Emergency Surgery

About an hour after I got home from the hospital, I got a call that they were taking Andrew into Emergency Surgery. His stomach ballooned up and was as hard as a rock. He was still having problems breathing and keeping his heart rate up. When they took him into surgery, they had a hard time getting him to breathe on the ventilator. But, that got slightly better during the surgery. They ended up taking out 23cm of bowel. There was a section right below the stomach that was enlarged, black and full of bacteria. It had twisted on itself and the doctor said it smelled like rotting fish. He said if they hadn't done the surgery, Andrew wouldn't be alive now. He is still a very sick kid and the next day or so will tell a lot. Please pray that he is able to recover. He is on the ventilator and may need to go on the oscillator if the ventilator isn't strong enough. Pray that the antibiotics will kill the infection and that the bowel that was reattached will heal and work correctly.

A better night for some than others!

Well, both Anna Kate and Mom survived her first night home. All in all, it went well, and I actually got about fours hours of sleep. I am not sure how that will work when all three are home, but we will wait and see!

Andrew had a rough night. They had to stop feeding him because he was acting like he was in pain. This morning he has been "forgetting" to breathe and has dropped his heart rate. They had to bag him for 30sec to get him to bring it back up. Those are all signs that something major is going on-but the Drs. don't know what that is. I am sure they will be doing some more tests today to see what they can find out. Please pray that they will have wisdom to figure out what is going on.

Matthew had a good night and did well with his bottles.

Andrew Update

The procedure to put in a new central line (Broviac) went well. Andrew did really well overall, but had to be put back on CPAP because his breathing was so labored. He hates CPAP, but last nights nurse said he did great on it and didn't complain at all. Which tells me he isn't feeling well. Hopefully things will balance out soon. They are going to try to start feeding him today or tomorrow. So, we need to pray that he tolerates it well.

We have an appointment with the Occupational Therapist at 2:00 to go over some exercises for Matthew and Anna Kate. Then, we will be leaving with a baby! Anna Kate hit 5lb last night. But, everything about her is so tiny! Tonight should be interesting!

Change in Plans

Well, we kind of got good news/bad news. The upper GI went through very quickly. So, they will not be doing the exploratory surgery tomorrow. He will still be having surgery to put in a central line. Although I am glad they won't be doing major surgery, I am frustrated that they don't know what the problem is. So, please pray that the doctors have wisdom to determine why he isn't tolerating feeding. They are going to start trying to feed him again soon.

And, if everything goes well-Anna Kate will come home on Wednesday! It will be something to finally have at least one of them at home. The new header on the blog is our birth announcement. The photos were taken about a month ago by a nurse in the NICU who is a photographer.

Surgery Tomorrow

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted-our internet has been down! Andrew is having an upper GI today in hopes that they will see where the problem is. The last one just showed slow movement-but no specific problem area. He is scheduled for exploratory surgery tomorrow. There is some problem that is causing his feeding intolerance. They think it may be a narrowing of the intestine or bowel at some point. So, they are going to go in tomorrow morning and try to take care of it. Hopefully, the upper GI will show something so they will have an idea of where to look.

We met with one of the neonatologists yesterday and he went over all of Andrew's head ultrasounds and the CT scan. The short version of a pretty long meeting is that at one point Andrew's ventricles were HUGE-it was a very scary picture-which was very alarming. It was at that point we were told he would need a shunt. Since that scan, the ventricle ratio had gone down and seems to have leveled out. That is good news. At this point, it is not a certain that he will need a shunt. We will have to meet with the neurosurgeon again to discuss the recent ultrasounds and get another CT scan. So-keep praying!! I told the doctors that we had a lot of people praying for Andrew and that was the reason for the improvement.

Matthew and Anna Kate are doing well. Both boys are over 6lbs and Anna Kate is 4lb 10 oz. Anna Kate is taking all of her feedings by bottle and Matthew is taking 2 out of 3 by bottle. She has an eye exam on Thursday and if all goes well-she will go home after that. Matthew will probably not be far behind. So, this weekend should be an exciting one.

Please Pray for our Friend

Please pray for a little girl named Olivia Hartig and her family. He mother, Brooke, is the daugher of one of the teachers at my school. Olivia was born a little over six weeks ago and her family just found out that she has a rare chromosomal disorder, Ring 9 syndrome. This is so rate, that she is only the 22nd person in the world diagnosed with the condition.

