Thank you for praying for Benjamin. Your prayers were heard! His surgeon was successful at putting the prolapsed part back without having to go to surgery (I am not exactly how that worked, but they did it!). He warned me that it can easily prolapse again and not to be alarmed unless it shows signs of not getting enough oxygen. There is no defined plan to do the surgery other than sometime before he goes home for good. They would still like him to get to at least the 2000 gram weight before surgery if at all possible.
It was an exhausting day for Benjamin though. Not only did he have a lot of work done on his intestines (that must feel weird!) and got his stomach poked a lot, but he had his first eye exam, which can be a little stressful for such a little guy. He handled it all like a trooper and other than requiring some extra oxygen for several hours, he came through it all like a star and is still doing very well breathing on CPAP.
Mom and I got see something super sweet today. We saw Benjamin smile for the first time. He may have smiled before, but the ventilator was blocking his lips. Some people say babies can't smile, but I beg to differ! He had his grandma in tears and melted his mama's heart! It is another moment I will tuck away in my box of memories forever.
Thanks again for standing with us!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
April 29, 2009
Good morning! I have an urgent request for prayer for Benjamin. Last night Benjamin's ostomy prolapsed (the amount of visible intenstine has more than doubled, maybe even tripled from what the nurse discribed). They believe this may have happened due to the increased amount of pressure from being on CPAP combined with a couple sutures that had come undone. I spoke with a doctor this morning and he said that he needed to discuss the situation with the surgeon, but they were basically watching the site and he believed that they would probably need to intervene within the next couple days, either by putting the recently prolapsed part back in and stiching it up or by putting the whole ostomy back in. Each has advantages and disadvantages. The good news is that they have to wait a minimum of 6 weeks after the surgery before they can even consider putting the intestine back in and closing the site all together, and it has been 6 weeks and 3 days. The unfortunate part is that they like babies in this situation to be over 2000 grams (over 4lbs 6 oz) and Benjamin is only 1360 (3 lbs). They have done it before and will do it if necessary, but it is just not the best scenario going into surgery. Plus, Benjamin will have to go back on the ventilator for the surgery.
Please pray for wisdom for the surgeons, doctors, & nurses watching over Benjamin, that they would have a supernatural ability to see the situation and make the best choices for Benjamin and that Benjamin would remain comfortable and strong. His nurse from last night said that he was handling it all pretty well so far.
Thank you!
Please pray for wisdom for the surgeons, doctors, & nurses watching over Benjamin, that they would have a supernatural ability to see the situation and make the best choices for Benjamin and that Benjamin would remain comfortable and strong. His nurse from last night said that he was handling it all pretty well so far.
Thank you!
Monday, April 27, 2009
April 27, 2009
Today was a good day for Benjamin. Not only did he reach the 3 lb mark (1360 grams), but he was moved off the ventilator again and has been doing great so far!!! He is on CPAP again and so far looks like he might make it this time. We are praying
that he will have good breathing endurance and will rememeber to breathe. This is really hard work for his very preemie lungs. So far he hasn't had any of the episodes that scared us so much last time, praise God!
He received his first bath last Thursday and I got to help give it to him. His nurse held him in one of those small hospital tubs and I washed him. I included a few pictures. He is also starting to maintain his temperature better so he can spend more time with his incubator lid raised. I love this since I get a better view of him and he will start getting to wear clothes mo
re out of necessity. He looks so cute when he gets to wear his little preemie clothes.
Early Sunday morning we received a call from Benjamin's nurse that he might have a bacteria infection. The night before they found a little spot on his back that concerned them. So, Benjamin is back on antibiotics. Poor little guy has been on antibiotics most of his short life. They are doing blood cultures and cultures of the spot to see if they test positive for harmful bacteria. As of today they were negative, but they need to wait 48 hours to before they will know for certain. When we received this news, all I could think was, what next? Such is the life of a baby born 15 weeks early. Please pray that the test will rema
in negative.
Here are some more pictures:
1) Benjamin enjoying his first bath. I am not sure, but it looks like he is giggling in this picture, maybe since I just got done with his armpit!
2) Another bath picture. He was holding on to Leanna's finger for dear life.
3) First hair washing with soap...(trivia - what soap do they use to bath the babies in the NICU? Answer: Plain old Neutragena)
4) Our little man gets to wear his first onesie.
5) A proud mama shows off how big her boy is getting
6) Benjamin on CPAP today, sporting his doggy shirt and brown footed jammies.
that he will have good breathing endurance and will rememeber to breathe. This is really hard work for his very preemie lungs. So far he hasn't had any of the episodes that scared us so much last time, praise God!He received his first bath last Thursday and I got to help give it to him. His nurse held him in one of those small hospital tubs and I washed him. I included a few pictures. He is also starting to maintain his temperature better so he can spend more time with his incubator lid raised. I love this since I get a better view of him and he will start getting to wear clothes mo
re out of necessity. He looks so cute when he gets to wear his little preemie clothes.
