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!)

Levi is 12 weeks old!

Levi is now 12 weeks old! He is taking 8 bottles a day at 45cc a piece. On occasion, I have been nursing him and he has been doing excellent. The lactation consultant weighed him before and after one of his feedings and determined that he took 32cc. His weight is currently 5 lbs 4.9 oz. He has already outgrown some of his preemie outfits. They have moved him all the way down to the lowest level of Oxygen that they give in the NICU - 1/16th of a liter. He recently had a hearing test done that came back perfect. He has another eye exam on Thursday. This Friday at 10:00 a.m. Levi is going to have a hernia repaired on his scrotum. This means that he will have to be reintubated and will be back in the Intensive Care Nursery until he has strength to get back off of the ventilator. They say it should not take very long for him to do this. This morning they did a lower GI on him since he was requiring suppositories to help him use the restroom. The X-ray came back showing that he had no problems. It is most likely due to the hernia that he has been struggling a little in this department. Levi has such a strong Spirit. Continue to pray for him to have great results for his eye exam and for the surgery/recovery to go perfectly.

Slideshow - Levi is 11 weeks!

Levi is 11 weeks old!

Levi is 11 weeks old! He currently weighs 4 lbs. 13.7 oz. Today, Levi was ordered to receive all 8 bottles @ 42cc/every 3 hours. We are so excited. They are once again adding neosure to his milk for extra calories as well as a little bit of iron. This afternoon was very special for me, I nursed him for the very first time. He acted as though he had been doing it his entire life. He is already so smart! He has also been receiving a breathing treatment two times a day. His oxygen was switched from 1 liter (blended) to 1/8th of a liter (wall). Despite the fact that we are anxious for him to come home, we want to make sure that it is truly in God's timing. Levi had a desat lastnight while we were visiting that went all the way down to 18 but he did not brady (his heart rate stayed up) and he did not require any blow by to bring his sats back up. I feel as though we are in the last stretch of a race. The end is in sight but we have to remind ourselves that we still have just a little bit more to go. Please pray for us to be patient and for our home to be completely prepared for his arrival as well. We give God complete glory for Levi and how well he is doing.

PS. I forgot to add that they did another eye exam this past Friday the 11th. It too came back perfect (Stage Zero ROP - Zone 2)(Hooray!)

Slideshow - Levi is 10 weeks!

Levi is 10 weeks old!

Levi is now ten weeks old! Gestationally, this puts him at 34 weeks. He now weighs 4 lbs and 8.3 ounces. This past Thursday, he took his first bottle. I called the hospital at 4:00 pm to check on him and his nurse informed me that he would be taking his first bottle at 5:00. My mom got to our house with groceries at 4:30 and I told her that I wanted to get up there to see if I could feed him so off I raced and made it just in time. He did so well with it that they decided to increase him to two bottles the following day. This feeding was a little harder for him. He was sucking so hard on the bottle that he forgot to breathe and they had to increase his oxygen a little. For now they are still doing two bottles a day until both feedings are easy for him. Before he is discharged from the hospital, he must be taking all eight feedings perfectly. This past week he has experienced quite a few changes. They moved him out of his isollette into a bassinet. There are lots of babies in the NICU right now (lots of families who would appreciate your prayers as well). They also switched him to the unheated nasal canula. This is a good thing since it is one more step closer to room air; however, it is not as comfortable for him. In addition, they took away his daily dose of caffiene. His Nana and Papa were able to come from AZ to visit with all of us for a week. They had to return home on the 4th. Levi was very sad to see them go (as were the rest of us). As a result of all of these changes, he had to be bumped back up to two liters on his nasal canula and had even gotten up to 50% on his oxygen. They did an X-ray and a CBC to check for any infections to see what was going on. They both came back fine so they decided to change out his tubing on his nasal canula and immediately he went back down to 30%. The nurse thought that the connection must not have been very good on the tubing. Needless to say, we were relieved to see that that was all he needed. When we arrived to see him last night, we saw that he had just had a bath and was nice and clean. His hair was so soft and stuck straight out in some places. He was really working hard to get his milk out of his bottle for us but when we turned it upright we saw that he wasn't really getting much out of it. The nurse tried a different flow on the bottle nipple. He started high satting (he liked it better) but was still only able to get 13 cc of the 36 that we were feeding him. After 30 minutes of sucking it really burns up all the calories that he received from the feeding so we decided to let him rest after 15 minutes of eating and give the remainder to him via his tube using gravity. Levi is so adorable. He has the best sense of humor and is so well behaved for the nurses. Continue to pray for him to grow out of his "desatting" and that his feedings increase as they are supposed to so that he can come home soon.

Slideshow - Levi is 9 weeks!

Levi is 9 weeks old!

Levi is now nine weeks old! It is amazing how you can love someone so much. Yesterday when I went to visit him, he was looking at his hands as if for the first time. (In my heart, I believe he waited for this to take place until his mamma was around to witness this miraculous moment). He moved them all around in slow motion with a look of awe upon his face. Tonight, I got to kangaroo him again. While I did, he had so much to say. Anytime that my husband would say something funny, he would chime in with his sweet little voice as loud as he could at just the right time. Then he smiled his first smile for us. It was such a perfect moment. This too was a praise report for us because their was a chance that his "voice box" could have been damaged during his PDA ligation and he would have lost his voice. His weight is 3 lbs 14 ounces and he is currently still on one liter of oxygen ranging any where from 30-32%. It will not be long until they try his first bottle on him.

Levi is 2 months old!

Levi turned two months old today. Can you believe it has already been two months? Time truly has gone by so quickly for us. Wow, I used to think that two months was a huge milestone before with my older children; with Levi, I truly see it as being an immense accomplishment. Nurses count the age of NICU babies in days because each day they are still here is something to be noted. I really believe that each of us should learn something from that simple fact in our own lives. Every day we are here is truly a gift from above. None of us should take tomorrow for granted as none of us are promised a tomorrow. Take each day at a time and live it as if it were your last! Levi is once again stable enough to be out of the Intensive Care Nursery. He was moved to Special Care two days ago. He is eating 30cc/3 hours and no longer has an IV (Yeah!!!). We know that we made the right decision to have surgery on our son. Before the surgery, he was on 6 liters of vapotherm (a step or two below the ventilator) and is now only having to have 1 liter. His oxygen level is set at 24-28% with 21% being what the rest of us breath. He is doing so well and getting bigger everyday. He now weighs 3 lbs and 13.7 oz. Unfortunately, I have not got to see him in 6 days due to the cold that I had. I wanted to wait until I was 150% over it before going to visit. Today is the day. I feel great and can not wait to see my beautiful baby!