Her family are Christians and I told them I would pass their prayer request on to all those who have been praying for our triplets. Please pray for grace and strength for the family and for wisdon for the doctors they will be working with.

Update

Andrew is still on CPAP and his stomach x-ray today didn't look great. He is not tolerating his feeds as well as they would like. Although they don't want to go there right yet, the doctor told me today that there is a good possibility that he will need surgery to find the problem in his intestines. But, they want to wait a few days just to be sure it is needed.

Back on CPAP

Andrew has been put back on CPAP. His chest x-ray showed fluid in the lungs. So, they are going to try the lacix again. Please pray that it works this time. They still don't know what is causing the fluid build up.

Moving Around

I am sorry for the lack of information-I just realized that my last post did not upload. So, here is the latest news-Matthew and Anna Kate have been moved to NICU 2. It is very different over there. It is much quieter and the kids are actually in one of the Family Learning Rooms so there is a bed, bathroom, fridge and flat screen TV! When they get closer to going home, we could spend the night there. Matthew is taking 3 bottles a day and Anna Kate just started 2 out of every 3 feedings by bottle.

They moved Andrew to a crib today. Since the lower GI didn't show anything, they are feeding him again slowly. So far, he has done okay. He is still swollen and they are trying to balance out his nutrition. Hopefully, when he gets higher on his feeds, the swelling will go down. His head has not had any major changes in the last week. However, the swelling is making it harder for him to breathe and he is on a nasal cannula.

Although I am glad that Matthew and Anna Kate are in NICU II-it is kind of sad to have them separated. But, we are beginning a new leg on our journey!

Andrew's blood cultures did not grow any thing-meaning there is probably not an infection in his blood-but he does have a urinary tract infection. So, we are hoping that his symptoms were due to that and not an intestinal problem. They are still going to do the GI study on Monday-but if everything looks good, they may not do surgery to see what is going on.

Anna Kate is now over 4lbs and both boys are over 5lbs! Yeah! Anna Kate passed her hearing screening last night. She had been given the test three times and although she did better each time-I was beginning to get worried. I nicknamed her Verizon ("Can you hear me now?") but was sure she could hear something. One of my favorite nurses-was convinced the machine wasn't reading right and she didn't want me to have to wait and wonder until next Tuesday. So, she and another nurse stayed after work last night to give her the test again and she passed! The nurses in NICU-especially the kids' primaries-Sandie and Linda-have been wonderful. They have taken an extra special interest in the kids. They are both on vacation next week and it just won't be the same! I will really miss them.

On the bright side, Brent's sister, Brenda, and her family are coming up the end of next week. We are looking forward to seeing them.

The first attempt at group photos

Well, today we tried getting pictures of all three kids-it was interesting to say the least! I have to resign myself to the fact that it will be a miracle to get a picture where they all look good!

Andrew will have a lower GI done on Monday. They aren't sure-but they are predicting he will need surgery. At this point, we just want to figure out what is going on-and fix it!

Anna Kate will have her eyes and hearing checked next Tuesday. They did an ecocardiogram today to check and see if the small hole she had when she was born (VSD) has closed. She was getting a little tired with her bottles-so she is back to every other. They reduced her calories today. There is still a possibility she will come home late next week.

Matthew is still on three bottles a day. Otherwise, he is just hanging out trying to get the hang of bottles!

Anna Kate is in a Crib

Andrew seems to be feeling better. We are waiting to see if the blood cultures show an infection. They have stopped feeding him and are getting a surgery consult. So, we will see what happens. I added some new photos. Anna Kate is now in a crib and they moved her beside Matthew.

Eating and Growing

As of last night, here are the stats on the kids:

Matthew 4lbs 11.4 oz 16 6/8 inches long

Andrew 4lbs 15.4 oz 17 3/8 inches long

Anna Kate 3lbs 10.6 oz 16 1/2 inches long

Matthew is in a crib and is taking a bottle twice a day (soon to be three times. The nurse said he woke up screaming for his 9:00 feeding. He may be the one that keeps me on a schedule!

Andrew is progressing on his feeds. Although it is not "official" he has taken a bottle on three different occasions and done well. He did well after the tap last week, but his head circumference has gone up again. So, we will be meeting with the neurosurgeon the first part of the week to see about the possibility of a procedure before the shunt surgery. Andrew is hanging in there and is alert and seems to be happy.

Anna Kate is getting every other feeding by bottle. Because she is still small and is on higher calories, she is still in her incubator. When she is awake, she is very interested in what is going on around her.