So it has been a few days since I last blogged so I thought I would get one in before the weekend started and the mad rush to get things done around the house begins. This weekend is Christmas shopping time for the Elley's, so I am sure the weekend will be gone before I know it.

Reid has had a rough couple of days and has been requiring much more oxygen (and much more attention) to keep his saturations up. The doctors are not quite sure of what is causing it, but after a couple of xrays and echo's, they have noticed that his lungs are not in good shape (maybe even worse???) and to top it off, he has pulmonary hypertension (PPHN). The dilemma we are facing is that to help with the PPHN, they have to increase his oxygen levels. The downside of this is that the high oxygen levels are the driving force into what is causing Reid's eye issues. Right now though, his eyes are the lesser of the two evils --- one has to give.

Nonetheless, we are still hoping that Reid is transported to Egleston on Sunday. With the PPHN, there may be some slight issues and cause the doctors to delay the surgery. However, Reid's oxygen requirements have been elevated for the past few days and with still a few more days until surgery, we are hoping that it will pay off and reduce his levels of PPHN. Monday should be an interesting day... First things first, the eye specialist will check Reid over to see how his eyes are progressing. Dr. Metcalf said that if he needs laser surgery, that this is something that they would do right away (possibly even before the hernia surgery). Also, since he will be at a specialist children's hospital, he will have a team of specialist do some further tests (heart, lungs, etc) to see if they see anything that hasn't already been discovered. We think that Dr. Metcalf is the best thing since sliced bread and wouldn't trade him for anything, but it will be nice to have a second set of eyes looking at Reid. If all goes well, we are hoping that Reid will have surgery on Tuesday for his hernia (and hopefully his circumcision as well). He will be intubated for these procedures, so the sooner they can then get him off of the vent, the sooner he can come home. I think in the best case scenario, we are looking at least 4 or 5 days. With the hospital being downtown at Emory, it is not going to be an easy 10-15 minute drive anymore. :(

Today, I went into the NICU about 2:30 and was able to bottle feed Reid for the first time. It is fun to watch him suck on the bottle and watch him coordinate his breathing and swallowing. He would take a few sips of his milk, swallow, take a series of quick breaths and then start the whole cycle over again. This may not sound like a big deal, but for babies on CPAP, this is an incredible task. Between what I described and having a high volume of pressured air/oxygen being forced up his nose, it is no simple task. I mean, sometimes Kristen can't even walk and chew gum at the same time (like last night)... let alone try something like this. :)

Anyway, we aren't expecting to know anything more until Sunday when we get a confirmation that the transport team will be coming to pick him up. Obviously, other children with more critical situations will take precedence over Reid, so we will be at the mercy of God as to when Reid gets his first trip out into the real world. Keep saying your prayers and I will update again on Sunday. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Just wanted to post a quick update: I called Dr. Metcalf this morning to discuss Reid's plan and it looks like Reid will be transported to Egleston Children's Hospital At Emory University on Sunday and will undergo hernia surgery on Monday. He wanted to make sure that he was at Egleston when his next eye test was due so that if there are any changes that require laser surgery, he is already in the right place to have it done.

Reid had an echo done this morning, will probably have a xray done on Friday. He is slightly anemic (decrease in normal red blood cells) which will most likely require another blood transfusion before transport. The red blood cells help with oxygen transportation and will help reduce his oxygen requirements for surgery.

All this time, Kristen and I have been wanting to hurry up and get the surgery on the road, and now that it is a reality, there is a huge sense of nervousness that has come over me. I know that everything is going to work out, but I just feel so bad for Reid as he has undergone so much over the past 3 months. As a new parent, I have quickly become aware that his well-being and his safety are my responsibility. However, in this situation, there is absolutely nothing that I can do but sit back and pray. Not a welcoming feeling to have...

Anyway... this is the tenative plan and will update you with more details as soon as I have them.

Reid had his eye test today and the results were good: there was no new growth and the small hemorrhaging that was present last week was not there today. Another follow-up test will be performed next week. Although I can't complain too much with the good news today, is anyone else tired of the waiting game?!?

Dr. Metcalf has been out of town over the past few days attending a conference in DC and will be back in the NICU tomorrow. We are anxious to see what is going to come of the hernia sergery because it seems that the eyes are holding steady and there is no rush to have laser surgery. The hernias have not been that bad over the past week and are easily reducible, so I am guessing that surgery will be held off on that as well.

