Outgrowing Clothes

As is standard with children of all ages, and certainly babies, Zac is already outgrowing clothes. The preemie outfits he had (sleepers and onesies) are already too short and some of the newborn-sized stuff is getting too small now as well. It's strange to think he could grow out of anything, but he is. This outfit is one Claire & Abby (or maybe just Abby?) picked out for him and brought us last weekend. He's yawning here right before his 6pm feeding.

They tell us last night he weighed in at 5 lbs, 9 oz. That doesn't seem quite right to me, as that'd mean he'd gained 2 1/2 oz. yesterday. So we'll see what holds tomorrow (Saturday) and maybe that'll give a clue. Also, they'd measured him Thursday night but the measurement wasn't accurate as it was shorter than he was last week. I don't think he's shrinking. :)

Other than that, Zac took all of his feedings today by bottle except for just a tiny bit and that's good. We're still waiting for that day when everything just kicks in. Our nurse reiterated to us today that she thinks it'll come any day now. So we are looking for a second car seat to be prepared for having one in each vehicle. We thought about buying a base for the seat and carrier we have now, but the base alone is almost $50. We can get a very nice seat that accommodates infant to booster for $80 on up, so we'll go that route instead.

For those of you aware, I'm trying to finish a room in the basement to use as a bedroom so Claire and other guests have a place to stay when they come, now that Zac is taking what was the guest room. It's going slowly. I have most of the supplies, save drywall, the ceiling system and some wiring, but what's held me up is getting the furring strips into the cement block wall so I can add insulation, then drywall.

I've never done this before, so it's all a learning experience. I've gone through two different types of drill bits, in two sizes, to get the right one. Then I found it was tough to get the right angle to drill the holes as I get near the top of the wall. To remedy this, I bought a power-actuated hammer which uses a .22 caliber load to supposedly pound a nail into the concrete. Yeah, that works REAL well. Most of the time, it goes in not perfect, is still sticking out about an inch, and when I try to pound the nail in, it just bends. So I end up using a metal cutter attachment for my drill and cutting off the nail, then trying to drill a hole for a screw just like I was before. Aaaccckkk! :) I'll get there. Thing is, that drilling is hard work, so I wear out after awhile. If the nail gun thingie had worked, I could've been onto the insulation by now.

So, looking at a little bit before the room is done. I hope to get the strips fully attached by early next week so I can move on with the easier stuff. Turns out, concrete block is really tough stuff. I had no idea! :) That's it for today, folks. Catch you all tomorrow.

Aunt Mickie Gets A Chance

Today Zac's Aunt Mickie was able to see him for the first time since his first few days in the isolette, way back at the beginning of February. With twins of her own at home, plus a 4 1/2-year-old, she just hasn't had a chance to get away. But today she began working again and, since she works just a short distance away at the Med Center, she was able to stop in and see Zac during her lunch break. Lucky for us, or unlucky for Zac, he'd spit up a bit before she arrived so we changed him into something his Aunt Mickie had bought for him so she'd be able to see him in it before he grows out of it, which will be any second now.

Last night, Zac was up to 5 lbs, 6 1/2 oz, which means he'd gained another ounce since the night before, keeping up his track record of gaining an ounce a day. He's starting to fill out a little bit more and we're curious to find out tomorrow just how long he measured tonight and Katy wants to know how big his head is now. :) We notice the first little hat he wore no longer fits, and she thinks his head seems to be getting a little bigger lately. Today we noticed his legs are looking a little more chubby, just like every other cute baby out there. :)

The only real change today was that they finally discontinued his daily dose of caffeine. He's been receiving this to help with the apnea and bradycardia episodes he'd had. However, he hardly ever has one anymore, which is expected as he gets a little older (further along to where he would've been had he still been inside mom's tummy). The nurses we have keep telling us how cute he is and how impressed they are that he is so well-behaved and so easy-going. Well, duh! :)

Weight Gain

One thing that strikes us, I suppose because we have to pay such close attention to it, is how much weight Zac continues to gain and how consistently he is doing so. As of Tuesday night, he was up to 5 lbs, 5 1/2 oz. You'll recall that he began this life at 3 lbs, 12 oz. That's a gain so far of 1 lb, 9 1/2 oz, and that's in the past 3 weeks. He continues to gain weight at the rate of about an ounce a day, which is exactly what we want, so that's good. Thursday nights are when they measure him, so by Friday we should know if he has grown more (which we think he has) and how much he now weighs.

We maintain that had Zac gone full-term, where he didn't have to work for his food like he does now, he would have been just one big boy. I wanted to get a new picture to put up tonight, as Zac was laying on his right side with his hands up by his head, one on top of the other, just like you and I might sleep on our side. Unfortunately, before I could get the camera he had moved the placement of his hands so I lost my chance at a unique picture. This is how he likes to lay quite often, though, so hopefully I can get one sometime soon here.

