Home At Last?

Well, if nothing adverse happens in the next 12 hours or so, Ethan and I will be home Monday evening! We almost made it this past Friday, but due to a little breathing trouble the doctor felt better watching Ethan a little longer. He asked me what I thought about that and I just told him we want whatever is best for our boy, so we are still here. Ethan weighed in at 5 lbs Friday, and he passed his car seat test, though we did have to buy a seat from the hospital since he is so small... I think a lot of his weight is in his belly still. Anyway... we can't wait to be home! Thank you Lord, for all you have done for this little guy and for the great staff here at UAMS!
Grant is doing good at home... If I had to guess, I'd say he's at about 6 lbs now. He has moved from preemie clothes to newborn. He's my big boy, but I have a feeling Ethan will be catching up soon. It seems they look a little more alike each time I see them together.
For more good news... the maternity jeans that I outgrew several months ago are now too big! Yay!! Okay, I know ya'll really don't care about that, but I'm excited. Perhaps no one else will mistake me for still being pregnant, hah!! Ya'll should have seen the look on the face of the pharmacist at Target (of course it didn't help that I was eating ice cream at the time!)

Any Day Now!

Ethan is doing better every day and according to the doctor he could possibly be headed home as early as tomorrow, but he will have to do really great with his feedings. At any rate, he should be home by early next week anyway. He now ways 4 lbs 14 oz! 5 lbs here we come!! Grant was up for his audiologist appt the other day and we had pictures done by the March of Dimes. They were so cute together! This was the first time they were ever in a crib together. Hopefully I will get the picture CD really soon and get some of those pictures on here. For now, though, here's the one I took with my cell phone. Grant looks so big next to Ethan!
Grant passed in both ears at his hearing screening and Ethan had another screening done here today. This time he passed in his left ear, but still got a referral for the right ear. His last lab work on his liver showed one liver enzyme slightly higher than before, one slightly lower, and the other the same as before. His liver is still a little swollen, but I guess everything is stable now. Dr. Hall said that this could be monitored by the pediatrician now, so we are just working on getting Ethan to eat 8 times a day so we can pull out the NG tube and go home!
See you soon!
-Kara

A Quick Update

Hey everyone! Grant's pediatrician visit went good. They took all his measurements for his one month visit and everything looked fine. We go back again in another month and will hopefully get the second hep b vaccine and another round of the RSV vaccine then. Oh yeah, he has his audiologist appointment Monday at Children's. Pray all goes well! While he's up here, we hope to be able to get pictures with him and Ethan. The March of Dimes volunteers take some really good pictures. Actually, they do quite a lot around here. It is a big help to talk to others that have been in similar situations as us and hear their stories.
As for Ethan, things are going good and I see us going home in the near future!! (I'm thinking 1-2 weeks). The doctor said today that if his labs come back good Monday then the only other thing we'd be waiting on is his feedings. I'm hoping and praying that those labs turn out great! He looks good! I think he's finally lost his yellow tinge and his stools look normal, so I'm hoping the liver is functioning like it should now.
As for me, I'm missing my friends and family and I can't wait to be home for good! These quick trips between Little Rock and home are starting to wear on me!! But pretty soon this will all be just a memory (and I'll be missing all the nurses that were there around the clock to take care of my boys!). Hope to see you all soon! -Kara

Ethan's Test Results

Ethan had labs run early this morning and the docs gave us the results late this morning (Make that yesterday... by the time I checked his diaper, searched for his diaper rash ointment, decided it was in the locked medicine drawer, found someone to get it, and got the diaper changed Monday was gone!). His liver enzymes went up a little higher, but his bilirubins went down. They said they feel like his liver is doing better, it just needs more time. They consulted with some other type of doctor (my little brain can only hold so much info) and decided to take him off the Phenobarbital and start him on Ursodiol. Now we wait another week and test again, so as far as the question of when Ethan gets to go home, all I can tell you is... not this week! He is starting to feed better (a step forward), but has lost weight the past three days. I'm not sure what's going on there, unless it has something to do with that diaper I just changed!! Maybe he's getting rid of some more belly fluids... that's my hope!
Michael and Grant are doing good at home. Michael is being initiated into the world of the sleep deprived, but his mom is up to help now, so maybe it won't be too bad on him! For now, anyway! Just wait until both boys are home!