Reid is continuing to grow and weighed in at 6 lbs 8 oz last night.

Tomorrow (Dec 9th) is Kristen's original due date. As Dr. Metcalf reminds us, the past 14 weeks have been a sneak preview of Reid and tomorrow, he would have been ready to be born. It is hard to believe that 14 weeks have passed, but at the same time, it also feels like we have been living in the hospital FOREVER. We have come a long way, and we have a long way to go, but every day that passes is another day closer to him coming home.... and we are READY for him to be home!!!

My parents are coming into town on Wednesday to see my niece's (Evelyn) performance at school, so on Thursday, they will be able to visit Reid. It has been awhile since they have seen him, so we are anxious to have them visit. Reid will have changed quite a bit for them, so it will be exciting to show him off again. :)

Anyway, no other news to post. Will post later this week when we hopefully will get more of a direction as to when his hernia surgery will be.

No update: eye test was scheduled for tomorrow and not today.

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post. This past week seems to  be a blur to me between the short visit to DC and the short visit to Chicago. The conference in Chicago was fun, but I was definitely ready to come home.

Today is the first day that I have seen Reid since last Monday as I came down with a sniffle and a cough while I was gone. I think that I was probably fine, but taking the chance at getting him sick just wasn't worth it. I must say though, that going a week without seeing him quickly proved how fast he is growing. He is a chunky little baby!!! Last night, he weighed in at 6 lbs 4 oz.

Reid has a follow-up eye test tomorrow. This should give us a clearer picture as to where we stand on both surgeries. I think they are holding off on the hernia surgery until there is some definitive news about his eyes. Now that I am back home, I am hoping that they can do the surgery this week. Personally, I would rather do it now rather than wait until it gets closer to Christmas. Surgeries around Christmas don't sound like fun!

There really isn't much else that is new. He is doing a little bit of breast feeding and is up to 50 cc of milk every 3 hours, so all is well in that department.

Well, I will wrap this post up and will follow up again tomorrow after the eye test (which is usually around 4 or 5pm). Hope everyone had a  
good weekend.

A quick post as my night is running short. I have packing for my trip yet to do and some work I need to finish, but I did want to get the latest news out there while it was still hot off the press. Reid had his follow up eye test, and while there was some good eye growth, there was also some unwelcomed growth. When probing the doctor, he thought laser surgery was coming around the corner in a couple of weeks. Not the news we were looking for.

The good news for today: Reid weighed in at a whopping 5 lbs 15.9 oz. It my eyes, that is as close to a six pound baby as you are going to get. :)

He is still on the CPAP and will hopefully know more about him coming off of it tomorrow. I know Kristen has a question list a mile long for the doctors.

Anyway, sorry for the short post.

It has almost been a week since my last post, so I figured I better get on the computer to get a couple notes jotted down and post a few pictures that have been taken over the past few days. Kristen's mother, Carol, came into town on Wednesday and they quickly got to work in the kitchen to get a few things made for Thanksgiving. We brought in a pie and bagels and coffee for the NICU staff on Thursday morning. Everyone seemed very appreciative, but it was the least that we could do for such a great group of people. They are our second family right now and we wanted to bring them something to munch on when they had to be away from their families on Thanksgiving day to take care of our little one. After a short visit with Reid, we got on the road and headed up to South Carolina to visit my parents. Jennifer (my sister), Todd and their three boys were up there as well, so we had a nice visit and a yummy Thanksgiving dinner. We headed back to Atlanta on Friday after a short stay.

Reid, our little turkey, has been gobbling up his milk and is up to 5 lbs 13 oz. While I thought he looked like a "real" baby when we first got him into some clothes, he is really looking like a newborn child now with his extra weight.