Tonight I'd like to share something Katy and I are trying to do for someone else. There is another couple in the NICU who had a son two hours before Zac was born. We're the same number of weeks along and have obviously been there the same amount of time. They are a very nice couple and the husband is very outgoing. He enjoys making everyone laugh, nurses included, and is just a very free spirit. They are originally from Wyoming, but now living in northeastern Nebraska. He works on farms and is highly mechanical, but the big deal is he loves hunting. I don't mean he kinda likes it and does it when the seasons come. I mean it's everything to him.

Well, Katy's mom has a cousin who has been involved with hunting shows on TV and radio and is an avid outdoorsman. We asked the dad here if he knew about him and he absolutely did. After trying unsuccessfully to reach the cousin via e-mail, I did some research online and found he still does a call-in segment on a radio station in Hattiesburg, MS. So I wrote the radio station this week, expressing my desire to get something signed by this guy to send to the son of the dad here. We know he'd love it and it would be very special to him. They wrote me back last night and intend to send a "care package" we can give to this dad and his son. Hopefully it'll arrive before they get out of the NICU, but if not, we'll make sure we get their address before they leave so we can send it along. It's a secret, so they won't know about it until it happens. Don't worry, though, as they don't know about this blog and aren't big into computers, so I know there's no danger of them finding out.

I'm just so excited we can do something for such a nice couple. Having a child in the NICU for this long, we know exactly how they must feel as well. You get punchy and frustrated at having to live in a way that's completely out of your comfort zone. You sleep more than you normally would, because it's emotionally taxing and a little depressing. I know these two don't have the faith to fall back on like we do, so it must be even harder for them. Plus, they don't have family close by and don't live here in Omaha, so it's got to be difficult. We're so thankful we live 5 minutes away. It sure makes this job of travel back and forth every day a lot easier.

Good Day

Zac had a good day feeding today. Where he hasn't been quite as active the past few days, he was more so today and certainly has eaten better on his own. He took all of his 9am feeding by bottle. At noon, they went ahead and fed him through the tube since he was sleeping so soundly after a diaper change at 11. But then he took both his 3 and 6 feedings today by bottle without issue. In fact, with his 6pm feeding, he would've taken more if there had been more food in the bottle, and that's the first time he's shown a sign of being more hungry than what he's been receiving.

Katy and I are a little tired today and maybe more on edge due to finances than we have been. Her short-term disability, which she should've been receiving for the past two weeks, has yet to arrive. For me, I'd put out a fair amount of money on some supplies for a consulting job I was to do, then didn't get to do the job because I don't yet have liability insurance. So I'm awaiting reimbursement for a check that should've been here two weeks ago. All told, we're hanging in there, but really need her checks to arrive soon so we don't run into deeper issues. :) Take care all!

Without Power

This picture isn't the best, but in it you can see the power pole a few blocks from our house that caught fire last night. This left us without electricity and things began to get a little chilly in the Benedict house. :) So Katy and I had to pack some things and spend the night at her mom and dad's. I'm sure they didn't mind, as they are in warm and beautiful Hawaii at the moment, making all of us back here in the cold and snow fairly jealous. :)

From the report I read online, people saw flames coming out of the top of the power pole. They had to shut down 60th street to handle the repairs, and we lost power somewhere around 7:45, I'd say. The biggest issue? I had cinnamon rolls in the oven rising that had to be cooked or they'd go bad. Fortunately for us, Gary & Nell's house does have an oven, so the rolls did not have to go to waste. Phew!

Step Back Before Going Forward

Well, yesterday and today Zac is doing pretty much what the nurses have been suggesting he might, which is taking a bit of a step backward with his eating. I guess that, for a premature baby, eating from a bottle is akin to working out. Do that 8 times in a day and you'd be pretty tired, too.

So yesterday and today he's taken partial feedings from the bottle, then had to have the rest given to him through the tube. Both feedings we've been here for so far today have been this way. He took half the bottle at noon on his own, then took 1/3 of the bottle at his 3pm feeding. We're going to let them give him his 6pm feeding entirely through the tube so he can continue to rest. He's been sleeping a bit more than he had before also, and I guess that's a sign of just how tired he is. :)

But, we expect him to take this step back and then go forward big-time, so I'm sure that's coming pretty soon. Probably two weeks or a little less before he's outta here, so we just have to keep being patient!

Sunday Update...A Bit Late

Somehow didn't get to this last night, so I'll tackle it first thing this morning here on Monday. Zac had a good day yesterday, though not quite as aggressive with his feedings as he had been. Mostly, he was just too tired to take the bottle as much. We arrived after lunch and they had fed him through his tube because when they checked on him at noon, he was just sound asleep and they didn't want to wear him out further.

At 3pm, he took the bottle just fine, but at 6 he only took a little bit before having to accept the rest via the tube. I'm pretty sure that at 6pm he would've been just fine except the nurse wanted us to bathe him before letting him eat. That turned out to be the problem, because he actually woke up at 5:10 and by the time his bottle was ready at 6:05, he was fading fast. :) So in the future, we won't let them give him a bath prior to his feeding. I think it'd be just fine if he half-slept through a bath anyway at this point as taking the food from the bottle is more important.

