Slideshow - Levi is Finally Home !!!

Levi is Finally Home !!!

Levi is Finally Home !!! After 97 days (almost 14 weeks) in the NICU, Levi was released into our care. Justin's grandmother, Betty, was able to come and visit him for the very first time since his birth this past Monday, February 4th, 2008. She and Justin's grandfather, Raymond, were actually at the hospital for his birth but were unable to see him at the time. During her visit, Levi's nurse practicitioner informed us that if we were ready to bring him home, he was free to go. Full of joy and excitement, we gathered an armload of his belongings and took them to our van. I called Daddy to let him know that this time was "for real" (it was almost as though the last time had been a false labor for us). I came home and bathed the kids (they had been playing outside with their wonderful babysitter, Ms. Lisa) and then put them down for nap. I did a few more last minute things around the house while waiting for Justin and my sister, Rebecca, to arrive from work. My sister watched the kids and fed them the pizza we had delivered while we went to the hospital. This time we didn't mention anything to the kids just incase we were once again dissapointed with another set back. Jessica, Levi's nurse helped us to sign our lives away in order to bring him home. They informed us of all the appointments that we would need to schedule with his pediatrician, surgeon, pulmonologist, and optomatrist for his follow ups. We also requested to have a homehealth nurse come and visit him on a regular basis. The ride home was surreal. He was really coming home. I contacted my sister to let her that know we were almost there. She took the kids into Naomi's room to play while we got him settled in. Justin and I went in and told them that we had a surprise. They quietly came to Levi's room with us and waited anxiously for us to open the door. They were so excited to see him for the very first time. A peace came over me as I took that moment in. Perhaps now we can all sleep in peace. Levi is doing so well. They sent us home with monitors that alarm if he is having an apnea spell or if his heart rate is irregular. This gives us peace of mind. It has alarmed a few times for false leads (the sticky things that we stick on him to monitor him had come off). Levi was also sent home with oxygen which he was only requiring during one to two of his eight feedings/day while in the hospital. For now, we are using it with each feeding since we do not have a pulsox that lets us know his O2 saturation. The oxygen is set at 1/8th of a liter which is as low as the regulator allows. Twice a day, we give him two puffs of flowvent on a baby inhaler and also give him .5 cc of a multivitamin with iron once a day in his bottle. We are also adding 1 tsp. of neosure per 120 cc of breastmilk that he receives in order to give him a few added calories. Today, Levi weighs 6 lbs and 7 oz and measures 45 cm in length. It seems like an eternity since my water broke and we were racing off to Lexington Medical Center. Looking back at the past three months has been dream like. We are both so relieved to have him home and at the same time so sad to have to say good-bye to all the wonderful people in the NICU. We look forward to the annual NICU graduate party that they will be holding this May at the Fairgrounds so that we can see them again. While we recognize that God is truly Levi's healer, we will never be able to put into words how grateful we are to everyone at Palmetto Health Richland for helping to save our son. Each of you are Heros! We love you more than you will ever know.

Levi is three months old!

