BREAST FEEDING!!

Trev has been attempting breast feeding for about 5 days now once a shift. A shift is a 12 hour period and a preemie starts out at Stage 1 feeding, which is either a bottle or breast feeding once a shift (he is fed 4 times a shift) then based on his tolerance that will increase. He still has a feeding tube for the other feedings. The lactation specialists are absolutely thrilled with the ability of this little 34 weeker to be able to latch, swallow and breathe as he is supposed to while feeding. He is ahead of the game and making some huge progress. We we literally told he is THE BEST 34 week gestation baby "nurser" they have ever seen. Even still it isn't easy for him at times, Trev will store the milk for too long in his mouth and swallow a large amount. He chokes, turns blue and scares mom and dad to death as we watch his heart rate, and respiratory rate plummet! It is fairly common for preemies to choke or "forget" to breath as this is completely new for him and he is still getting the hang of it. He also at times is literally too tired to wake up and nurse or gets too tired in the middle of nursing and wears out. This is a very exciting step but can be an extremely slow process with many ups and downs. Trev is also starting to pass Jannell up with his feeding needs and we've had to start supplementing with formula. Jannell has done so well, she sacrifices so much of her time pumping to produce milk for Trev. My beautiful wife has been able to keep up with Trev for 2 months! Far beyond expectations especially with her history and doctors and nurses predictions in situations like this. There is a natural hormone released when you are around your baby that will produce breast milk, that is difficult to release when your baby is at the hospital and not home. Considering the facts, I am so proud of my wife and what she has been able to provide for our little boy, I love you Jannell...

OXYGEN AND LUNG NEEDS

It is such a relief to see the improvement Trevs lungs have made. He started on a Ventilator for 23 days, CPAP for a week, high flow nasal cannula set at 4 liters per minute. From this point he was not making any progress, they started him on Nitric Oxide, the treatment of Nitric is designed to remodel his lungs that have suffered damage due to the amount of oxygen needs Trev was set on. The Nitric is a blessing, he has went from 4 liters of oxygen per minute and a Nitric setting of 20. He is now at 1 liter per minute on a normal cannula! His Nitric setting is now at 5 as they continue to ween him off both his nitric and his oxygen needs. We are so pleased with the progress of his lungs, his lung situation has been a HUGE hurdle for him to clear, he is well on his way to being weened entirely off of oxygen.

PAST TO PRESENT

It is amazing to compare Trev from the day he was born to the present day. Trev is 53 days old, he is 34 weeks 4 days gestation. He has gained a ton a weight and has made some extraordinary progress! He currently weighs 5lbs. 3 oz. We cannot believe how big he is getting. He is now taking 40ML for his feeds every 3 hours.

TREV IN HIS CRIB

The Nurse Practitioner mentioned to us that as soon as his oxgen flow is down to 3 liters per minute and is 34 weeks gestation, they will allow us to try and give little Trev a bottle. We are looking forward to the day that he can be bottle fed, which is one step closer to the day little Trev will be able to come home with us.

DADS WEDDING RING

DAD AND TREV

This is the best part of my day, everyday!

LOVE THIS KID

Trev is 45 days old today. He is currently 33 weeks gestation and is 4 pounds 12 oz.! He is 17 1/2 inches long and is doing very well. He is eating 37 ML every 3 hours and they switched his feeding tube thru his nose instead of thru his mouth now that he is on a high flow nasal cannula. They turned Trevs oxygen down to 3 1/2 liters per minute today. The Nitric Oxide they are giving him seems to be doing the trick. It allows his lungs to heal so they can continue to slowly ween him off of his oxygen needs. They will performing an eye test this week to test his vision and his eye development. He is doing so well and seems to be extremely alert, he absolutely loves kangaroo care which has been proven and studied to increase the growth of pre mature babies. He is a beautiful little boy and is getting cuter every single day. It is very difficult for us to leave him at the hospital now because he is doing so well and we are getting comfortable taking care of him. He is a very well mannered baby and he seems to be winning over the hearts of all the nurses at the NICU. He is a charming baby and is as cute as can be, He is going to be a special person some day. Jannell and I are so excited and feel very blessed to be able to raise him and watch him grow. He has jumped some HUGE hurdles and he is a brave little FIGHTER!

TREV WITH HICCUPS

I was able to spend some time with Trev and hold him for Kangaroo Care. He actually had the hiccups which was cute as can be. Jannell can remember him in her belly having hiccups all the time. It is interesting to see him move in a way outside of the womb that is the exact way Jannell and I could see him moving while inside her stomach.