We did have a good talk with his nurse of the past two days, Pam, about how the babies generally take to the bottle. Her experience has shown her that generally babies don't go home before they reach what would've originally been 36 weeks of age/gestation. That means we're looking at a little less than 2 weeks for Zac, which is in line with what we were told last week early. But, she said, it depends on how quickly he makes this next transition. She said normally it's like the babies wake up one day and suddenly they're ready to take every feeding by bottle and they do it extremely well. This would be similar to last week when Zac, suddenly mid-day decided he was ready to try it. It was a dramatic change and obvious to us, so now we know what to look for moving forward. If he reaches this point sooner, they won't keep him just for the sake of keeping him.

He also does need to stop having apnea and bradycardia episodes, of which he's had several the past few days. Generally these are focused around when he's just beginning to eat (where he is so hungry he gulps his food and then his heart rate drops) or when he needs to, excuse the language, poop. :) Sometimes that effort, that little red face we're all so used to when babies are trying to get that out, that causes his rate to drop a bit in one way or another. The heart rate episodes are the bradys and when his breathing rate drops, those are the apnea episodes. He doesn't have as many of those at this time as he does the ones where his heart rate drops. No cause for alarm, though. :) He comes out of them just fine and is not at all in danger of anything. It's just a normal thing in premature babies and I'd venture a guess to say it's fairly normal for probably plenty of babies early on; we just don't know it because those babies aren't hooked into monitoring devices all the time. :)

So that's the update for Sunday. I'll put one out later today as well. Oh yes, and he's now 5 lbs., 3 oz., so he's gaining weight at about the rate of an ounce a day, which is good.

Meeting Big Sister

Today was a day I've been waiting for since Zac was born. With me being out of work, money has been super tight so I haven't been able to afford to meet Claire's mom half-way to pick Claire up last month or this month for a weekend with me. Fortunately, her mom came up this weekend and brought Claire and Abby with her. Along with them were their mom, Heather, her mom, Alice, and Heather's husband Jeff. I was so excited waiting for Claire and Abby to get to see Zac!

First, for Claire, because this is her little brother and she's been so excited waiting to get to see him. I know it's been hard for her to wait, just as it's been hard to not have her here to be able to spend time with him. And second, for Abby, because Abby is just so tender-hearted and so great with babies and children. The pic today shows Claire getting to give Zac his feeding tonight. She handled half of it, burped him, then let Katy finish the feeding per her request. I intended to get a pic with Abby as well, but somehow that slipped my mind. I'll get one next time she's up, though.

I would've loved to let Abby hold Zac as well, and I know she wanted to, but we've really limited how many people hold him or even touch him, to be honest, just because he is still a bit vulnerable, it's the time of year when flu and sickness is so prevalent, and because the hospital requests limiting contact just for the health of the babies. It was tough for me, personally, because I love Abby so much and really wanted her to get to enjoy this moment as well. However, I have promised her she'll get to hold him the next time she is up here and encouraged her because she is so great with children.

Claire did awesome, as I expected. She did a great job getting Zac to take his bottle, and both she and Abby helped me before that while I was changing his diaper and the nurse was taking his vital signs. Abby and Claire both made Zac some very, very special artwork that we are very proudly going to put on the wall in his room real soon. It was so sweet of them to think of him and do something special. Reminds me of why I love both of the girls so much. :)

As for Zac, he's doing extremely well. Still taking just about every feeding by bottle and needing very little assistance finishing them except when he's just super tired. He's such a little trooper, and continues to breeze through this. In a few weeks, or maybe even sooner, we'll have him home! Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and thoughts and for the gifts we've received so far. It's wonderful and humbling to know so many people care so much about us.

Still On The Bottle

Good news today. Zac did really well with the bottle last night after we left, taking three more in a row before having to get his food via the tube again, then took a bottle again this morning before taking via the tube at noon. The one at noon was only because the nurse wanted to make sure when we fed him at 3 and 6 today, that he wasn't too worn out from doing the bottle. All this bottle-feeding takes more energy than just having the food given to you in a tube, and they have to be sure he doesn't burn too many calories while they are trying to fatten him up. :)

Today's picture is of Katy feeding him with the bottle. He did some breast-feeding for a little bit, then finished off with the bottle for his 3pm feeding today. We're excited he's taking this step so well and so definitively, and we're also quite proud of him. Way to go, Zac!!!

Becoming a Big Boy

Today and this evening Katy and I had the chance to do several things differently than before with Zac. For one, they let us give him a bath in an actual tub of water, which he did very well with. Also, they've weighed him before with us and let us help, but hadn't measured him before while we were there.

Zac is now 5 pounds even and has grown 3/4" in the last week, so he's now up to 18" long! Way to go Zac! We're pretty pumped about this change in length. I don't think either of us were expecting him to have grown so much, so soon. That makes 1' 1/4" in almost 3 weeks, so that seems pretty good. And being up to 5 pounds is great, meaning he's gained 1 lb. 4 oz. since he was born, and really, in the past 2 weeks. That's a good rate and the nurses are happy about that.

