Thursday

Everything is about the same today. They tried to start lowering Ben's oxygen so he could go on a regular oxygen tube and he was not ready for that yet. Therefore, he is still on the vapo-therm but doing pretty good with it. Today's chest x-ray showed a little bit more gunk (for lack of a better term) in his lungs than yesterday's but its not bad.

As far as from a mom's standpoint - he seems like an entirely different kid today. If you took all the tubes out he would seem pretty much like a normal, healthy kid. He has been very alert for a big part of the day. I held him a lot. They took him off his feedings for a while when they were checking out his oxygen levels and he got pretty hungry but that was ok. I would have liked to see more improvement from what the drs had to say but at least he doesn't seem so sick anymore.

Update

We talked to all the doctors this afternoon and Ben continues to improve. His heartrate and respiration are both doing great. He is on the vapo-therm but they will be cutting that back so that he can go on a regular oxygen tube. After he does well on that he will be moved off ICU which may still be a few days. He is doing great with his feedings and got his new IV. He will for sure have to have the feeding tube until he is done with the vapo-therm. After that is gone I should get to nurse him. His chest x-rays are showing an improvement in the pneumonia.

The best news is we get to hold him now! We were really excited about that.

We also learned that he will have to be on antibiotics for 10 days. Therefore, we will for sure be here until May 6th. No guarantees that we will be able to leave then but we know that another week is the minimum. We were a little surprised that it was for sure going to be that much longer but we want to make sure he is 100% before we take him home.

Good Night

Ben had a really good night last night. He is getting 2 oz of milk every 3 hours through his feeding tube and doing really well with it. When the 3 hours are up he starts fussing because he is getting hungry. I'm really glad that he is alert enough to know he is hungry. The last 2 days he has woke up at 4:30 p.m. and then wakes up periodically all night but he's pretty content. I think his days and nights are messed up but I'm thrilled he is alert so much - I don't care what time it is.

Today they are probably going to try taking him off the c pap because his breathing is doing really well. He will go on vapo-therm which is another type of oxygen tube but not as strong as the c pap. They will also put in the new iv later today. I hope that it won't be long and we will get to hold him but for now we just yack his little ear off. I'm sure he wishes his crazy parents would be quiet.

Jeff & I are doing well. They have really good accommodations here for parents. We can both be in his room all the time except only 1 of us can sleep in here. There's a recliner to sleep in so we are getting some rest. Down the hall is a parent's lounge with recliners, cots, a bathroom, and refrigerator. Our parents are spending all their time down there and one of us sleeps there at night.

Roller Coaster

This place is a roller coaster ride - down this morning but up this afternoon.

This morning Ben was struggling more to breathe; therefore, they determined that he needed a C Pap (which basically delivers oxygen at a higher level). They were debating putting him on the venitlator again but decided to try this first. It did the trick and now his oxygen levels are good. They gave him a feeding tube this afternoon and he is now taking breast milk through the tube. So far so good with that. I was really glad that he got that because he was hungry.

He does have a blood clot in his leg where they have inserted his IV. He will have to take blood thinners for this for probably 4 weeks but drs are not too concerned. Whenever we get to leave here they will send home injections of the thinner for us to administer. They are taking this IV out tomorrow and giving him a pic line in his arm for him to receive his antibiotics.

But the great news of the day is that they have diagnosed him with pnemonia instead of meningitis. Yesterday, they made the meningitis diagnosis with just the preliminary tests. After all the cultures came back and were analyzed by the infectious disease team the specialists determined it was pnemonia. The antibiotics are the same as what he was already receiving. We were very happy with the news. That is what we were hoping they would tell us yesterday.

We still have no idea how long he will be in ICU or even here at Riley's but things are looking better. I know he still has a long road ahead but he is getting stronger all the time. Thanks again everyone.

THANK YOU!

I know Martha has kept her blog updated with Ben's progress and everyone has been reading that but I thought I could post tonight. I had to wait until I had good news before I could post anything.

As far as new info goes since Martha's last update Ben is still doing well without the ventilator. He still has an oxygen tube in his nose. They did increase the size of that tube because it seemed he was working a little hard to breathe. But he is very stable. I guess he thought he knew more than the drs and decided it was time for him to be without a ventilator. He has been alert several times which was one of the happiest things I could see - my little guy looking at mommy. He was very lethargic all day Saturday & even somewhat on Friday so I hadn't seen him this alert in days. His grandparents even got to come and in and see him awake which made their day. He still cannot eat because they want to make sure that he will for sure be okay without the breathing tube. He currently doesn't have a feeding tube. When they decide he can have milk they will then determine if he needs a feeding tube or if I can nurse him.

Thank yous go out to so many - Number 1 on the list would of course be God. I've never prayed so hard in my life. Thanks to all of you who helped by praying also. Thank you to Riley's. Riley's is a wonderful place. God forbid anyone have to be here but the nurses and drs are great. Our parents have been wonderful support. And thank you sis for taking care of my other baby. I know she is probably having more fun with her cousins than she would at home so I haven't had to worry about her at all. Ava loves her Aunt Martha and Uncle Jeff. Thanks so much everyone for your prayers, thoughts, and calls. We can't use our cell phones in ICU but we got your messages. Please keep praying for a speedy recovery.

LIfe with 2 kids

Well I am going to have to admit - life with 2 kids is a little harder than I had imagined. We are starting to get into a pretty good routine though and it is going good. That first week I had a major lack of sleep. Ben is starting to sleep for 3 hour stretches in his bed which had made things significantly easier. He also sleeps a big part of the day & I am now able to lay him down for a most of that time which is now allowing me to spend more time with Ava. The first few days he wanted held alot. Which of course I would love to do but isn't possible with a 2 year old. Here are a few pics from Ben's first week.

Big cousin Alli is very good with Ben.

Our nieces - Hannah & Kirsten - came up to meet their new cousin on Saturday.

Ben's 1st real bath. Big sister thought this would be a good way for her to help.

Snoozing away.

Ava loves nothing more than changing her clothes a 100 times a day or better yet not having pants on. Here she thought she should wear her jacket and crocs - no pants.

Before Ben

Here are several pictures that I had taken on Good Friday and Saturday before Ben was born on Sunday. Of course, they got a little overlooked due to Ben's birth on Easter but I thought I should post them now.

Jeff built the kids a swing set the week before Easter. It turned out really nice. Ava loves it of course. Thank you to Jeff Kirts, Matt Ochs, and Poppy (Jeff's dad) for your help.

This is quite a site. Now we just need to add another double stroller so Ben can go along.

Ava & Alli looking out from the fort.

Landon and Ava at Ste Marie's Easter Egg hunt. Ava didn't pick up any eggs. We even practiced at home. Landon got 2.

Enjoying the nice weather.

Coloring Easter eggs with Nana. Ava thought she needed to wear this goofy bunny hat. Had it been a cute hat I wanted her to wear with an outfit that would have never happened.