Baby Myspace Graphics

Myspace Layouts

OLDER BROTHER

Little Drake is such a stud! He loved the water that he was drinking out of the syringe. It was all over though once he eyeballed the pink frosted cookie that was waiting for him at the end. Needless to say he got his wish and was given the cookie about half way thru the class.

FUTURE NICU NURSE???

MORE CARE

Taking Notes!

IM READY!

Reese was able to try on the isolation gowns that are worn while performing Trevs cares.

Diaper Change

I wonder if she is excited to help mom with Trev??

SIBLING CARE

The hospital offers a sibling class for kids to help them to understand what all those tubes and stickers that little brother has all over his body are doing. In this picture Reese is shown how Trev eats. This was a very fun day.

Trev is doing pretty well. He now weighs 1965 grams which is 4 pounds 6 oz. Since we cannot take children into the NICU Reese and Drake have not been able to see little Trev yet. I was determined to let them see their little brother, across the way from Trevs window is the cafeteria. Reese,Drake and I headed over to the deck of the cafeteria so we were looking back at Trevs window off of the balcony. I brought a pair of binoculars, called Jannell in the NICU and told her to hold Trev up by the window. My little Reese had the binoculars focused in right on the window, she was able to see Trev for the first time and she was so excited! We also let little Drake sneak a peak thru the binoculars. To say the least, Reese thinks that binoculars are about the neatest thing on the planet. I am so happy we found a way for them to see their little brother.
Trev seems to be stuck on his oxygen setting at 4 liters per minute. He is not making much progress with his lungs, they have decided to put Trev on Nitric Oxide which will help his lungs to develop quicker. The Nitric is given thru his nasal cannula for a period of 1 month. We are hoping this will make a huge difference and we will continue to see our Trev grow. Nitric is EXTREMELY expensive and is not very often used because of the cost, even though it is very effective. (About $90,000!)

UNCLE KASEY

Uncle Kasey stopped by to see his favorite nephew.

Trevs next step is to take a bottle. He still has a small feeding tube down his throat. We can do this as soon as his oxygen needs come down a bit more. Hopefully 1-2 weeks. We went to a Parent Support class the other night in regard to his speech development which amazingly begins with and is directly related to how well his first feedings go. Babies, fetus' actually, learn to suck at 12 weeks gestation but the ability to suck AND swallow doesn't happen until closer to 34-36 weeks gestation, that is why at times even full term babies have a hard time eating at first, let alone a preemie. How a baby learns to suck and swallow determines how well he forms his words and speech development later! Mother nature is AMAZING! Yet hard to mimic unfortunately. Preemies are also so used to being poked and prodded so much they have to learn 'good' stimulation when it comes to their mouths. Up until now, although it keeps them alive, nothing but tubes, sticks and medicines have been shoved into their mouths which can cause a negative reaction to anything near their mouths. Trev does suck on a binki now and then and thats a good sign he has a good sucking reflex. The other tricky thing for a preemie is remembering to breath while eating! So a slow but exciting step is coming up as Trev works his way home to us.

COMFORT AT LAST

You can just see the difference in Trevs comfort. Now that he does not have a CPAP on his little face he can just relax in his new room which has a window! The Eye doctor came in yesterday to check Trevs eyes. He dilated them to view the retina. His eyes are still too pre mature to test his vision, but his retina is attached which is a great sign. Sometimes side effects of oxygen to pre mature babies are eye complications, but so far so good for our Trevy.

TREVS NURSES

On the right is Lisa, on the left is Gorgi. Two of the many amazing people that work at IMC. Lisa is a charge nurse that has always been so caring of Trevs and our needs. She ALWAYS takes the extra time to talk to my wife to make her comfortable. She is one of our Primary nurses and she is an incredibly comforting AMAZING person. Gorgi is one of Trevs Respiratory Therapist, she is a very kind, loving person. She always comes in and talks to Trev every time we are in with him. She will go out of her way to take pictures of our little guy and made scrapbook pages for us of him. Trev loves her! We are extremely grateful for BOTH of them among many others. Trevs a 'big' boy now and moved into a different area of the NICU. These two nurses, among others, skills and care are needed for babies that are extremely sick. They are absolutely incredible at what they do. It is bittersweet not to see them as much anymore, but we know the reason that we do not see them is because little Trev is making so much progress! Jill, JANET, Robert, Dave, Karen, Becky, Michelle, Leanne, Stacey, Lynn, Janie, Hillary, Amy, Connie, Bonnie (and many more) are also some of our FAVORITE nurses and respiratory therapists to whom we are forever indebted and think the WORLD of to say the least!