Today, they switched Zac from a continuous feed to what they call a bolus feeding, which means changing his rate of feeding. Before, he received 42ml over 3 hours. In English, 30ml equals an ounce, so 42ml is a little over 1 1/3 ounces. Now, he receives that same 42ml over a 2-hour period, then has an hour off before they do it all over again. This helps him get used to taking in more food at once, closer to how regular meals will be.

So we were excited a bit at this change, until Katy asked the nurse tonight when he'd be able to start trying from a bottle (and Katy) instead of through the feeding tube. The nurse thought it'd be a good idea to try the bottle tonight after we'd given him his bath, since he was due for his feeding. Sweet! So she put the 42ml in a bottle and Katy let me feed Zac. He took it like he'd always been drinking from a bottle, which was very exciting! He had no trouble burping and by the time we left, he hadn't spit up anything either, so that was also good. Now, he took the bottle in 15 minutes, too, and then collapsed in tiredness. :)

I'll be curious to find out tomorrow if he wanted to eat again sooner than 9pm tonight, which would've been when he was next due to get a feeding. I also hope the nurses take the time to continue trying to bottle feed tonight to see if he takes to it full-time. If we find out they didn't when we arrive tomorrow, we'll check into what happened to make sure they continue to try.

So that's it for tonight. Weather-permitting in Kansas City, Zac's big sister Claire and her sister Abby will be able to see him this weekend. I know they are excited about it but so am I! Can't wait for Zac to get to meet his big sister and Abby as well. :)

Awake & Interested

So yesterday and today we are noticing Zac is awake much more than he had been. Used to be he'd be awake 10 or 15 minutes, then sleep 4 hours. Now he seems to sleep maybe 2 hours and be awake about 30 minutes. He's also begun staring at things and acting fascinated by them. Earlier it was either a ceiling tile or the sprinkler head. At this moment it's the light bulb in the lamp here in his room.

He's certainly been a little more interactive today than he had been, though maybe that's just gas. :) Katy was able to get him to feed a bit earlier (we're trying breast feeding, so he has to learn to latch on and he did well earlier today) which is a positive step forward for him. Right now he's a little fussy, though, and I KNOW that's gas. :)

Think a change of diaper is in the offing for Katy (I had the poopy one earlier; her turn now). Quick note on the job front, for those of you aware I'm still searching as I have been since September. Pacific Life called yesterday to tell me I came in second...again. I've decided that if silver medals paid the bills, I'd be in great shape by now. :) So, must be God has something totally different waiting in the wings. I must say, however, that it's great to not be working right now as Katy and Zac can really use me and I love being able to be such a part of this.

The Photo Shoot

As I mentioned yesterday, the media department here is doing a photo shoot and video for parents of NICU babies to be used for educational purposes in the future. So today is the photo shoot, and Zac is doing very well. It's happening at this moment, so I snapped a few pics so you could see what's going on.

Burrito Boy

So we now have a burrito boy. Or at least that's how Zac looks when the nurses wrap him up nice and snug now that he's in a big boy crib. Yup, today he's in a crib, which makes it a ton easier to take care of him AND we now get to just hold him whenever we want. :)

You can see the burrito boy pic in the slideshow on the right side, but the pic in this post is when Katy had him up to her shoulder earlier this afternoon. Not as good a pic as I'd hoped to get, but we'll do better soon.

Alright, now the next step is getting him to eat on his own. The nurse earlier told us to expect he'd be here probably another 3 weeks as it takes them a little while to transition to this stage and get to where they are taking in food the way they need to. So we're gearing up for that timeframe mentally and that will give us at least a date range to expect. Twice today we've been told that him getting into a crib was a big step toward going home, so that's good.

Speaking of that, the case manager for the NICU called earlier today to ask if they could use Zac, and us, in promotional materials including a video and some photography they are creating for NICU parents. So that begins tomorrow morning around 9 or so, and we said we'd be happy to help. Plus, this means Zac can say he was in a video! The materials will be produced by the media communications department here at the Nebraska Medical Center, the same people who create the commercials that air at least locally and are very well done.

One more thing. We found out today that so far all of his tests have come back negative. That includes both MRI scans, the EKG and the chromosomal bloodwork. We're just waiting the results of the metabolism, or fatty acids, test, which should arrive yet this week. All signs point to everything being totally normal. So that's the news for today!

President's Day Update

Zac is getting pretty close to being out of the isolette. They've lowered the temperature a degree just since this morning when we first arrived, and he is maintaining body temperature without trouble. The nurse this afternoon said he might be in a crib by late tonight if this keeps up.