Early Sunday morning we received a call from Benjamin's nurse that he might have a bacteria infection. The night before they found a little spot on his back that concerned them. So, Benjamin is back on antibiotics. Poor little guy has been on antibiotics most of his short life. They are doing blood cultures and cultures of the spot to see if they test positive for harmful bacteria. As of today they were negative, but they need to wait 48 hours to before they will know for certain. When we received this news, all I could think was, what next? Such is the life of a baby born 15 weeks early. Please pray that the test will rema
in negative.Here are some more pictures:
1) Benjamin enjoying his first bath. I am not sure, but it looks like he is giggling in this picture, maybe since I just got done with his armpit!
2) Another bath picture. He was holding on to Leanna's finger for dear life.
3) First hair washing with soap...(trivia - what soap do they use to bath the babies in the NICU? Answer: Plain old Neutragena)
4) Our little man gets to wear his first onesie.
5) A proud mama shows off how big her boy is getting
6) Benjamin on CPAP today, sporting his doggy shirt and brown footed jammies.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
April 23, 2009
Tonight Benjamin weighed 1330 grams - that is about 2lbs 15oz. We don't totally believe the weight since he gained 60 grams from the night before and that is a bit high. Regardless, he is gaining slowly but surely. Yesterday he was 31 gestational weeks and tomorrow he is 6 weeks 
old!
The past few days have been much more restful and normal for Benjamin. I have been able to hold him again the past two days. His oxygen requirements have also dropped. He stayed at 23-25% oxygen most of the day. Considering room air is 21% oxygen, we were very pleased! A concern that we do have is that he still has a lot of secretions in his lungs, and they have to remove them by suctioning more frequently now. They believe this is mostly caused by the ventilator, but c
ould be from other causes too. We are hoping that he will be ready for another try off the vent by Wednesday of next week. Please keep this in your prayers.
I have had many requests for more pictures, so here they are.
1) Benjamin and his bunny (thanks mom)
2) Benjamin and his snazzy micro-preemie attire (which he has grown out of! We hope he will grow into his preemie clothes soon even though he just needs a diaper now!)
3) Another sweet picture of our boy
As always, we cherish your prayers for Benjamin.
old!The past few days have been much more restful and normal for Benjamin. I have been able to hold him again the past two days. His oxygen requirements have also dropped. He stayed at 23-25% oxygen most of the day. Considering room air is 21% oxygen, we were very pleased! A concern that we do have is that he still has a lot of secretions in his lungs, and they have to remove them by suctioning more frequently now. They believe this is mostly caused by the ventilator, but c
ould be from other causes too. We are hoping that he will be ready for another try off the vent by Wednesday of next week. Please keep this in your prayers.I have had many requests for more pictures, so here they are.
1) Benjamin and his bunny (thanks mom)
2) Benjamin and his snazzy micro-preemie attire (which he has grown out of! We hope he will grow into his preemie clothes soon even though he just needs a diaper now!)
3) Another sweet picture of our boy
As always, we cherish your prayers for Benjamin.
Monday, April 20, 2009
April 20, 2009
Just wanted to give you an update on Benjamin. He gave it a really good try, but yesterday afternoon he needed to go back on the ventilator again. We were told in advance that this could happen, and though we were disappointed that he has to be on a ventilator again, we are relieved that he is resting again for the most part. He had a couple more episodes of apnea again today where his heart rate and oxygen saturation both dropped and he needed help to get back up, but overall he was much more restful. They started him on steroids (a similar type that they use to treat children with asthma) to help his lungs. This is all because of his extreme prematurity. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that even though he has been around for 5 1/2 weeks, he was still not due for more than 9 weeks! We are praying for strengthening of his little lungs, comfort and rest for his little body, and wisdom & insight for his doctors & nurses.
Also, an update on Benjamin's second cousin Katie. She is actually off the ventilator and doing much better, with only minimal oxygen support. Like Benjamin, it appears that her PDA is open (vessel near heart that typically closes on its own at birth) and she may need surgery down the road. Please pray for her continued improvement and that the PDA will close as it should.
We continue to cherish your prayers!
Also, an update on Benjamin's second cousin Katie. She is actually off the ventilator and doing much better, with only minimal oxygen support. Like Benjamin, it appears that her PDA is open (vessel near heart that typically closes on its own at birth) and she may need surgery down the road. Please pray for her continued improvement and that the PDA will close as it should.
We continue to cherish your prayers!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
April 18, 2009
Yesterday was a big day for Benjamin as he had his ventilator removed and went on CPAP. Now, a day and a half later, he is still off of the ventilator and overall doing pretty good. He has had multiple "episodes" where he forgets to breathe and his heart rate drops as well as his oxygen saturation. This can be pretty scary to watch as monitors start ringing and he starts turning blue. I am getting better about seeing this happen and not panicking, but when this happens, like Benjamin, I tend to hold my breath. Fortunately, God has blessed us with some pretty talented individuals who know just how far they can let him go and when to intervene. Overall, we are very excited about his progress and that he is breathing on his own with some help from CPAP. This is hard work on a little body that has been letting a ventilator breathe for him for the past 5 weeks. Despite the hard work, Benjamin has proved to be a little warrior and fought this battle hard. We are praying that he can continue to be strong and that God will continue to strengthen his little body and lungs.
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