...We're HOME!...

Thank you to all of the wonderful people who helped our family through this journey!

This was on Wyatt's board today, which brought a HUGE smile to our faces. We knew it was our day to say goodbye to the NICU and bring our little guy home. After 22 days in the hospital, 2 different NICU's, a variety of doctors/nurses/techs, and lots of tears, our guy was ours to bring home. 

"What?! Did they just say I'm breaking free today?"

We joined the team for rounds and even broke the rules while doing it! The AAMC NICU has a (stupid) rule that only 2 people can be in the room at a time. Well, that's fine and dandy but not when it's the last rounds and we needed to have all of us listening to the rounds/discharge instructions. For this rule follower, it felt great to break the rules for once! 

Waiting patiently to be released

The morning seemed to drag on while we waited for everyone to finish up their part of the discharge packet and we reviewed all of the information we needed before taking Wyatt home. If you've never experienced hospital time, consider yourself lucky. It's essentially the same as watching paint dry. Soon = no less than an hour. Around 1:30 in the afternoon we put Wyatt in the car seat and said our goodbyes. 

Getting ready to go!

I would like to say I was really sad to say goodbye, but that would be a lie. While I'm eternally grateful for those who cared for our son, I'm so excited to embark on the journey of raising our baby boy in our home, where he belongs. 

Our family, ready to go!

Thank you to each one of you who has shared our journey. We appreciate each one of you for thinking of our family and sharing our laughter and tears along the way. Our time in the NICU is over, but our journey has just begun. 

I plan to continue writing in this space, as my hope for starting this was for it to be a place to share our lives with our loved ones, especially those who are not near. Please stick around and watch Wyatt grow. Here's to a new year filled with love, laughter, & happily ever after. May 2016 be just as special as 2015. 

With joyful hearts,

Lori, Brian & Wyatt

...12.30.15...

Today was a pretty fantastic day for our little guy. The team uttered the words we have been waiting to hear! I don't want to jinx it, but there is a really great chance our little guy will come home in 2015 and ring in the new year with us! 

Catching flies while sleeping on Nana.

Last night Wyatt passed his car seat test, which tells us that things are going in the right direction. In order to pass, he had to go 90 minutes without having a brady lasting longer than 30 seconds. This is a little different than the alarms on his heart monitor, which sounds much sooner than that. He did require some additional head supports while in the car seat, but that is something we can replicate and is not uncommon for premature or late pre-term babies. Our little man just needs some extra support and he will get it. 

Daddy feeding Wyatt

Brian was able to feed Wyatt today and both of my boys did an awesome job. I had to leave for a doctor's appointment, so Brian was in charge of the 11 am feed while Nana watched. The speech therapist joined for the feed to give pointers for a successful feed. Wyatt nursed for his 2 pm and 5 pm feeds and did awesome for those too!

Please stop being so cute!

We continue to pray that our little guy grows and grows, while learning all of the skills he needs. Please pray that the next 12 hours or so go smoothly and that Wyatt is able to join us at home, if he is ready. Mommy & Daddy probably need some prayers as well-- bringing home a baby is tough work and bringing home a baby with some medical issues is a little scary. We know he will do amazing things at home, but we also know there may be some anxiety as well. 

Wyatt says, "I'm ready to do this! I can't wait to meet my puppies and see my new digs!"

Thanks for your continued support,

Lori, Brian & Wyatt

...12.29.15...

Today was a fairly good day for our little guy! We did our usual routine this morning, mom and I went to the hospital to join rounds and Brian stayed back with the dogs, joining for the afternoon shift and switching with mom. During rounds this morning, his team was very pleased with his weight gain (40 grams), his decrease in frequency of cardiac events, and his nursing. It was a hearty, "Good job, Wyatt!" for rounds. It seems like the prevacid is doing its job and helping with the reflux. The nurse practitioner said if he keeps this up, we could have him home soon! He needs to maintain his weight and continue the downward trend in dips and brady's. 

This is what milk drunk looks like.