His feedings are the same, but he's handling them well so we're hopeful he gets to move toward the bigger, shorter period feedings by tomorrow. Our worship pastor, Matt, and his wife and kids came by this morning to visit, which was very nice and appreciated. It's fun to get to show off your child once in awhile and we haven't had that opportunity as much as we normally would if he'd been full-term. :)

Nana Nell came by and took Katy and me to lunch, then spent a few hours here with us as Katy headed off to handle a bookkeeping job for her side business. In the cafeteria today, they were selling big cookies with pictures of a president copied onto the icing. We didn't have one, since we have some Gandolfo's cheesecake sitting at home in the fridge, but they did look worthy of eating just for the pictures alone. Zac has had a really good day, and though he sleeps pretty much all the time, it's still nice just to sit with him and hold him for a few hours each day. Can't wait until he reaches that point where he interacts with us more!

Gettin' Bigger

Busy day for Katy and me today, but we did get to spend some quality time with Zac and assist the nurse tonight in weighing him. We were also able to find out how long he is now. So, some clarification. First, turns out he was 16 3/4" when he was born, as opposed to the 16 1/2" we were told initially. Guess they re-measured when he got to the NICU that day. He's now 17 1/4", meaning he's grown a half an inch so far. Wish I could grow a half an inch.

Anyway...today he weighed in at 4 lbs., 13 oz., which means he's now gained 1 lb., 1 oz. since, well, since the beginning but technically, he's done this within the past 10 days. They've continued to keep his feedings at 14ml today but expect tomorrow to begin transitioning him to eating more over a shorter period so he's ready to eat on his own. That's likely going to be the last obstacle to him coming home, and we can't wait.

Though it's nice holding him without the i.v. now, the wires are still a big pain when it comes to holding and changing and cleaning...you name it. Plus, that feeding tube is also in the way. On the plus side, Zac doesn't seem to mind any of this, which makes sense since it's all he's ever known. He just moves around and squirms and lifts his head and turns all over the place inside that isolette. I think he'll keep us on our toes once he's home. :)

New Isolette

Yep, that's about the size of it today; just a new isolette for Zac. Apparently they change these things out every two weeks and so today he got a new one. They are continuing to work on matching the internal temperature to room temperature, and it's now within a degree of that. Well, a degree in Celsius. I don't really know how much that is in real people terms. :)

Also, they upped his food intake to 14ml today. I thought 13ml was the top number, but I guess I was mistaken. He spit up just a little bit of the formula he'd had earlier today while I was holding him, but not a big deal. He's still doing very well and we're finding he is quite strong. While resting on my stomach and chest today, he propped himself up. If I hadn't known better, I would've thought he was holding himself up on his elbows, because that's how it looked.

Now, I know that can't be true, but that's exactly what it looked like. He just decides to completely move himself around whenever it's time for a change, and we see that often. One of the two nurses working with him today told us Zac was their favorite because he's so easy-going and just no trouble at all. Why do I think that's a BAD sign, that once he gets home we'll get the ol' switcheroo? :)

No More Tubes

Today we have no more i.v. tubes! This is a big step for Zac, and one Katy and I are super happy to see. Thought I'd include a picture of him without a hat on today so everyone can see the head of hair he has. :)

Also, the doctor today told us his MRI was completely negative on everything. We know we're still awaiting news on the blood work, and Katy and I can't recall if we've heard something specific on the EKG. I think the nurse told us it was just fine but Katy isn't sure, so we'll double-check and share that when we're certain. :)

They've upped his feedings to 13ml/hour, which I guess is about as much as he'd do on average normally. The next step is to change that up a little to where he's getting more food in a shorter period of time to get him used to taking in more at once. This will prepare him better for being able to handle regular feedings. Since they've had him on this continuous feed, he's not had to deal with that, so this is really just going back to where he was initially, though in larger volumes of food. This should make Zac more able to handle a regular meal. We'll start working on that probably within the next several days.

Not Much News Today

Not a lot new today except he is off the extra fluids he was receiving to add calories and they have upped his breast milk and formula intake so he's receiving enough calories from those alone. He's on an i.v. of saline solution through about midnight, it looks like, and then he might get to have his i.v. removed, which would be great!

Katy and I took turns holding him for awhile today and enjoyed some awake time with Zac. While Katy was holding him to her chest, he decided to lift his head to get a good look at her. Strong little guy for being so young! We didn't get full results of the other testing today, so nothing new to report just yet. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Testing Update

Well, Zac had a busy day today. He had an EKG and an MRI, plus had blood drawn for the two tests they are going to run. He did very, very well and they were particularly happy with how well he handled the MRI. It made the process go as quickly as it possibly could.

Now we just wait for results of the bloodwork and the other scans. Hopefully we'll only have to wait until Monday on the one for the metabolism question. However, Katy and I are confident all will be well, but please the doctors care enough to want to be absolutely sure he's just fine. While having dinner tonight with Nell, the father of another boy here in the NICU stopped to talk to us for a bit. His boy shares Zac's birthday and was born at about the same number of weeks. It occurred to us that there are probably plenty of children who are born full term who have little things like this going on but nobody knows about it because they aren't being watched so closely like they are in the NICU.