GRADUATION DAY

Trev is officially in a normal crib! Stacie who is on the right is one of Trevs primary nurses. You can tell that she cares deeply for our little man and we are extremely grateful for her. Now that he is breathing on his own they have moved him into another pod of the hospital. It is bittersweet, we have grown to love all the staff in the D Pod. We will miss seeing them on a daily basis. They are the reason that our son is alive today! We could never thank them enough, they are such amazing people.

TAKING IT EASY

Trev is just chillin with his dad. Look at the size of my hand compared to his body!

MOM TAKING TEMPERATURE

Here is a picture of mom taking Trevs temperature. He is doing so well keeping his temperature consistent. His temperature is taken every three hours at cares to assure that he is sustaining his own body heat. It is important that temperature is closely watched. If he is having problems sustaining his own body temperature he will burn up much needed calories that help him to grow.

DRESSED IN CLOTHES

Trev is now 35 days old. (31 weeks 6 days) as you can see he has made some HUGE progress. He is able to wear clothes now that he can sustain his own body temperature. He is on a high flow nasal cannula, it is set at 4 liters per minute. We are so happy to see him off of the CPAP, which he was on for 7 days. Trev is getting so big and strong, he currently weighs 1830 grams which is 4 pounds 2 oz. His feedings are up to 35 ML every 3 hours.

Good Morning Trev

Nasal IMV

Trev was on this IMV nasal cannula which is shown in these pictures. It was so great to see his face, but he kept pulling the prongs out of his nose by moving around. These prongs were 2 inches long! The Respiratory Therapist was concerned that it would cause trauma to the back of his nasal passage so they changed him to the bubble CPAP. Jannell was able to hold Trev today for an hour. He just laid in her arms and slept so comfortably, Jannell is an amazing mom.

WIDE AWAKE

Trev, is doing very well, he is now on a Bubble CPAP with zero ventilator breaths for assistance! He just has a constant air flow going thru the cannula in his nose. We are very proud of our little boy and the progress that he has made. Trev now weighs 1680 Grams (3 pnds 12 oz.) He has grown so much and continues to grow every single day. Jannell and I stopped over at the hospital on sunday to see him, He just stared at us the entire time. Anytime that Jannell and I would talk to him he would open his eyes and follow us the best he could with his eyes. A pre mature babies eye muscles are still not fully developed so it is difficult for him to focus for a long period of time. They dropped his oxygen PEEP setting to 6 today down from 7 as they are continuing the weening process one step at a time as his lungs develop strength every day. His next stage will be the high flow nasal cannula and we are looking forward to this day. The only medication that they are giving Trev is Theothln, which opens up his airways to help him to breathe.

GRADUATION!!!

Trev had his ventilator tube removed on September 28th at 3:00PM! He is doing very well, we had a pretty good scare on Tuesday morning when we were informed that Trev was having a hard time breathing on his new CPAP. This is the 3rd time that he has been ext abated, he has failed every time and he has had to be placed back on his ventilator. He has now been on his CPAP for over 48 hours, this is a HUGE relief to mom and dad because of the Chronic Lung Disease that his ventilator was causing to his lungs. The CPAP is producing oxygen directly to his nose that is sealed air tight as you can see in the picture. All though it looks very uncomfortable this is a huge step for Trev in the right direction. His oxygen settings are high, but they are stable and we are hoping to see them decrease in the near future. He has a hard time keeping his mouth closed which allows oxygen to escape thru his mouth. They have now place a chin strap around his chin to keep his mouth closed. It is amazing to watch Jannell when she gives Trev a newborn binkie (Which is half the size of his head) He loves it! All of his oxygen settings decrease dramatically every time mom tends to his needs. It is the most beautiful, natural, amazing thing to see. He loves his mom so much. The nurse told me today that he is becoming extremely close to be able to sustain his own body temperature and to not require humidity in his issolette. In a few more days they should be able to take the top off of his issolette and dress him in some preemie clothes. It is amazing to see the progress that Trev has made from the day that he was born. The nurses and medical staff is so amazing. I cannot say enough how grateful that we are for the NICU and the staff here at IMC.