His lungs are continuing to grow and has made some improvements over the past few days. His bubble CPAP has been lowered to level 4 and his oxygen requirements continue to lessen. Talking to Dr. Metcalf yesterday, he thought that he might try Reid on the high flow nasal cannulas in the next few days. We are ready to see him without the CPAP gear on his head, so this will be a welcomed change. Reid seems to be a little more agitated with the CPAP and has an easier time pulling it out of his nose. In fact, the hats that the therapists use to hold the equipment on his head are a little too small now and don't seem to work as well. My mom took one of Reid's own hats and attached the velcro strap to it and it seemed to work well yesterday. Being the domesticated guy that I am, I sewed a strap onto another one of his hats this morning. Kristen laughs at me that I know how to sew... but I think it is just a cover-up as she is jealous that she doesn't know how to sew herself. :)

Reid was to have hernia surgery this week, but looks like Dr. Metcalf wants to hold off on this now. His hernias are a little easier to reduce and they would like to wait as long as possible before they do the surgery. He will have to be intubated for the surgery and are worried that this may cause a step back in Reid's respiratory progress. Long story short, we are glad that it isn't going to be this week as I am heading out of town again this week. I am in DC until Wednesday and then flying to Chicago for a leadership conference that I was nominated for. I am one of about 350 in Accenture North America (composed of about 35,000 people) that got chosen, so it was nothing that I wanted to miss. Not sure I am overly excited to leave town again, but it should hopefully be a good networking event for me.

Reid has a follow up eye test again tomorrow. We are crossing our fingers that we will have the same result as last week with little or no growth. I will do my best to update the blog tomorrow evening with the results. Hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving!

Back to rainy DC... ugh. I am starting to think that the rain follows me wherever I go.

Tonight, I am going to attempt to put together some secondhand notes about Reid... they are all coming from Kristen and I have to admit that she is quickly starting to know more about Reid's conditions than I do. Everyone commends me on how much I remember and how much I try to digest what the doctors tell us, but Kristen sure pulls her own now. :)

Kristen had her friend Teri in town this weekend from Dallas, so while they went out shopping yesterday, I took a trip to the NICU to have some father-son bonding time. I spent about 2 hours there, changed a dirty diaper and had a pretty non-eventful visit. Since Kristen didn't see him yesterday, she was chompin' at the bit this morning when I got up at 4:30am to go see him. She did wait, but she was there right at 8 when they opened back up after the shift change. She had a fairly stressful visit as his respirations were high, oxygen requirements were high (60%) and his temperature was low (96.8). Fearing another infection, the nurses did a CRP test to see if there was anything that was not normal. After a painful hour long wait, the results came back... and there was nothing out of the ordinary. Appears he was just cold and they wrapped him back up and put him under the heat lamps. After he warmed up, things started getting better and he returned to his normal self.

She went back to the hospital around 5pm and had a much better visit. He bottle fed, and overall, was just a happy baby... full of smiles. Dr. Benedict came while she was there to do the eye exam (which we have all been stressing about) and when it was all said and done ----- no new changes. In fact, when Kristen asked if laser surgery was in the very near future, he answered "NO". This would be a huge break for us if the bad vein growth can come to a halt!!!

On a different surgery topic, Reid still continues to have difficult hernias to reduce. In fact, it seems more and more common to hear the nurses describe the difficulties of reducing the hernia, only to have to call the doctor to do it themselves. Knowing that they like to wait until kids are at least 10 lbs before they operate, Kristen and I have a huge fear of having Reid home and having to reduce the hernias ourselves. If the nurses have a hard time doing it, what makes you think that we can do it!?!?!? Kristen asked the nurse today about this, and she thought that hernia surgery may be in the near future (and we believe that the doctors have alluded to the fact as well). While I am hesitant to say that I would be happy that he would have surgery now, I am also secretly hoping that we won't have to face this issue after he comes home. This will just be one more thing that we have to worry about. So, long story short, while nervous about the surgery, I think it would be best if he did have it before his homecoming. Our biggest fear right now would be the transport to Scottish Rite hospital in Atlanta (http://www.choa.org/default.aspx?ID=841) and the possibility of him needing to go back on ventilator assistance during the surgery.

Hmmm... what else? His weight last night was at 5 lbs 6 oz. He hasn't been gaining all too much weight lately, but he did have some sizable gains the previous week. I guess they all even out over time.

His oxygen requirements still seem to be on the downward trend. While he did have some high numbers today, he was also at a point where he only required 35%. We like to think that these low numbers are contributing to his good eye tests. Keep up the good work Reid!!!

Well, I am going to sign off. Two people from my team are at the same hotel as me tonight, so we are going to try and venture into Old Town Alexandria tonight. The rain is coming down, but we are going to hop in the hotel shuttle and try to enjoy. will probably be a short evening as I have a 10:30 conference call tonight. Ugh. Anyway, thanks again for the prayers and keep them coming Reid's way! Good night.

