Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - Departure Date Set

Excitement and anxiety have set in.... Aiden will be coming home on Friday!!!

We are so excited but very nervous. Lisa hardly slept last night. Tomorrow night we will spend the night in the NICU as a trial run. We will be in a secluded room in which we will be responsible for all of Aiden's care throughout the night and next morning. This will be a good test with the comfort of a full NICU team outside of our room.

Since our home in Paris is far from civilization, Friday we are taking Aiden to Camp Carol. Don't worry, we gave Carol a few days notice. :) We are planning to stay at Camp Carol for the first week prior to going home. We are still trying to bribe one of the NICU nurses into moving in with us.

Aiden is at 39 weeks gestation. One week from his original due date of October 7th. He weighs 6lbs - 14oz. He will be going home with oxygen support and a monitor.

Keep Aiden in your prayers!

http://lisaandtwins.blogspot.com

Sunday, September 28, 2008 - NG Tube Removed

As if someone flipped a switch, Aiden is now consistently taking his feeds through a bottle. He has been doing great for a day and a half of feedings now. Dr. Desai decided to remove the NG tube today.

The 10-day course of antibiotics has concluded. They also reduced his calorie supplements from 27 to 24. This change seems to have increased the frequency of bowel movements. He doesn't seem to be as gassy and uncomfortable.

Aiden is 15 weeks old. He weighs 6lbs -15oz. We should be getting really close to coming home. We'll keep you posted.

Keep praying for Aiden!

http://lisaandtwins.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - 38 Weeks Gestation

Aiden is at 38 weeks gestational age today. Only 2 weeks from his original due date. He is still at 6lbs - 9oz in weight and is 18.7 inches long. His course of antibiotics will be complete on Monday.

The last few days have been quiet. Aiden has slept through most of it. He continues to be sporadic in taking a bottle. He took two full bottles last night but very little during the day on Monday or today.

Keep Aiden in your prayers.

http://lisaandtwins.blogspot.com

Sunday, September 21, 2008 - On the Mend

Aiden is doing fine. He is still hanging out on the 4th floor. He is 14 weeks old and weighs 6lbs - 9oz. He gained 6oz last night.

He seems to be feeling better with the assistance of antibiotics for his urinary tract infection. His lumbar puncture and blood culture results were negative. Great news!

He did really good with 4 consecutive feedings yesterday. Two of which he took the whole bottle. Today, he seemed exhausted, but he did end up taking a full bottle late in the evening.


Aiden got a visit from Clergy. Pastor David Casey came by and tried to talk Aiden into becoming an Oklahoma Sooners fan. Aiden pretended to be asleep because he bleeds blue.



Keep Praying for Aiden!












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Thursday, September 18, 2008 - Back Upstairs

Aiden decided he didn't enjoy the life of luxury in Neo 3. He was transferred back upstairs to the NICU on the 4th floor Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.. His new home is in a very busy Nursery #6 with a window view of the VA hospital.

It is amazing how comfortable we had become with his situation and the thought that he would be coming home any day. It is amazing how quickly things can change. The dye test from Tuesday showed that he has urinary reflux. A culture from yesterday tested positive for infection in his urinary tract. The doctors and nurses have already started him on a course of two different antibiotics with a newly installed IV in his head.

They also did a lumbar puncture. So far the cultures are negative, but they will be monitored for the next three days. He got a blood transfusion today and his last chest x-ray was not as good as the one in August.

With all this seemingly bad news, I'm humbly reminded of how fortunate we are. Just walking back to his crib in the corner of the NICU quickly reminded me of the amazing miracles in that hospital. Aiden is certainly one of them.

Keep praying for Aiden. He is now 6lbs of miracle.

http://lisaandtwins.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - Power Nap

It's hard to believe that it's been three months since the boys were born. It's also hard to believe that Aiden is moving from preemie clothes to normal newborn sizes. He weighs 5 lbs. 14 ounces.

He was pretty tired today. He had a VCUG test (voiding cystourethrogram) this morning. My understanding is that they take an xray of the bladder area while using dye so that they can see if he is refluxing urine back into the kidneys. We should have the results tomorrow. This test must have taken a lot out of him. He slept all afternoon. He even slept through his diaper change. This is a picture from this afternoon.

