Week 1

What a week it has been!  Although we really wish that we could have held off longer, we are so happy that we made it to 25 weeks before Dylan was born.  Success rates for 25-weekers are exponentially better than 24 weeks.

Overall, Dylan has done well and many of the nurses have commented on how he seems older than 25 weeks.  Most of this is due to his lung function.  He is on a respirator, but is breathing regular air.  He does most of his breathing on his own, but also gets a few breaths per minute from the respirator in case he forgets or gets tired.  I had a steroid course while I was in the hospital to help his lungs mature a bit faster.

He gets to wear some really cool soft sunglasses while he under lights to prevent jaundice.  Mike wants to write Oakley on them. : )

He has Mike's ears and toes.

*Feel free to direct people who are friends or family to this blog, but we would prefer that you not share pictures beyond that.

This is my favorite so far...

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Our biggest issue of the week has been baby's bowels.  His meconium (the precursor to regular poo) is really thick and tacky and he can't really get it out, so his stomach is distended and he has a lot of air in there.  They tried suppositories, enemas, and a tub to empty the air (which he still has), but none of it worked to clear the blockage.  So yesterday he had his first procedure.  A surgeon threaded a catheter up his colon with the guidance of X-Ray and they injected a solution to break down the meconium.  He's been pooping pretty well since then, but his stomach is still distended.  They will probably repeat the procedure again tomorrow.

Dylan also has a heart valve called a PDA open (it usually closes at birth, but is very common to be open in preemies).  This valve lets blood skip the lungs and go straight to the heart while baby is in utero since the blood gets oxygen from the mom.  Some of his blood is going through this valve and is not getting oxygenated which is a problem.  If it doesn't close, he will either need a drug or a surgery.  The drug might affect his bowels more, so we might have to go straight to the surgery, but no decisions will be made until his bowels have cleared up.  The surgery is relatively minor - they go in from his side and put a little clamp on the valve to close it.

We are extremely happy with the care that Dylan is receiving right now.  All of the doctors and nurses are fantastic and really keep up well-informed.  Right now he's in a large open nursery, but at the end of the month a brand new state-of-the-art NICU is opening.  We will have our own private room and even a window to the outside!  One of the nurses let us pick out our room since we will definitely be there awhile.

We really appreciate the support we have gotten from everyone.  If we are slow to respond to texts, calls, or emails, it's just because we are so busy and we've gotten so many well-wishes!  We hope this blog will be an easier way from us to communicate with everyone at the same time.  I'll update it at least once a week.