June 13, 2007

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

Kyle has been breathing without any assistance for 54 hours now! He has to do it for a couple more days before the doctor will be comfortable discharging Kyle without oxygen assistance. At worst case Kyle can come home on a very low flow nasal canula until his lungs get stronger. Kyle is still taking his bottles like a champ. He has been drinking 1 1/2 ounces of breastmilk every three hours. Today his feedings were changed to "ad lib" which means as long as Kyle eats a minimum of 6 ounces every twelve hours, he can eat it whenever he would like. So far Kyle has done great and finished his 6 ounce requirement within 6 hours.

In response to the questions that were left on the comments section over the last couple days:

• How will we get home to Ohio? If you had asked me last week I would have said that we would be flying back to Ohio. However, since Kyle came off of the oxygen the doctors changed their mind and would prefer us to drive home. Joe will be flying to Orlando early next week and then the three of us will drive home once we get the green light from the doctors.


• Does Kyle cry like a newborn baby or has he gotten adjusted to life in his crib/isolette to the point where he is less expectant of being held all the time? Kyle loves to be held and promptly cries the minute he is put down! The hard part about this is that from 10am-12pm and 6:30pm -7:30pm we are not allowed in to visit Kyle. His nurses make sure he has everything that he needs medically, but are not able to just spend time holding him. Lately when I arrive after after the nursey has just been closed, Kyle's face is bright red from crying and it just breaks my heart. Actually, I forgot to mention something relating to this last week. If you remember Kyle was having issues with his blood pressure being high. Kyle's doctor was stumped as to why, so Kyle was examined by a Nephrologist (pediatric blood pressure specialist) on Friday. As it turns out, Kyle is fine, just stressed out. The specialist said that often times we under estimate the intelligence of babies. In the begining, Kyle was not very aware of his surroundings, but now he senses that there is more to life than what he has been able to experience. Much like you and I would be ready to leave the hospital after such a prolonged stay, they said that Kyle is ready to move on as well. I am not sure if this is the official name, but the specialist said basically Kyle has "NICU stress." He came to this diagnosis based on Kyle having some good blood pressures mixed in with his high blood pressure. Originally they thought his high blood pressure was related to his kidneys, but the specialist said if this was the case then his blood pressure would always be high. Anyways, sorry to turn a simple question into such a long explanation!



• Is Kyle still on a heart monitor? Yes, Kyle is on a monitor that will alarm if Kyle's heart rate drops below 80 beats per minute or if the oxygen level in Kyle's blood drops to a certain level. There are three probes, each about the size of a quarter, that stick to Kyle's chest...which is why they weren't appereant in the pictures. Because of his BPD (Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia/Chronic Lung Disease) Kyle will be going home on the monitor but this is hopefully something that we won't need for long.



• Are we going to continue the blog once we go home? Yes, we plan to still update the blog, although not as frequently, once we are home. I think this blog has turned into Kyle's baby book and his story certainly doesn't end here!

I don’t think I have ever been so happy! I was scared to death at his birth but I am overwhelmed with joy and contentment right now… I wonder what I will be like the day he rolls out from the hospital!

Much Love,

Jennifer, Joe, Madison and Kyle