When we called tonight his nurse said that he was really awake. He almost drank a full bottle at his 8 p.m. care time. I guess the power nap gave him the boost he needed.

Keep Aiden in your prayers!

http://lisaandtwins.blogspot.com

Sunday, September 14, 2008 - Aiden's Drinking Problem

Aiden is 13 Weeks old and weighs 5 lbs - 12 oz.

We are starting to believe that Aiden is enjoying his time in the NICU. He doesn't seem to be in any hurry to come home. Maybe he is getting used to having the Nurses around and having them answer to all his needs. Maybe he knows that he will be leaving the Marriott and going home to Motel 6.

Aiden is still struggling with his bottle feeds. He does well only when he wants to do well. When we want him to take a bottle, he doesn't want any part of it. Who would have thought that sucking and swallowing could be so difficult? It takes a lot of coordination to do this and also breathe. He is doing better, but still is not consistent enough. He's starting to take a full bottle about once a day. During the rest of his feedings during the day, he will only take about 25% of the bottle. The rest of the bottle is fed through the gavage tube.



Keep Aiden in your prayers! We can't wait to get him home.

http://lisaandtwins.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - Our Oompa Loompa

Aiden is at 36 weeks gestation. He weighed 5 lbs - 11oz on Monday and was really swollen from fluid build-up. After the doctors put him back on diuretic medicine, our little Oompa Loompa pooped and peed all day and dropped down to 5lbs - 8oz. He started feeling much better this afternoon.

He hasn't taken a bottle these past two days. Nurse Alice thought that he wasn't feeling very well due to the fluid build up. Lisa is going to try the bottle tomorrow.

Aiden was a little camera shy today....




Keep praying for Aiden!

http://lisaandtwins.blogspot.com

Sunday, September 7, 2008 - 12 Weeks Old

Aiden is now 12 weeks old and has broken the 5lb mark. He weighed 5lbs - 5oz on Saturday night and 5lbs - 10oz tonight. Such a huge weight gain in one night will bring attention from the doctors, because he is probably just retaining fluids.

Aiden is still doing good in his new location. It is very quiet in this nursery. There are very few alarms going off and usually only a few people in the room. Aiden is doing a little better with the bottle but still not great. He has to be able to take a bottle consistently and gain weight without the gavage feedings.


Aiden, Lisa, and I continue to be showered with love. Aiden will be a well dressed boy. He can wear a new outfit everyday from now until kindergarten. We may have to build an expansion to the nursery to fit everything in there. Thanks for all the support, prayers, and gifts.

Keep praying for Aiden!

http://lisaandtwins.blogspot.com

Thursday, August 4, 2008 - Graduation

Well, it's not college but it's close. After 81 days in the hospital, Aiden has finally changed rooms - He Graduated! He has been transferred from Nursery 5 of the 4th floor NICU to the "Graduation" Nursery on the 3rd floor. This is a newer nursery that was built for overflow. Generally, the healthier babies are transferred to this nursery in preparation for going home.

We haven't seen his new digs yet because he got transferred at midnight. Can't wait to see him tomorrow.

Aiden is still at 4lbs - 15oz. He is nursing well, and doing slightly better with the bottle. He does still have some oxygen desaturations and heart rate drops.

Keep praying for Aiden!




(Daddy's Cowboy)








http://lisaandtwins.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - 35 Weeks Gestation

Property of Mom Forever
Aiden is at 35 weeks gestation and now weighs 4lbs - 15oz. Nearly 5lbs.

Aiden slept through Labor Day. He didn't nurse real well yesterday, but did much better today. He went through physical therapy today. A physical therapist from the UK Graduate Clinic exercised Aiden and monitored his reflexes, muscle tone, and motor skills. This therapist will follow Aiden's progress up to 2 years of age. She has some items to monitor as time progresses, but in general everything went well.


Lisa and I finally got a chance to work on Aiden's nursery. It is nearly finished...

Keep praying for Aiden!

http://lisaandtwins.blogspot.com