That said, the nurses are very good about trying to reassure the parents that things will be OK and that the tests are precautionary. Aside from that, they have upped his feedings to give him more calories. The hope is that by sometime tomorrow, they may be able to pull him off the i.v. Woohoo! Sorry no pics again tonight. That thing is still in his head so we'll hold off for now.

Tests To Come

OK, well, today's update is more of a prayer request. I know everyone out there has been praying like crazy for us since Katy went in the hospital two weeks ago. Several churches, as well as all family members, have been involved and it's just a great blessing to know God has so many children He wants to use for His will to be seen. :)

Now we've got a more specialized prayer request to share with everyone. A little bit ago, the nurse practitioner came in to let us know they wanted to run a few tests on Zac. In reviewing, for two days, the results of the scan they took of his head, they decided they were seeing something with some blood vessels they weren't fully familiar with and had not seen before. Now, I choose to believe this just means he's a genius and they've not run across it previously here.

They have some different ideas but no way to be sure without testing. Apparently, all their reading tells them everything could be perfectly normal...or it's possible testing might show some type of metabolic anomaly. This could mean he'd need to be on a specific diet once he starts eating big boy food, for instance, so his metabolism would run at the proper rate. The other possibility is that it's due to the magnesium Katy had to be on while in the hospital before he was born. That was to make sure she didn't have any issues with seizures while her blood pressure was so high.

Tomorrow it looks like they'll do an MRI on his head, an EKG on his heart, and draw blood to do lab work for chromosomal and metabolism. The metabolism labs can't be read here, so they'll send the blood off to Johns Hopkins and then they will FAX the results back, probably by Monday of next week. The nurse practitioner stressed to us that likely everything is absolutely fine, but if something wasn't quite right, they couldn't live with themselves if they didn't do the testing to make sure he's OK.

So that's our request. Will you join us in praying for this, please? Zac is a little miracle, for many reasons. He wasn't even supposed to be able to be conceived, and then when Katy had some health issues, he had to come out 9 weeks earlier than planned (which was a week earlier than the doctors thought he was at). He has been able to breath on his own faster than expected, is eating well and keeping his temperature on his own well, and may even be within just a few days of getting out of his isolette and into a crib. As his Puddin' (Katy's Dad) said, God has big plans for Zac. We agree.

Last notes...no pic today because they pulled his i.v. out and put it back into his head. That just kind of gives us the willies, so I'm not taking a picture of that today. :) Also, Nebraska Furniture Mart delivered his furniture today, which initially wasn't supposed to be here until the end of February. Maybe this is a sign that he'll be out of here before the end of the month! :) But, they let us order a crib without ordering a mattress. Can you believe that? You spend all this money on a high-end crib and it doesn't come with a mattress? It's just crazy, I tell you. So we're off to Wal-Mart or someplace within the next few days to find a mattress.

Monday Night Lights

Well, Zac needs a little extra assistance getting rid of the bilirubin, still, so he's back under the lights today. Soon as he, ahem, removes the "waste" which contains this, :), he'll be in good shape. But, the good thing is that at least now he's off the c-pap, so putting on his cool shades to handle the lights isn't nearly as bad for him to deal with. Today's pic is of him in the little Old Navy cap Katy's sister Mickie gave us and it actually fits! We weren't sure if anything would just yet. :)

Breathing Well On His Own

One brief update for tonight. Zac has been doing very well breathing on his own. He's been off the c-pap thing since Saturday morning at 10:30. After the first 24 hours, he'd had only 5 apnea episodes, and had only two last night (part of that total of 5). I was told the episodes he'd had were mild and that he'd pulled himself out of them. Sometimes when a baby has one of these, the nurse (or parent) will stimulate the baby in some way to get them to remember to take another breath. But they haven't had to do that so far, and that's good progress.

Also, because he's doing so well, they upped his food intake to 15ml every 3 hours. It was 10ml just yesterday. He's done well keeping it down, though he did spit up just a bit earlier today while I was holding him. Probably just a slight upset tummy or something, but not much and he seemed to feel just fine afterward (I know because I asked our nurse to make sure). :)

When we arrived today, they had moved the i.v. from his foot to his head. We weren't crazy about that because, well, it just looks like it'd hurt. :) Before we left for supper tonight with Katy's mom, the nurse was about to move it to his hand. Turns out his head wasn't so crazy about having it in there either, I guess! No new pics tonight, but hopefully some more by tomorrow.

Visiting Hours Are Open!

Hey all, just thought I'd put a quick post out there regarding visitation. I'm sure many whom we've contacted have wondered about it and probably haven't wanted to interrupt anything or were unsure if they are allowed to stop up when a baby is in the NICU. I suspect that a number of years ago, that might've been more the case but now there is fairly liberal visitation allowed.