It is Friday afternoon and I am ready to head home from the office. I got here about 7, but I still feel guilty for leaving at 4pm, so I am going to type up a quick blog entry and then head out --- and hopefully miss some of the rush hour traffic that commonly plagues the top-end perimeter area here in Atlanta...

Reid has had a pretty good week. While still on bubble CPAP level 5, his oxygen levels have come down drastically. Last week, he was in the 60% range, and this week, we have seen a trend to be hovering around 40-45 and has been as low as 30% today! At 30%, that is only 9% more than what you and I breathe on a daily basis!!! So, why is he still on the CPAP level 5? Good question… but the doctors really want to take it slow and wean him gracefully. They are expecting to, in the next few days to either move to Level 4 or to the nasal cannulas. One thing to note however, is that his CO2 levels are still really high. Today’s reading was at 78, but his body seems to be handling it well --- all of his levels as seen in his most recent blood tests appear to be normal. That doesn’t mean that the high levels are good, but talking to Dr. Lipsom today, she mentioned that it can take a long time for his body to get used to lower oxygen and start lowering his CO2. In fact, she said that he may still go home with high CO2 levels and he will level out over time. With that being said, there are a couple of things that they are changing: 1) stopped the diuretic medicine that he was on – which will contribute to higher levels of CO2; 2) possibly giving him calcium supplements – apparently, CO2 can cause calcium leaching of the bones. Long story short, he is progressing in the right way, and we are happy that his oxygen requirements have come way down.

He has been sleeping a lot more over recent days, however, this may be due to the high CO2. Apparently, this is a very common side effect. When he isn’t sleeping though, he has taken a trip to his in-room swing and seems to like it on the fast level. :) Also, when he is being held, he likes to have his bottom patted. Talking to one of the nurses, this is something that kids with Chronic Lung Disease tend to enjoy. So, Kristen pats away and he likes it.

Monday, he has a follow-up eye appointment. Still crossing fingers that the growth has slowed down..

Anyway... it is now 4:23pm and it is time to go. Been a long week and ready for a cold beer. Next week, I am heading to DC for three days and then it is time to relax with the Thanksgiving holiday. Woo Hoo! Enjoy your weekend!

Here are some random pictures. I am sure Kristen will hate me for posting this picture, but I just love the fact that she dug the "Chad is Rad" t-shirt out the other day and put it on:


This picture was taken Monday night after Kristen held him for about 30 minutes. He wasn't a happy camper that night, so we put him back in his crib where he decided that he was going to fuss and look around for a solid 30 minutes. Kept me busy entertaining him for awhile:


Luna is very interested in Reid's new play mat that Kristen picked up from Pottery Barn Kids the other day:


This picture was probably taken about a week and a half ago, but I wanted to show some context of how big he is. That is my wedding ring:

Yesterday, Luna (our indoor cat with no front claws) sat at the back door and meowed as he typically does during the afternoon, until Kristen let him outside (yes, Luna, a male cat with a female name). I don't have a problem with her letting him outside as long as she keeps an eye on him. He is usually a pretty good cat and stays within the fence, but as soon as you take your eye off of him, he is gone. This wouldn't be a story if Kristen didn't forget about him being outside yesterday (as she normally does); but she did. And he went missing. This time, however, he came back within the hour. Sometimes though, we go searching for him until we find him; other times he spends the night outside only to wake us up in the wee hours of the morning with a scream as he runs up the deck steps with another cat close on his tail. I typically give Kristen a hard time and ask her what she is going to do when she lets Reid outside to go play and then forgets about him. Is he going to come back on his own?

Well, I guess this all got to Kristen as this topic became a dream of hers last night. This time, it wasn't about the cat; it was about Reid. When she woke up, the first thing out of her mouth was, "I lost Reid and I searched all over for him and couldn't find him".

Where did she end up finding him, you ask?

In a shoe.

Only little Mr. Reid can hide in a shoe!! :)

^Kristen’s Blog Entry^

Reid had a very successful day of breastfeeding this morning. He nursed for a full 15 minutes!! He enjoyed it so much that we had to turn down his oxygen from 60% to 50%. I think I have figured out that 9:00 am is when he is happiest and most willing to try. Last night at his 9:00 pm feeding I tried and he wanted nothing to do with it. He possibly could have been worn out from nursing briefly that morning, drinking a whole bottle for lunch and enduring yet another eye exam. Poor little guy. Today though, upon seeing Reid's success, his nurse and and I did a little happy dance because we were so excited! This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for and what has made all of this pumping nonsense worth it.