SWEET BOY

Trev is getting big, his feedings are up to 28ML every 3 hours and he weighs 3 pnds 5 oz.! He sure is a cute little boy and he is getting very strong. Doctor performed another Echocardiogram on his heart and his PDA is still open, but it is small. At this time they are not concerned enough to treat his open PDA, but they will keep an eye on his heart condition.

THEN AND NOW

The pictures speak for themselves! What a difference since the day he was born compared to now (23 days later) Picture on the right was the day he was born weighing 2 lbs. 12 oz. and a very sick boy. Picture on the left is Trev today, 3 lbs. 3oz. And for the most part getting healthier every day. It is uplifting to see his progress side by side.

GETTING BIGGER & STRONGER

Trev, continues to grow and he weighs a whopping 3 pnds. 3oz. (1470 grams) We can actually see his body filling out. On saturday morning, I brought my mom with me to see Trev. He just layed there and stared at me while I held his hand and talked to him. It was an amazing experience, I was trying not to cry the entire time. He looked so peaceful even though he has tubes and IV's all over his little body. He feeds are now up to 23ML every 3 hrs. His oxygen PIP setting is now down to 15 from 18 and he is handling it very well. They are finishing up his antibiotics in the next two days. They will be giving Trev a chest x-ray and a Echocardiogram on Monday. The Echocardiogram will be testing the open PDA that he has in his heart which continues to close on its own. The last Echo showed that his PDA was small and closing, which is great success for Trev knowing that it was wide open when he was born. Trev has Pneumonia in his lungs, this is the main reason why it has been so difficult to ex tabate little Trev from his ventialtor. He has so much mucus in his lungs that he struggles to breathe freely on his own, the other difficult part of his situation is that his ventilator tube that is down his throat is causing so many secretions that it is clogging his airway. The NICU is now debating whether to give Trev a steroid to open his airways to give him another shot to ex tabate him. There are possible risks with giving a steroid that causes low blood sugar and increased heart rate. It feels like time is in slow motion and the time that he has been on his ventilator feels like will never come to and end. We are praying that this week they can ex tabate him and we can get over this hurdle.
He is doing so well with his feeds, he grows on average 20-30 grams a day! On friday Jannell and I were in visiting him and he was getting up on his knees and elbows like he was crawling! He is getting stronger and stronger every day. Just need to get past this Pneumonia and ventilator hurdle so he can continue to make forward progress.

ISOLATION

The Health and Disease control informed the NICU that Trev must now be isolated from other babies due to having "fifth disease". Which is silly since he has already been in the NICU for 3 weeks and it is impossible for him to be contagious. In a way we almost enjoy it! The nurses are now required to wear masks,gloves,and gowns while treating him. Which in our mind is double protection against possible viruses that are transfered around in the NICU. We both had a really hard time with this at first, but we have now realized the benefits that it will bring to our son .He will be in Isolation until the Health and Disease control has the opportunity to test his blood samples that have already been sent off for testing. For the time being, in order for us to hold our son or enter his room we are required to suit up before entering his room and also to hold him. The other interesting fact is that Jannell obviously passed the virus to him while he was in her womb. That is why we are in here in the first place. Which makes you ask yourself the question, "Why would Jannell need to suit up to handle him, Trev contracted the virus in her body? It has been very interesting to realize how rare fifth disease truly is and that the Physicians actually come to us for education on the virus. I feel the Health & Disease control is jumping to the conclusion of "better safe than sorry" because they too are unfamiliar with how the virus works. We are just happy that our little boy continues to show signs improvement, and we are willing to do whatever it takes that is best for our baby and everyone involved in the NICU. We are so thankful and blessed to have one of the best physician staffs and facilities in the world treat our Trev.

RISE AND SHINE BUDDY!

Trev is starting to develop his little personality, when Jannell comes in the room and talks to him he always opens his eyes. He is already a mamas boy and we can't wait to spoil him. Trev PIP settings were reduced from 20 to 18 today, this is great progress. It means that his ventilator will now be giving him 18 breaths per minute instead of 20. The rest he will have to due on his own which will continue to strengthen his lungs. They will continue to ween him off his ventilator, its a slow process, but we are praying that it will be effective this time. Trevs feedings have increased to 23 ML of milk 3 times per day which is up from 22ML. KEEP GROWING BUDDY! The practitioner stated today that he handles his feedings better than they could ever hope for, to the point that he is actually surprising the NICU staff.
Our "pod" in the NICU which is Trevs room has a sliding glass foggy window in the wall. In the other room on the other side of the window is the C section surgery procedure room. Today my wife listened to twins born, you cannot see thru the window, but you can hear everything! It is bitter-sweet to hear people have their babies and hear their healthy babies cry! We did not have the opportunity to enjoy the birth of our son at times it is hard to listen to the joy of parents experience on the other side of the wall. It seems like we hear 3-4 babies born per week. Jannell and I have been attending a parents class every Wednesday evening with volunteer parents that share their experiences having their babies in the NICU. It is comforting communicating with people who can relate to our experience and our emotions. What a blessing it is to have Trev at a time when medical technology is so advanced, it is the sole reason that our son has a shot at life. IMC hospital is amazing, it has the best NICU in the western United States. All though we cry every day about our sons situation, we feel extremely blessed to have our son being treated by one of the top NICU's in the world!

