Life Is Good: Evan Update

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Evan Update

Wow I can't believe my little guy is almost 6 weeks old. I got a new (to me) Acer so now I can sit comfortably while rocking...or burping...my little one and type away on this crazy blog that has been somewhat neglected for the last 5+ weeks.

A lot has been going on and I'd like to try to capture our life over the last 5 weeks on this blog, but I know my memory well enough to give warning that the next few posts may be a haphazard compilation of thoughts.

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Evan is doing great! He is healthy and strong and an absolute joy. He is eating very well and I seem to be producing plenty. He's a gassy little baby. Poor little guy he just grunts all the time. I started giving him gripe water recently to help with some of his discomfort. I'm also trying to watch what I eat. If I could find a food(s) that caused him more gas I'd eliminate those from my diet. Likewise if I could find the foods that kept him the most "regular" I'd eat those every day.

Surprisingly we haven't had a doctor's appointment since he last saw the dr. the week after his birth. Surprising I guess because I'm so used to life with a preemie which equals at least 1 or 2...maybe 3...appointments each week for months on end. It's different. Our last appointment was to check out a rash that Evan had developed but was determined to be a sensitivity coupled with baby acne. I guess he might be my sensitive kid. I've changed laundry soap to a perfume-free/dye-free ALL. I've been using a mild soap and lotion for Evan's bath and because his small little bottom gets irritated easily I'm sticking to name brand diapers like Pampers or Huggies. Crazy...I know. I'm such a store brand person. We haven't seen the doctor since then and his weight at the time was 6 pounds 5 ounces. I'm anxious to see how much he's grown.

Just this week Evan has started noticing the toys dangling above his head while he lays on a play mat. (Fully supervised I might add. I learned very quickly that an unsupervised baby around a hyper-active toddler is not a good idea.) He has also started making other sounds, almost like cooing but not exactly. When he's not grunting, that is. It's so sweet and so exciting to see him developing.

He knows his Momma and responds to my voice immediately. We spend a lot of time together. He relaxes when he's laying on my chest and seems to find comfort with my touch. Most of our nights end (at 3 or 4 a.m.) with him laying on my chest while I recline in a chair because he can finally find comfort and I can finally get some sleep. Usually after his 3 or 4 a.m. feeding he grunts and groans so much that everyone gets more sleep if he and I snuggle in the chair together instead of him grunting and crying and I reaching into his cradle to give him the pacifier every 2 or 3 minutes. Do what works...right?!

Speaking of sleep. He's doing pretty well. We've had a handful of really good nights and a handful of really bad nights. The really good nights are when he sleeps 5 hours between feedings. The really bad nights are when he wakes up every hour or 2 because he's gassy and uncomfortable or because he wants to eat. Most of our nights he sleeps 3 hours between feedings. Those nights are doable. I'm usually very sleepy come early morning but once I'm up and have had a cup of coffee all is well. Naps are pretty good too!

And there you have it! An Evan update! I'll update more later...when I'm not so tired and I can actually think straight. :)

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Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.

Evan Alexander