The eye exam showed some new capillary growth but no new progress has been made. He is still in Stage III Zone 2 of ROP. This lack of progress is good and exactly what we have been praying for. His next eye exam will be next week so we will continue to pray for his eye capillaries to stay right where they are.

Reid also had a chest X-ray at 4:00 am this morning. His lungs are showing some improvements but according to Dr. Metcalf they also show us why he is still on the CPAP. Argh! His poor little nose is so bloody and irritated from all of the “scuba” gear. We just keep thinking that one of these days he is going to turn a corner and we’ll never have to see another CPAP ever again. It is quite amazing that he is breastfeeding and bottle feeding while having all of this gear on him. I don’t think a lot of the nurses (or doctors for that matter) have seen babies do this before. In addition, I think our doctors are more willing to try these feeds with Reid due to the successful studies Columbia University has completed on preemie babies and CPAPS. :) Thank you Columbia University!!

Reid continues to gain weight. Last night, he was at 5lbs 4oz and is now eating 42cc of 26 calorie fortified milk every 3 hours. And because of the volume, he spits up and poops just like a normal baby! :)

Other than breastfeeding, not much else is new in our little world. My friend Teri from Dallas, TX is coming to visit this weekend, so I can’t wait for that. And our friends Alison and Amit become official home owners tomorrow so I’m sure a celebratory glass of champagne will be drank in their honor at some point this week.

It is about 10:30pm on a Sunday night and I am trying to wrap up some work that I wanted to have done before my call with India in the morning... so, you would think that I would want to hurry up and get it done so I can go to bed, right? Well, I am trying to think of ten million other things that I would rather be doing (like picking up the mess of papers on the desk in the office that Kristen has been complaining about for a few days now, getting our insurance documents in order, etc). I am king of procrastination, so, here I am, typing up a blog since I have neglected to do one all weekend long. I will try to keep it short as I really do need to wrap up my 500th iteration of a project plan that keeps gaining more scope and more resources (my team is at 6 people now, adding one this week, and hoping to add one more sometime in December). Anyway, I digress...

His CO2 levels seem to be not improving. Friday and Saturday morning, he had levels in the 80s (which we hate to see). Today, they came down to around 75 and he will have another blood test in the morning. We are desperate to pinpoint a reason as to why they aren't improving, but we have been told, it is all a part of his Chronic Lung Disease. :(

Our little monster is just over 5 pounds. :) On Friday night, he weighed in at almost 5 lbs 1oz. Last night, they weighed him and he had "marginal gains", so, I am guessing he is about 5 lbs 2oz today. He is eating like a champ and ate out of a bottle today for the first time. He took his entire feeding at noon today (40cc of 26 calorie fortified milk) by bottle. This is a giant step for him as he was able to suck, swallow and breathe without his oxygen saturation jumping all over the place. Of course, when we went in at 3pm, Kristen tried breastfeeding (which had no success) and then tried feeding with the bottle. He took about 15cc by mouth until he got too tired and passed out on his mom's lap. The remaining 25cc went through his feeding tube.

He is definitely starting to grow though and we see changes every day. He is able to move a little bit more which happens to cause more pain for his nurses. For example, he hasn't had much luck with his IV for his antibiotic over the past 2 days. In three days, he has had 3 new IVs -- the first 2 went bad on their own, and the third one, which was a really good IV, he pulled out himself. :) When the nurse went to find a new vein for the next IV and was in the middle of sticking him, he pulled his CPAP gear off his face. Caught in a bind, the nurse had to pull the "code" alarm to get someone to come in and help her. Everything ended up fine, but he doesn't like making things easy. :)

Speaking of his antibiotic... we haven't seen any changes with this supposed infection he has. His second blood culture and his spinal fluid culture have yet to yield a growth. Only the first blood culture has shown anything and while we would like to think that maybe there was a possible contamination of the first sample, this type of bacteria is not typically known for that. It had to have come from him. Nonetheless, having to have an IV is a pain for him and for us and he has another 10 days to go.

Hmmm... what else (I am trying to procrastinate, remember)? Oh, today was our first time trying to "reduce" his hernia. Can I tell you how much fun that is?!?! Well, it's not. Pushing an intestine back through his abdominal wall and watching him turn beat-red and crying is not fun. The nurse had a hard time reducing his left one, so she was going to have the doctor look at it later. All the while, I am thinking to myself, how are we going to do this when he comes home? Can't they operate on this before he comes home????

