Since my last post, Killian was transferred from the small baby NICU to another different floor in the same hospital where they tend to focus more on post-surgery babies, or babies with respiratory or digestive issues. It is a little less intense and their goals for Killian are to wean him off the nasal cannula, let him gain more weight and teach him how to eat. A couple weeks ago some tests revealed that his blood-sugar level was too low so they have been testing him regularly since then every 3-12 hours depending on the circumstances. They have been able to stabilize it somewhat, but he is still on the low end of the scale, so the hope is that his little body will be able to grow out of it and find the right level.
Last night he weighed a whopping 4lbs 14.5oz, and about a week ago his double-chin first appeared! We were thrilled to see a little extra baby fat on our son who has been thin for so long. Nina made the comment that now he looks like a regular baby, just miniature, instead of like a fragile preemie. His periods of alertness are longer and he interacts with us at times - he loves it when we kiss his stomach.
At this point he still has a couple hurdles to jump before coming home becomes a topic of discussion. Those steps are for him to be completely independent of any breathing aids, stabilize and maintain safe glucose (blood-sugar) level, and learn how to eat on his own without the feeding tube. With all of that, it seems as though we have 3-4 weeks to go and then we can take our son home...
Here are some pictures from recent weeks:
What a beautiful little boy!!! He looks stronger and stronger with each picture I see of him.. May god bless you and your family through out the Chiristmas season and may your hearts be filled with joy as each day passes by with the knowledge that your precious little gift will soon be home!!! God Bless!!
ReplyDeleteHow precious! Thank you for updating. I am praying for him to continue on growing stronger. God Bless you all.
ReplyDeleteGod bless. Keeping all 3 of you in prayer.
ReplyDeleteHi - I just came across your marvelous blogging from the link on Patrick Madrid's page, which I had randomly clicked open from Fr. Dwight Longenecker's blog. I pray you all will have a wonderful Christmas even if it is in the neonatal unit. What a bravely faithful journey you're making with Killian! Nineteen years ago Oct. 15, our son arrived at 28 weeks in Evanston Women's Hospital north of Chicago, the same length as your little guy and weighing a few more ounces. Your son's and our son's paths were similar, though ours had severe RDS and did not nurse until after PDA ligation and getting off the vent. I have got tears on my cheeks from looking at your photos and recognizing such similar preemie expressions and features - our son also had that furrow in his brow as a neonate! I baptized our son while sitting by his isolette. He is healthy today and considering what to do for the college phase of life. Killian is just beautiful, and praise God he has done so well - I can remember our fears for the PDA surgery like it was yesterday - and you describe the emotional roller coaster really well. Thank you for posting the long quotation about being a preemie parent and not knowing what to do. Once we had our son home at the new year in 1991, and slowly got off the meds, and past the ROP check-ups, then about 16 years went by before we ever really worried a lot about him! In other words most of life is not constantly life-threatening as a stay in the NICU may be. (When he started going off on 10-day bushwalks and handling firearms in the school Cadet program, some of the worries recurred but that is real life.) You have such good years ahead once out of the NICU and God's grace will see you over the bumps. May you have a very blessed Christmas.
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