We got to room in with our beautiful baby last night. We checked in at 7:00 pm on Tuesday evening (shift change) and checked out at the same time on Wednesday evening. Upon our arrival, we met a woman who gave us a very quick lesson on the monitor that he will get to come home on (primarily for our peace of mind). It alarms if his heartrate were to be too slow or fast as well as if he were to have an apnea spell. He has not had a problem in either of these departments in quite some time but it is certainly nice to know that if something were to happen we could help him out right away. They also gave us a container of oxygen for him. He has been using his oxygen only during his feedings. His doctor suggested that I try feeding him without it to see how he did. I tried this only once and immediately put it back on him since his sats started to drop. The whole evening was perfect. He has such a big boy cry now. The only time that he really fussed was while the nurse was explaining all the rules of rooming in to us. He wanted to eat and could have cared less about the rules and regs :) Basically, it was all common sense stuff but apparently they have had problems in the past and had to address them. They informed us that someone must stay in the room with him at all times - no kidding :) We also had to keep him in view of the video camara at all times. We had to dress in the restroom (apparently they just recently had a daddy roaming around the room in his undies despite the fact that all the nurses were watching the monitor) and we were also informed that the only person who was allowed to come and get him was his nurse. After we signed the contract agreeing to their terms, he was ours for the night. I couldn't believe that they were actually putting him in our care. I was a little nervous but was comforted by the fact that they would be right there if we had any questions. It was so special. In a sense, it gave me closure to the fact that I never had the opportunity to care for him in our hospital room after his birth in the same way that we had been able to with Teddy and Naomi. It made it much easier that he had designated times for his feedings/changings (unless of couse he needed to be changed in between). He ate 55cc at 8:00, 11:00, 2:00, and 5:00. A few times during the night, the nurse and respitory therapist would come peek in on him to make sure all was well. Levi seemed to love his time with us as much as we did our time with him. It was difficult to be away from Teddy and Naomi through the night but we knew they were in good hands being spoiled by their Uncle Dan and Aunt Jennifer. I even found myself enjoying the hospital food - perhaps because we didn't have to prepare it ourselves. The plan was to be able to bring Levi home the following evening (Thursday) after his eye exam. After seeing that he was still struggling a little in the whole suck - swallow - breathe department when taking a couple of his bottles, his doctor told us that she honestly felt as though we should consider letting him stay just a little longer until he mastered it. She did say that she would support us if we felt comfortable taking him home and that she felt like we would do just fine with him unlike a 15 year old girl who had no previous experience in parenting. We agreed that if there was any doubt that he was ready to be home that he needed to stay a little longer. This is certainly not to say that we weren't dissapointed. We are just thankful that his doctor was willing to speak up despite our eagerness to bring him home. It is hard for us to imagine that girls almost half my age are having babies and being faced with the same situation that we are. Teddy and Naomi responded very well to our explaining to them that we must be patient for just a little while longer. They have been so understanding of the entire situation and have at times been our strength through this ordeal. It won't be long until we are "a happy, little family" at last.

PS. He passed his carseat test with flying colors!!! (They put him in his carseat for 1.5 hours and then documented his sats every 15 minutes to determine whether or not he is capable of keeping his airway open while riding in his seat or if he must ride in a carbed).

Slideshow - Levi is 13 weeks!

Levi is 13 weeks old!

Levi is 13 weeks old! He currently weighs 5 lbs 13 oz. Yesterday they contacted us to let us know that we can room in with him and that he is close to coming home. We have so many mixed emotions. We are so excited and so anxious for his arrival. We are also wanting to make sure that we are not rushing him. They have already taken his nasal canula off except during his feedings. Even then it is only at 1/8th of a liter. I have to admit part of me is sad that we will not be seeing everyone from the NICU as often. For the past three months, we have been able to form relationships with some of the best people on earth. They truly are good hearted, hard working people who are making a difference. We love them - they have truly become part of our family. Despite the fact that we have had three months to prepare for his arrival, we still have some things we would like to accomplish around the house . . . so we'd better get going :)

Levi had his other surgery.

This morning, Levi had a moderate hernia repaired on his right scrotum. While they were there, they went ahead and checked the left one (it is quite common for individuals who have them on one side to have one on the other as well). They found a small one on the left side and repaired it also. The surgeon told us that he decided to use this time to "sharpen his pencil" as well. Needless to say, our little one was a bit on the sore side. They had to put him on the ventilator for the procedure but were able to take him right back off of it when they were finished (God is soooo good). He is currently on 2 liters of oxygen on the nasal canula and is only requiring 23%. We did discover yesterday that Levi has Stage 1 ROP zone 2 on his eyes. They assured us that this is rarely anything to be concerned over when it is under Stage 3. They will check him once again next week to follow up. Continue to pray that his eyes remain great. On a positive note, Levi was so excited to finally get to meet his Aunt Jennifer this morning. In the NICU, they have very strict guidelines as far as how many people we can bring in with us. Despite the fact that we were not able to add her to our list, they allowed me to bring her in since she was waiting with me through his surgery (Thanks Aunt Jen, we love you!)