And one last thing before I sign off... he has another eye test tomorrow. Please say your prayers for him tonight as we are hoping that the vein growth in his eyes has slowed down or stopped. We are getting close to a decision on his laser surgery...

I have pictures that I want to post, but seeing that it is almost 11 and I need to finish work, I am going to have to get to these tomorrow. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

I am sitting on a very bumpy plane right now and can't get a quick nap in, so I figured I would use my time wisely and put together a recap of what felt like a very long and stressful few days in DC. Going home is always the best part of the trip and I am anxious to see Kristen and Reid. Would like to go to the NICU tonight, but my 10:30 call with India tonight is in my way. Ugh!

Reid continues to have a lot going on as today he had a spinal tap done. The first blood culture has shown the klepsiella (spelling??) bacteria - which he had once before. Since this bacteria has the capabilities of traveling through the spine and brain, they went ahead and did the spine puncture. Initial results of the fluid look good and don't show signs of an infection (as seen by sugar and protein levels). They will continue to grow the culture to see if it yields anything. The second blood test has yet to produce anything, so we are starting to get a little more optimistic. They have switched antibiotics and he will moat likely be on these for the next 14 days. The one that he started a few days ago has no affect on this bacteria.

Another eye test will be done next week. He has a 50-50 chance of needing corrective laser surgery and this has had me stressed out.

On a more positive note, his CO2 levels were down to 65 and the best it has been in a week or so. We are hoping that a CPAP level 3 is in the very near future.

Well, time to wrap this post up as we are landing and I am not supposed to be on the phone. Feels good to be back home. More updates and hopefully some pictures to come this weekend.

It's been a very long day today that started at 4:30 this morning. Got on a flight at 7, at the office in DC by 9:15, left the office at 8 pm to grab dinner, on an hour long call at 10:30 with my offshore India team and just now sitting down to relax. Was hoping do some quick browsing on the web, but for some reason, the Internet doesn't seem to be working in my hotel room. I must admit, after pretty much living at a Westin for 2 years between Texas and Colorado, these Hilton's just don't even come close. :)

I am going to try and make this entry a short one as I am having to post this blog over my iPhone.

Blood test did come back positive for a gram negative rod bacteria. This is usually something like E. coli that is easily passed. Since the doctor doesn't notice anything overly wrong with Reid's behavior or temperment, he ordered another culture to see if the results were correct. Should know more in 24 to 48 hrs. If positive, he will have a spinal tap to see if there is an infection in his spinal fluid. If so, the duration of the antibiotic will be longer. We aren't looking forward to him having the tap done but they will administer a localized pain blocker to ease the pain. He also had a urine test today that came back negative - no urinary tract infection.

Hematocrit levels were up to 39 this morning after his blood transfusion. 40 is optimal, so he is pretty much back on target.

Eye test was this afternoon. It showed some not-so-good capillary growth. While very minor, it wasn't what we wanted go hear. They will continue to test weekly and hope that the irregular growth will stop. We have to start catching breaks soon, right?

Hernia is now on both sides. His right side was the first one for the past few weeks, but they noticed the left side in his scrotum today. They were reduced, so there was no immediate concern - frustrating nonetheless.

On a different front, the glider and gliding ottoman for Reid's room arrived today. We ordered them about 4 weeks ago and was supposed to take 10, so it was a plesent surprise. Will try and pick them up this weekend (the store wants about $100 for delivery, but think that I can rent a truck for much cheaper). Part of me thinks that I should just fork over the $$$, but I am trying to wear my frugal hat these days now that Kristen and I are officially debt free. We have had a ton of expenses this summer/fall between medical bills and getting the house ready for Reid, so, to be debt free is pretty good in our books right now!!! We refinanced on the house yesterday, so the extra $425 a month that we are now saving is going to be a nice addition to our savings accounts (Kristen is probably thinking about all the shopping she could do as she reads this). :)

Ok, this post was much longer than I had originally set out to do, so I will end it here. Time to hit the sack. Good night from DC.

Update: Reid doesn't have an infection - just a low blood count. He had two IVs put in this afternoon and is now receiving a blood transfusion. We have lost count of the number of transfusions he has had, but please let this be the last one. Hopefully we will see a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed little Reid tomorrow. :)

No word on the ECHO as of yet; will post when we hear something.