Prince John

Grant is Home!

Grant got to go home Friday evening! He is now staying at home with Dad while I am staying with Ethan. I did go home Friday and stayed and then came back up to UAMS Saturday evening. Grant did so good his first night home! He is on a three hour schedule that the hospital uses, so he didn't cry any except for the dreaded diaper changes when we were getting him ready for feedings! I think he cried less at home than he did at the hospital. Ethan's checks and feedings were 30 minutes before Grant's and it seems he would usually wake up at Ethan's turn and fuss until his turn. Anyway, things seem to be going good for Dad and Grant at home!

I love all the little expressions he makes!
So cute in his brown stripes.
Grant was actually awake to welcome his first visitors

Ethan is still the same as before... we are waiting until Monday or Tuesday to see how the Phenobarbital worked. Hopefully all will be well and he won't be transferred. Since Grant went home and UAMS was expecting triplets any day, Ethan got moved to a new room. He went from the Kangaroo Pouch (mainly for multiples) to the Stork's Nest (mainly for healthier babies!! -I think) His new room is great! Like the other, it is a private room with a sleeper sofa for mom, but this one also has a bathroom for mom, with a shower (but I think the nurse got sidetracked on the way to get towels... sounds like me!). Anyway, Ethan now ways 4 lbs 4 oz (about 1 lb less than Brother) and he got his tube moved from his mouth to his nose today.
I get to see Grant again Tuesday! He has his first pediatrician's visit then. It feels like our first steps of normal (as opposed to NICU) parenthood. I can't wait! Thank you all so much for the prayers... please keep them coming!

Still so tiny! That is the tip of Michael's thumb by his head!
So peaceful (at the moment)! Actually, Ethan is the more laid back of the two, for now.

"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." -Psalm 27:14

If all keeps going as it has been, Grant is going home Friday! He has been gaining weight and now weighs 4 lbs 15 oz. He underwent his car seat test today and passed! He looked so tiny in it. The little buckles covered his whole body and I was scared they would be choking him, but he did good.
Ethan's liver tests showed some problems, but the doctors said it wasn't anything emergent at this point. His liver enzymes are a little high and he is still a little jaundiced, so they started him on Phenobarbital Monday(apparently that drug has more uses than I realized). Ethan will have liver tests again this coming Monday and hopefully it will show improvement. If not he will probably be transferred to Children's for a HIDA scan...
Just before my battery died and my computer shut down, the doctors made their rounds. It seems to me the meds are helping Ethan. His swollen liver has gone down about 3 cm and his jaundice seems to be going away. His stools are also starting to look a little better. It is my prayer that God will heal my little guy and we won't have to go to Children's (I'd love to visit you, Amy, but not b/c my kiddos are patients!). Oh, the brain ultrasounds for both boys came back fine. The hearing screening that they had yesterday, however, did not. This is probably due to the size of their ear canals and just not being able to get a good read. They are supposed to retest today. Ethan now ways 4 lbs 0 oz. Way to go, bud! Now we just have to get you eating on your own and get your liver straightened out.

Rumors of Going Home!

During rounds today, Dr. Hall said that Grant may get to go home the middle or end of next week! We will bring the car seat up Monday and see if he passes that test. If he does, and he keeps eating well and gaining weight, he will be headed home. Yesterday he weighed 4 lbs 9 oz (the same as the day before). Hopefully he will eat well and get home!
He implied that it would be another week or two after that and Ethan may be able to go home! What a blessing that will be. We met a girl in the hall today whose baby has been here since December. I am so thankful that our boys are doing as well as they are and I know that all of the prayers of our family and friends, and all the folks they have praying for us too, have made a huge difference!
Both boys are having ultrasounds on their brains tomorrow, and Ethan is having some blood work done and some liver testing done. He is still jaundiced and having off-looking stools (white positive for all you medical folks). His little belly still doesn't look right either, but it is so much better than where he started! Please pray that all goes well with these tests and that God continues to heal him. Michael and I will be so glad to get all of our family home and for all of our family and friends to meet them, but let me give everyone fair warning...
If you are sick, please don't come to visit! With the boys being preemies they are both so much more susceptible to illness, especially Ethan, having been on a breathing tube. Also, for the first little while (as long as Michael and I feel it's beneficial!), if the boys are asleep and you come to visit, we will not be waking them. My little guys need all of their energy for maintaining their body temperature and growing strong and healthy, so if you want to see them awake, call ahead and maybe you can visit when they are likely to be awake!

