January 31-The evening post

Well it's official! Oliver looks good in hats! :)

He had an echo done on his heart this morning to double check that everything is exactly as it should be and it is! His heart is healthy and full of love. The results of his latest platelet count weren't as fabulous as we had hoped-his platelets are back down to 14,000. He will receive another platelet transfusion tonight.

It seems every time we visit the NICU there is a tale to be told of Oliver's strength. Some even refer to him as 'feisty' :) He has had a few periods of being alert and really enjoys being touched. He is very tolerant but if he doesn't like what's being done to him he definitely lets you know!

January 31-afternoon update

I am so happy to report that little Oliver's platelet level is at 73,000! The highest level yet!!! He will have his levels checked again at 6:00 this evening; and he will likely need more platelet transfusions in the future-but our hope is that he will need them less frequently as his levels start to build. HOORAY OLIVER!!!

Oliver's doctor has been working with a blood bank director in Texas who agreed this big bump in platelet levels is a great sign! The hematologist and his Dr. agree this appears to be a viral infection and the most likely treatment will be supportive care and time...There are other levels they have been keeping an eye on (like red & white blood cell count) and we are seeing improvements there which indicate he is making progress. :) We are sending off a sample of my blood to have it tested for anything that might have contributed to Oliver getting sick. His Doctor said she's pretty sure that they won't find anything but the test takes a week so she wants to have it sent off in case a week from now we're still looking for answers...

I am recovering from the c-section nicely and will be discharged this afternoon. Because Oliver is still here and we live so far away there are rooms here that we are allowed to stay in...a division of the Ronald McDonald house. It's day-by-day but it's in the hospital so it will be convenient to visit Oliver day or night. We are counting our blessings and cheering on Oliver as he does all this hard work!

January 31-The beginning of day 3

Oliver had the most wonderful night nurse last night! She was tender and attentive, she consolidated his lines and remodeled his incubator! New, fashionable blankets that made all the other babies jealous! He was swaddled and had lightly weighted pads on and around him that I'm sure made him feel like Sean and I were there with our hands on him. He is snug as a bug in a rug!

The night nurse said he was very well behaved last night. He slept almost the entire time (something I hope he makes a habit of when we go home :)) He had another platelet transfusion around midnight and his labs came back at 17,000 so I'm sure he will be getting another platelet transfusion today. He sure is a tough little cookie!

January 30-evening

We just finished visiting little Oliver and he made us laugh the entire time! He ate more colostrum and was rooting on his pacifier, mouth wide open, vigorously searching for more food. I wish I had a video of him, it was just adorable! He had another platelet transfusion this afternoon and they checked his levels immediately afterward-36,000! The Dr. ordered a couple low doses of steroids and he will have another transfusion tonight (or early in the morning). He was alert and looking around and appeared to be feeling a little better this evening. It was especially hard to leave his side when he was awake, but we know how much he needs his rest. The nurses change his diaper about every 4 hours so we will go back around midnight and check on him :) Tomorrow morning he will be 3 days old-I am hopeful that we will start seeing the antibiotics working to make Oliver feel better...the blood culture results should be in tomorrow although I think they would have contacted the Doc by now if the culture had grown anything-but I'm curious just the same. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers...Oliver is very loved!

January 30-afternoon

Oliver is receiving his blood transfusion right now. His nurse sent off another platelet level test and his level came back at 14,000 so when the blood transfusion is finished he will be given more platelets. The Dr. decided to take him off the UV light which is SOOOOO nice for Sean and I because we get to see his sweet face without the goggles that were protecting his eyes :)

All the cords and tubes look intimidating, but the tube under his nose is just oxygen, and the stickers on his temples are velcro hearts that held the goggles on-they will be coming off soon. The wrap around his wrist measures the oxygen level in his blood and the cords & stickers on his belly and chest listen to his heart and record his heart rate. 

He's a big fan of the pacifier!

He loves to hold Daddy's hand :)

January 30-Good morning!

Sean went to tuck Oliver in and get the results of his last platelet count last night and the night nurse let him feed him a little colostrum, change his diaper, take his temp and pick him up for a moment! Sean said Oliver REALLY enjoyed eating-It is absolutely ridiculous how much joy those things bring us!!! One thing is for sure, this little guy is truly loved!

The platelet count came back at 19,000-we are very happy that his count is climbing :) Early this morning they switched his IV lines to an umbilical line which goes into his belly button like an umbilical cord. This allows the Dr.'s and nurses to give fluids and draw blood without having to poke him so often...something I'm sure he appreciates! He received another vitamin k shot (to help his blood clot) and another platelet transfusion. The nurse said his bili (bilirubin) level is up a little bit since yesterday so the Dr. will probably keep him under the UV light a while longer. He will also be getting a whole blood transfusion today-mostly because they need to take so many samples to test. The nurse said it is not uncommon to see him get a little worse before he starts getting better but he's not any sicker than he was yesterday...we appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers you are sending our way. Everyone keeps offering to help and asking if we need anything...I really believe we are in good hands here, and we have everything we need, but I'm sure that will change when we get to go home! ;) If you feel like you just need to do SOMETHING I want to encourage you to donate blood. As I look at our sweet boy and think of the blood and platelets that he's needed in the last few days I can't help but be thankful to whoever it was that donated the blood that is helping him survive. It is an amazing gift!