It’s been a few days since our last post, so I will try to recap the past few days...

Kristen and I took a short trip up to my parents house Saturday after we had spent about 3 hours at the NICU that morning. Kristen has a little bit of anxiety leaving town and leaving Reid behind, so we it was a struggle to say goodbye to Reid and jump in the car and head out of Dodge. We finally made it up to South Carolina around 2:30 and spent some time with the family (Shannon, Brian and Evelyn were there as well). It was a short trip and we were back in Atlanta yesterday afternoon. We spent the majority of the afternoon trying to catch up on the rest of the "crap" that seems to rule our lives (getting ready for work, raking the leaves that seem to never cease falling from the tree, etc).

Anyway, we made a trip to the NICU last night - which was a necessary trip as Reid was running short of milk. Our freezer has been piled high with bottles of milk for awhile now, so we decided to cram as many bottles as we could into the cooler and inundate the NICU with lots of milk (their freezers are bigger than ours). We had a good visit with Reid and had a nice, long conversation with Thomas, his respiratory therapist. We asked him ten million questions about how to prepare our house and get it ready for Reid. He suggested to have our ducts cleaned and in addition to changing the filters on a regular basis, also put filters (hogs hair) in the return vents to act as a pre-filter. We asked him questions about the cat, carpet, humidifiers, and need for air purifiers…. To which he replied that Reid needs to get used to his new environment when he comes home and that we shouldn’t modify anything at this point. We also asked him about having a live Christmas tree --- to which he replied, “Reid likes to smell as well”. So, overall, no big suggestions on how to get the house ready for quality air, so it was encouraging. We did ask him to take a bet as to when he would be coming home and he suggested January. This was not the answer we were looking for, so Kristen quickly told him that he was wrong and that it would be before Christmas. :) All joking aside, it is all up to Reid and anything the therapists or doctors suggest is all a guess.

Reid is still doing well and has gained a lot of weight over the past few days. He is currently at 4 lbs 14 oz and barely fits into some of the preemie clothes that we have. A growing baby isn't a bad thing... but I think Kristen is a little upset that he isn’t able to wear some of the clothes that she has been dying to see him in. However, he did sport an outfit last night that swallowed him… even with the sleeves rolled up, he seemed to be a little lost inside. His feedings are now up to 36cc every 3 hours.

His CPAP has been lowered down to level 4 (which means that there is less pressure being pumped into his lungs). He seems to be doing OK with the change (breathing-wise), but the nurses have noticed a slight change in his body. His CO2 levels seem to be slightly elevated and he is having a harder time maintaining his temperature. He also seems to be sleeping a little more than normal and doesn’t seem to be bothered by some of the things that have bothered him in the past. Some of us may be asking… “isn’t this a good thing?”… but this change, in addition to his temperatures, makes them wonder if something else might be going on. With that being said, they have ordered a CBC (Complete Blood Count) and CRP (C Reactive Protein) test. The CRP test can show elevated antibody levels (which will show as proteins in this test). If elevated natural antibodies are present, this could be a sign of an infection. Coupled with a low body temperature (which is opposite of how adults show infection), they will then do a blood culture to see if there is in fact an infection. We have been told not to get worried just yet as they are just being cautious and taking all possible measures to be proactive. However, if the antibody levels are high, they will start Reid on an antibiotic until the cultures are returned. We should know more this afternoon.

Reid also had a ECHO this morning and we are waiting on the results --- which should also be this afternoon as well. One thing to note is that one of his low temperature readings was right after this test was completed. Since he was uncovered for quite some time, this could be the culprit.

His fourth eye test will be tomorrow; he will be having them weekly until his eyes are mature enough to see if there are going to be any adverse effects of the high oxygen levels he has been on for the past few months.

Anyway.. not much else is new. I will make a follow-up blog entry tonight with the results of the blood test and the ECHO.

First Bath

Reid had his first bath today. That's right, two months without a bath. :)

Unfortunately, I was unable to go to the hospital for the bath... and to be quite honest, I didn't realize that it was that big of a deal. That is, until I saw all of the pictures that Kristen brought home. I guess there will be many more baths to be had, but it would have been cool to see nonetheless.