Picture Post

Daddy cheering for Grant when he was moved to his open air crib.

Uncle Alan is one of the few to hold Grant, because if he's not awake, you don't get to hold him!

Aunt Christian holding Ethan's hand.

Grant Michael drinking his vitamin enriched milk. Ethan didn't care for the vitamins too much so he spit them back up! We'll see how it goes today.

Ethan Lee - 16 days old.

Ethan - How adorable!

Big Boy Beds & Poopie Diapers, Prayers & Praises

I can't believe it's Wednesday!! Michael has been going back to Pine Bluff some to resume some classes he is taking for work, so I've been without a computer, if you have been missing the updates. He starts back to work Monday. Boy will I miss him! We still have no idea when the boys will get to go home. Grant is so close, but they will not rush him, since his brother will be here anyway.
Grant is in his open air crib now. Some of his previous nurses will walk by and say "Aww, he's in a 'big boy bed'." The doctors don't really have much to say about him when they make their rounds. This morning was pretty much, "Well, this is another one that is doing great" and then an update on normal baby business... weight (4 lbs 7 oz), wet diapers, dirty diapers, etc.
Ethan is still improving day by day. He weighed in at 3 lbs 14 oz today. His IV is out and he gets his "big boy bed" tomorrow. Another of this weeks milestones was his first poopie diaper! Our first questions when we had been away or first thing in the morning were always, "Has he pooped yet?" and "What does his belly measure today?" By the way, his belly has been hanging out at around 30 cm. The doctors seem happy with that, Michael and I just get impatient wanting all the fluid to be gone. Hopefully it will be less the next time they measure since he had a pretty big poopie diaper today! Go Ethan!! He is on a medicine to help his intestines work better and it seems to be kicking in now. His last two stools have had blood in them, though, so please pray that this is nothing serious. The doctors are not worried about it, just keeping an eye on it.
In other news, we have some friends going through tough times right now. Please be in prayer for anyone you know going through tough times right now. Prayers really do work! For proof of that, just look at my boys, or read my sister-in-law's (The McCone's) blog. They got great news at the doctor's appt. Monday. The Lord has truly blessed our family! Ok... enough of that or I will be sitting here in tears... happy tears, but tears none the less!

God Continues To Bless Us

Grant and Ethan both got good reports this morning.
Grant did get moved to an open crib yesterday. He sleeps good being all swaddled up. At one point we thought he might have to go back in the isollette because he wasn't keeping his body as warm as he needed to, but he pulled through. We aren't supposed to wake him or hold him much because it takes lots of energy for a baby to keep himself warm and that is so hard to do with him in the open crib! The doctors said he was looking great today. Despite using extra energy in the open crib, Grant did gain weight! He is still going up on his feedings, too. They are also starting to take away more of the tube feedings so he can learn to nurse (I think he's already got it, though!). Here is one of my favorite poses of Grant. He's so cute hanging on to his paci, and he's getting so big!
Ethan gained weight, too, and his abdominal girth continues to shrink! He does still have his IV in and gets fed some nutrients through it, but his feedings are going well so far, so they are increasing his feedings and reducing the IV nutrients some. Also, Ethan's platelets are now up to 102, with no more platelet infusions! We are trying to get to 150. If he continues like this, he should be there in 2-3 days! This is Ethan's cute pose (he still had the nasal cannula in here, but it's gone now).
Now, I must go label all these pictures so I'll know who's who! If I wait much longer I may not have a clue!