And now I am off to visit Oliver! I will post another photo soon...at least one each day :) :) :)

January 29

We just finished saying good night to our sweet boy. The night nurse gave him his 4th platelet transplant a few hours ago and measured his platelet level-it's up to 55,000! Not as high as it needs to be, but quite an improvement! It will likely drop again but every little bit helps. We were also able to give him his first taste of colostrum today-I think he liked it!

He is under a UV light because he is a little jaundiced-the little goggle looking things on his face are to protect his eyes from the light. Sean is a proud Daddy!

Catching up...

Our family has been through a lot these last couple days and I know many of you are anxious to hear what's happening...in an effort to keep everyone up to date we decided to use this blog for a while. We love you all dearly and are finding it difficult to keep everyone informed. We are so blessed to have so many people supporting us right now! :)

So here's the run down:

Friday morning: I noticed the baby wasn't moving quite as much as usual, by Friday afternoon I went to the midwife to check he baby's heart tones and reassure myself that he was doing fine. He had a significant drop in heart rate during a contraction but we weren't too concerned. Decided to listen again Monday. Everything was fine over the weekend, but still felt like the baby was being a bit lazy.

Monday: We went to the midwife again, she checked heart tones again, and again he had a significant dip in heart tones during a contraction. As a precaution she suggested we have an ultrasound done just to see what was going on in there. We were able to get the ultrasound the same day and the ultrasound showed that he was doing great. I had a contraction during the ultrasound and his heart rate dropped again. In addition to that they thought they saw an abnormality in the heart chambers and thought we should go to Spokane and look at his heart on a 4D ultrasound in the next day or two to see if there was anything wrong. By Monday evening the midwife suggested we consider checking into our local hospital for a non-stress test. Sean and I decided it couldn't hurt so we packed up and went to our local hospital.

During the non stress test the baby didn't have a lot of the drops in heart tones he was having before-in fact, he didn't have much variation at all. Usually when a baby moves you see the heart rate spike up...he was moving, but his heart rate was staying the same 125-135 beats per minute. The Dr. didn't like this, but it wasn't alarming enough to do an emergency c-section so she wanted to keep us on the monitor overnight and have us go to Spokane in the morning to look at the baby's heart and monitor us some more.

Tuesday:

A few hours later the nurse woke us up and said the Dr. came back in, the baby's heart rate was making her uncomfortable enough to think we should go to Spokane now. She called a helicopter but because of the fog not one helicopter service was flying...she sent us in an ambulance. Sean was allowed to ride in the ambulance with us and we arrived at the hospital in Spokane around 3:00am. Hooked up to monitors again, we tried to get some rest before the 4D ultrasound-at about 5:30am we were woken and again the Dr. didn't like what was happening with the baby's heart rate. It appeared he was under too much stress during the contractions and we were prepping for c-section. Sean was allowed in the room along with about a dozen doctors and nurses for the baby and myself. By 6:30am we had a beautiful baby boy filling the operating room with the sweet sound of a new baby cry!

He was beautiful and strong and perfect! He scored a 9 on his APGAR and after a few minutes Sean followed him to the NICU where they looked him over. He had an ultrasound on his heart and miraculously it came back flawless. Within a few hours he started showing signs of petechiae (pronounced puh-TEE-kee-ee, pinpoint, round spots that appear on the skin as a result of bleeding under the skin.) This coupled with a slightly distended belly caused the pediatric doctors to run lots of tests...this is when we discovered his platelets were extremely low. A healthy newborn has platelet levels in the 150,000-250,000 range. An average baby in the NICU is usually around 150,000. Our baby was under 10,000. A platelet transfusion was ordered and a blood culture was sent off to see if any bacteria would grow that could identify what kind of infection he might have. They started him on broad spectrum antibiotics to cover a bacterial and fungal infection just to be safe. 

Wednesday: The NICU nurse who cared for the baby through the night said he did ok, he is still quite sick. His last platelet test came back at 16,000-an improvement, but still very low. He will continue to receive platelet transfusions until we get the levels under control. We are waiting to hear back about the blood culture, but because of the size of the blood sample sent from a newborn there is a chance nothing will grow. The doctor started him on another antibiotic today to cover viral infections. Odds are good one of the medications he is on will clear up whatever he's battling. 

On a brighter note I got to hold the baby for the first time today...only for about a minute and only because he pee'd all over his bedding and the nurse asked me to lift him up while she changed the blankets. Sean was there and the two of us were like a giant hug wrapped around our tiny little miracle. :) 

I will continue to update this site, and post pictures here. I hope you all know how much we love and appreciate you!!! I am recovering well from the c-section but keeping everyone up to date is taking several hours a day and I really need to spend some time resting! 

Thank you for your love and support!