Kristen said that it took about an hour from start to finish and said she was sweating 'like a pig' after it was all over with as they have an overhead heater so that he didn't get too cold while in the water (so, maybe I am not too upset for not being there after all). When it was all said and done, there was a bucket of dirty water and a clean baby. So clean that his hair is apparently a lighter shade of brown. :)

Other news? Reid has been going back and forth between the nasal cannulas and the CPAP. It seems that when he is on the cannulas for an extended period of time, he has to work much harder to breathe than when he is on his CPAP. For example, he had CO2 levels in the 80s yesterday, but after being on the CPAP for more than 12 hrs today, he was back down to 66 (just a tad north of 'acceptable' levels). He just isn't quite ready to be on the cannulas for extended periods, but he will be on them for times when we hold him. We have to keep reminding ourselves -- baby steps. We have noticed, as have the nurses, that he is a much happier camper since he is no longer on the steroids. Roid rage has come and gone.

On a different front, he got his first musical CD today. Alison (our music-professor-friend at KSU) had suggested some classical music for Reid and I burned the CD last night. We had the list of songs for quite some time, but I just never got around to putting it all together. He likes the music --- as do all of the nurses and even Reid's roommates parents -- apparently Alison has a good ear for music. :) On top of his fondness for classical music, he also enjoys and smiles when the cricket noise on his crib mobile plays its thing. Who ever thought that someone would actually enjoy the sounds of crickets?!?!?!?

On the weight front, he is up to about 4 lbs 6oz. As you will see in one of the photos below, he has a little 'Buddha-belly' growing.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the pictures (clicking on them will make them larger):

Well, Mr. Reid has had an eventful couple of days. He is tolerating the high flow nasal cannulas really well and is continuing the 12 hour rotation with that and the CPAP. In addition to being dressed for the first time this weekend, he was also moved to a crib. While his new bed looks like something borrowed from a mental institution, it does have a cute mobile attached to it that plays soothing music. So far, Reid has not shown any interest in this.

Thank you to Lara for the super cute "All Star" outfit! All of the nurses have come in to check out Reid in his new "home" and see him in clothing and more than once we've heard: "Finally! He looks like a real baby" :)

Last night Chad got to administer Reid’s breathing treatment for the first time with the help of Thomas the Gentle Giant (respiratory therapist). Chad had to prop Reid up so that he was at a 45 degree angle and then hold a mask over his face while the treatment worked its magic. Chad did a great job even though our poor little guy did not like it one bit. When he is on the CPAP the treatment is directly administered into one of the “scuba” tubes so Reid really doesn’t notice it. However, having to be propped up and deal with a mask held over his nose and mouth while medicated vapors blow in his face did not sit well with him at all. But sooner or later I’m sure he’ll get to use this as he will more than likely be coming home with this type of treatments. As he gets older, this will definitely become a two person job, but Chad had it all under control last night. Reid also tried “recreational breastfeeding” today. The goal was to see if he could latch on and suck but he wasn’t too interested in that either. We (Chad and I and the nurses) thought that since he loves his pacifier so much that he would do well at breastfeeding too but apparently there is a big difference between the breast and the pacifier. :) We will keep trying and hopefully one of these days, Scuba Reid will figure it out.

We will leave you with a few more pictures and a couple of videos we took last night. Enjoy!

Reid has had a few changes over the past few days, so I thought I would type up a blog as I sit here holding him. Kristen had planned on pumping while we were here visiting, but realized that she had forgot two critical pieces of the machine at home, so she had to run out to get them. That leaves me with Reid for some father/son bonding time. :)

They have made a slight chage with his breathing apparatus: instead of the high flow nasal cannulas just when we hold him, they are now trying 12 hrs on and 12 hours back on CPAP. So far, he seems to be tolerating it quite well.

They have also increased his feedings to 32 cc every three hours. He is getting bigger and is requiring more nutrients and instead of just giving more volume, they are fortifying it to 24 calories (his stomach can only handle so much).

Today is also the first time we have seen him in real baby clothes. Sandra, his nurse, picked out a baby blue and white onesie (I will have to upload some pictures later today), so it was definitely a treat when we walked in his room.

Other than that, not much is new. We went over to Jim and Lauren's yesterday to watch the Dawgs get killed by Florida 41-17. UF has our number and seems like this is an annual occurrence. :( Today, we are going to drive up to the north Georgia mountains as soon as we are done here at the NICU. It is a beautiful day today and we are going to make use of it. Hope everyone had a good weekend and a Happy Halloween!!