If anyone would like to stop up and see Zac and one or both of us at any time, there is no problem with that. For the purpose of keeping the area quiet, they do limit how many people can come back at once, but that's about it. I'd recommend calling either Katy or myself on our cell phones (e-mail if you don't have this) to make sure we are there. :) We're trying to be there a lot for Zac and also still take care of ourselves a bit so we stay healthy and sane, so we're not always around. However, once we arrive at the hospital, we stay. Well, Katy stays as I have often had errands to run and this next week need to begin working on finishing the basement room so Zac can have a bedroom upstairs by the time he comes home.

If you don't know where the NICU is at the Med Center, it's pretty easy. I'd recommend parking in the Clarkson Hospital visitors lot, just off 42nd street. Come in the main doors and after the information desk and another area, you'll see a hallway to your left with a sign on it that says "Hixon-Lied Center". Follow that direction and the signs to Elevator C. Take Elevator C up to the 4th floor, exit and turn to your right, around the little waiting area with the fake tree and cool kids furniture, and you'll see the front desk for the NICU. Pretty simple!

We Have a Face!

We do! Turns out Zac isn't some little alien child, but rather a cute little guy! While we'd hoped and prayed this would be the case, with all the tubes in him recently there was no guarantee (Dad says with tongue in cheek). :)

Today they pulled the c-pap out at 10:30 this morning, upped the amount of food he gets every three hours to 15ml, and so far, so good. It's about 4:30pm now, so this is 6 hours doing very well. All he has at the moment is the feeding tube, which they've transferred to go in through his nose instead of his mouth. It's a little more comfortable for him there and he's still able to suck on a pacifier if necessary a little bit easier.

Katy and I took the first part of the day to try to relax a bit and and recuperate. We've just been on the go so much, and this has been such an emotional time that we're pretty much drained and have been running on adrenaline. So, in an effort to make sure we are our best for him, we took a little extra time last night and this morning. So when we got here about 4 this afternoon, we were just so excited to see him off the c-pap! That little thing has been driving us crazy because we just want to be able to hold our little guy like everyone else. Katy is holding him right now, getting the chance to look at his face directly for the very first time. :) That's it for now!

Update from Nana Nell

Well, not much new to report today except Zac is continuing to take food very well, his blood tests are all coming back great, and he's doing well still without the extra oxygen from his c-pap. All good things!

Nana Nell just called to give us an update from the visit she and Puddin' just made, and she told me when they arrived, he'd wiggled himself not only out of his c-pap, but his little hat as well. :) She wished she'd had her camera because this was a rare chance to get a picture without that crazy tube in and while he was awake. So they were able to help get him weighed and I'm told he weighed in at 4 lbs, 1 oz. tonight, which would be 5 oz. more than the last time we knew about, which I think was Tuesday. He's been getting real food plus his supplements still, and they even doubled his food at his feedings today, so that might explain some of it, though the nurse did say she thinks he may be about to get rid of a little bit of that weight sometime tonight. :)

No new pics today, but I should say that when Katy first saw him this morning after her visit to have her staples removed (woohoo!), she took a pic of him sleeping completely spread out, arms behind his head as though he was just resting in a recliner. He seems to like being all closed up when on his tummy, but put him on his side or on his back and he's just all over the place. They try putting his legs in tighter and bundling him up, but the first thing he does is kick his legs right back out again. Strong-willed little guy, to be sure. :)

Making Improvement

Just a quick update tonight. Zac is continuing to make solid improvement. Today we've both been able to hold him for quite awhile, and for the first time, he is getting to eat, albeit through a feeding tube! That's pretty exciting and is a good step forward.

Also, just a few minutes ago they stopped adding oxygen to his c-pap, which is that big breathing tube thingy you've seen in some of the pictures. He will wear the c-pap through the night and they'll test him again in the morning, I believe, for blood gas, as they have consistently so far. If all is well, I guess there is a good chance he'll be off the breathing machine completely, which would be great! We'd really like to be able to see him without all the extra tubes around his face. :)

Katy and I rejoice in the seemingly small victories God provides with Zac. And though it's been about a week, time has just flown by and it's not dragging along at all. Before we know it, he'll be out of here and terrorizing the kitties at home! A quick note about the picture in this post. We were getting ready to leave, when Katy noticed he had his hand stuck down his diaper. As Katy said, it's too early for him to be acting like a man.

Zac Updates for 2/6/2008

Well, good news here. Zac had a good night and has had a good day. His bilirubin count is down to 6.8, which is at a level to where they are willing to pull off the lights. So, no foam purple sunglasses today, and he likes that. Additionally, he had fewer episodes of apnea last night and today and so they've changed his oxygen level and he's doing well with that, too. He's seems very content and today we've been able to hold him again. That is something we are very grateful for. In fact, today was my first chance to get to hold him! I enjoyed talking to him and found that if I spoke in a certain tone or used a specific voice inflection, he would raise his eyebrows as he was listening to me and even looking at me. :)

At this age, he can really only see clearly about 8-10 inches in front of his face, so we try to be close to him as possible when he's in his little bed or when we're holding him. Katy is holding him right now, doing the kangaroo care again, where she holds him up close, with skin to skin contact. He becomes very content when she does this, and his sleep is supposedly even deeper when this is happening.