KANGAROO TIME FOR DAD

This was actually on Friday the 18th. This was my first experience holding my son! I love him so much, it felt like I was holding a baby kitten, he is so small. The nurse practitioner sat me down today and stated to me that now that things have calmed down a little bit she wants to talk to me. She stated to me that she was the first doctor to work on Trev when he was born, she told me that he was extremely sick and the color of snow when she received him. She stated to me that she felt that he was too sick and did not have a chance to survive! I was a little taken back when she told me that she has been a nurse practitioner for a long time and she said that Trevs survival is TRULY a miracle! He is doing good and we are so proud of him. What a blessing it is for us to have him in our life, I know someone was looking out for him to be living today.

BLOOD TRANSFUSION SUCCESS!

Trev received a blood transfusion on Tuesday, thru an IV with o- negative blood they transfused 26 ML into his body. His Hematocrit levels were at 27%, (Hematocrit is a measurement and count of red blood cells in the blood) His new count is at 43% which is fantastic! Never thought that I would be so thankful for people who donate blood. Trev also has an infection in his lungs that is more than likely caused by the ventilator tube in his throat. The practitioner stated to me :"The tube in his throat is a foreign object, even though it is his life support so he can breathe now, his body is fighting and using its defense to get it out. You can compare it to a sliver that has been in your hand for over a week, it will become irritated, fester and become infected until it is removed". Trevs infection in his lungs is at a level 1 on a scale from 1-5. (1 being the least severe) He is receiving antibiotics called Cefotaxime every 12 hours for 7 days. He is also receiving Gentamicin every 36 hours.
Trev has Chronic Lung Disease (CLD) which is almost a given for babies born at 26 weeks. CLD is scarring in his lungs caused by his ventilator that does not allow his delicate little lungs to heal. This means that the very life-saving assistance that he is receiving from his ventilator has damaged his lungs and impaired their natural healing process. More than likely Trev will not have any "Long Term Effects" from this disease, but it is a long drawn out process that extends the time frame that Trev must be on his ventilator. They will start decreasing his PIP settings on his ventilator by 2 a day until he is down to around 12, he must be stable at 12. PIP is the number of breaths per minute that Trev receives for assistance, right now he is at 20. He must also decrease his PEEP setting of 6 down to 4, PEEP is constant oxygen that keeps his lungs inflated. Trev is still very small, they will start to force him to rely on his lungs more heavily in the days to come which will build up his strength. Once he reaches these goals and with some assistance of a mild steroid they will try to ext abate Trev from his ventilator.HE IS ALMOST 3 POUNDS! Which is great, he weighs 1320 grams which is about 2 lbs 15 oz. He is definitely filling out.

OUR SWEET FUZZY BOY!!

There is nothing cuter than the little blonde fuzzy hair all over Trevs body! Most preemies have hair all over their body.

Little Trev is SICK

Today has not been the best of days for Trev or mom and dad. They found out that he has a bacteria growing in his lungs. They will be treating his infection with two antibiotics. He received his first dose of Gentamicin today, he will receive the second dose in 36 hours. They will also be treating his infection with an antibiotic called Cefotaxime which he will receive for 5-7 days every 12 hours. The Nurse practitioner stated to me today that his infection is mild and they caught it early on which is good. She also stated that on a scale of 1-5 the infection is at a 1 as of now. Trev also received another blood transfusion today, his Hematocrit levels were at 27% they like this percentage to be over 36%. they are measuring the amount of "packed" red blood cells in his little body. They transfused 13ml of blood early this afternoon, they will transfuse the remaining 13ml at 11:30PM tonight. From that point, they will test his Hematocrit levels at 5:00PM tomorrow to see how he faired out. Poor little guy has a ton going on today. We are praying for him and we love him!