One thing we've read is that for premature babies, deep sleep is absolutely vital to their growth and health. They aren't awake much at this point anyway, sleeping about 22 hours or more every day, so it's important for us to let him sleep and not bug him just because we want to be near him. :)

Back to the lights!

Hey everyone, thought I'd pass along an update for today, Tuesday the 5th. Zac's tests for everything regarding infection and how his oxygen is being processed, etc., are coming back just fine. Yesterday they did an MRI, I think it was, on his kidneys and liver and everything there looks good, too.

Today is he back on the lights for his jaundice. They advised us this is fairly typical. Hopefully he'll continue improvements and get that treatment out of the way for good here in the next day or two. The nurses advised us that he had 34 episodes of apnea yesterday, which is a fair number, but that today so far he's been better. It's my understanding that as of this writing, which is 5:25pm CST, he's had about 7 so far today. Right now as I sit here in his room, he's resting well, though suddenly very active as I see him kicking his feet up in the air quite a bit!

I did some reading on this and apparently the nervous system for premature babies isn't fully developed yet, so they make kind of jerky movements sometimes with their arms and legs. Same movements regular newborns make, just a little less smooth. :)

Katy has spend much of today here with Zac, as we arrived a little after 11 this morning. I had a computer job to work on, but returned here around 3:30 and we intend to stay for awhile yet. No new pics to post just yet, as not much has changed and we can't take him out of his little bed today, but maybe tomorrow! Take care all.

Katy is being sprung!

Just a quick note this morning...Katy is being sprung! Yeah, I know it sounds like "from jail", but though that's not accurate, it does feel that way after you've been here so long. :)

She's being discharged sometime this morning, which will be nice so life can begin to resume. We'll be back here with Zac at the NICU this afternoon a bit and then this evening, I'm sure. I have many errands and chores to do at home, including buying food for us to eat, so it'll be a busy day!

But, I just wanted to let everyone know she's heading home. If anyone in town wants to see us or Zac, just call us on our cell phones so you'll know where we are at that time. :)

Sunday, Feb. 3rd Update

Well, just a quick update for Sunday. We spent significant time in Zac's room today and tonight. Last night they put him back on the c-pap (sp?), which is essentially just a bigger breathing tube, to help make sure he's getting enough oxygen. The percentage they are giving him is fairly low, less than 25% oxygen. To compare, the air we breathe is 21%. He had some episodes of labored breathing overnight last night and a few bouts of apnea. As I'm sure everyone knows, apnea is when you essentially quit breathing for a short period of time. We're most familiar with it in people who we say have sleep apnea. No difference here with Zac. At this age, he shouldn't have had to be ready to tell himself to breathe just yet, and so it'll just take a little while for his mind to figure it out. So occasionally he'll take a deep breath and then just wait a few seconds before taking another. While for us that's no big deal, for him it's not what they want.

To aid in figuring this out, they began today giving him a daily dose of caffeine. That's right, caffeine. This stimulates him so that he'll be a bit more active and also helps keep his mind alert so he remembers to breathe, so they tell us. They'll keep him on this with a once daily regimen for at least a few days here. Other than that, he is doing very well overall. He has a little bit of jaundice and so is under the lights and has been since Saturday. Won't be too long before he can remove his cool purple foam shades. :)

Just about everything else is pretty normal, and he is certainly alert and active, moving his arms and legs often. Might sound like something simple, but Katy and I think it's pretty funny when he'll just suddenly kick his legs up in the air. Saturday, while Katy was holding him (something we couldn't do today), he followed us around with his eyes, and was watching many things. Tonight I was able to assist the nurse while she changed out his medicines and nutrition tubes, and with weighing him as well. While I was holding him and then lifting him up so she could move things around, he watched me very intently. It's nice to know that, even at this very young age, and even as premature as he was, he still is aware of his surroundings to the point where he can follow what is happening. He's one tough cookie, but I'm just glad he's too young to remember all these tubes and poking and prodding years from now. :)

Grabbing On

Grabbing On
Originally uploaded by jewfrat1

This is during the first time Zac was out of his incubator today, Feb. 2nd. Katy was able to hold him for about 25 minutes.

New Baby!

As we've contacted just about everybody in our lives by now with an e-mail update, I'm sure I missed some. Even when you add in all the phone calls Katy's parents made, surely someone has been missed. If you didn't get the full details, please e-mail Scott (scott@bythebookkeeping.com) and ask away. For now, I'm adding a pic here and there in this blog until I can figure out how to get the ones I've saved online to show up here. Also, you can click here to see what we've placed out on Shutterfly. I'd hoped not to have to send anyone to an external link, but hey, I'll take what I can get at this point!

We'll try to post here regularly moving forward, and this is where I'll place any updates, so if you have a desire to follow along, you can subscribe to this blog through the link provided on the page, which I think shows up somewhere below the blog lists. :)