He nursed today for 3 feeds and did a great job! He seems to be getting the hang of it and is pacing himself, which is a huge step for him. We will also continue to work on bottle feeds, as the bottle feeds contain the fortifier mixed in the breast milk which will also help to pack on some pounds. He also requires some iron and vitamin d, which needs to be given mixed in with breast milk to encourage him to take it. It smells horrible, so I can only imagine it tastes horrible. 

A thumb sucker?!

We are in big trouble with this kid. You can take away a pacifier but you can't take away a thumb! My mom reminded me that a thumb can't get lost, but I still think we are in for a wild ride with this kid. The nurses commented that they had never seen a baby this young find their thumb. I guess we have a strong minded little fella (was their any doubt-- he favors his father after all) and he will find a way to make himself happy. This seems to happen most when we are changing his diaper. It's likely because this routine is unswaddling him, temp check, diaper change, quick measurements of his belly, then we feed. It can sometimes take a minute or two to do all of those things and he wants to eat. I'm glad he can self-soothe, though.

All in all, a good day for Wy guy. We continue to cross our fingers that things go well and we continue to see all good things so we can take our guy home.

Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Love,

Lori, Brian & Wyatt

...12/28/15...

Hi. Lori here, thanks to Jessica for updating last night. I was sent to bed by my mother and Brian last night. Thankfully they let me eat dinner first. 

Today was another roller coaster day. It started off with rounds and turns out the team was concerned about his weight, as he hadn't officially gained since being transferred almost a week ago. They are attributing this to his terrible reflux, as this causes him to work really hard to maintain his feeds and he throws up a lot, causing him to not gain. The team is new this week and as such is new to Wyatt and us. When we talked through this concern today the new team decided it was time to try medication as an intervention. They put him on prevacid and are hoping this course of meds will help. They also determined that it was okay to continue nursing unless we think he isn't getting enough that way. When he isn't with me, he will get the rice cereal in with the breastmilk in addition to the fortifiers. The fortifiers beef up the caloric value of the breastmilk, so essentially just add some additional fat without changing the nutrition. We are hoping this combo will help our little man gain some weight. 

Wy Guy hanging out in the MamaRoo. Totally cool that the NICU provided this AND it helps with his reflux.

At his 11 am feed, the speech therapist joined us to see how he did with his latch and swallow. He wasn't digging the fact that someone was watching him and had a tough feed. He had a few dips, which are actually what we have been referring to as brady's. Turns out we were incorrect. A "dip" is when his heart rate drops but he brings it back up on his own in less than 12 seconds. A brady is when the dip in his hear rate drops for longer than 12 seconds and may or may not require stimulation. Stimulation ranges from tapping him on the back repeatedly, to a quick sternum tap. He did not have a brady during this feed, but did have one afterwards as milk was pouring out of his nose (reflux at its finest!). The team has commented repeatedly how good natured he is, even when we are bulbing him (the little blue snot sucker in his nose/mouth to suck out milk) or when he is refluxing. He doesn't complain much. May that continue on throughout his life!

After the torturous 11 am feed, I was a little nervous to nurse him. The lactation consultant joined us for this feed and our little guy did AWESOME! He fed for the full 20 minutes, which he hasn't done with the bottle feeds, as he gets tired and often falls asleep during the bottle feed. Not this time! He didn't have any dips during this feed, but did have a brady right after. This was because he threw up and poor guy couldn't get it out of his nose. His 5 pm feed was another nursing session and he did good again. Only one brady and that was likely because he just filled up too quickly and forgot to take a breath. Our little man appears to love to nurse, knock on wood!

You know, just hanging out after chugging some milk. 

I just got off the phone with his night nurse and our little guy is back up to 2070 grams, which is 4 pounds 9 ounces. I'm hoping he will continue to gain, gain, gain! His nurse said he was happily swinging in the MamaRoo. Don't worry, Nana (my mom) already bought him his own MamaRoo so when he comes home, he has a deluxe swing to hang out in, as he has to be upright for at least 30 minutes after he eats. 

Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers. We continue to pray that he gains weight, tolerates feeds, and that those who are making decisions for his care do so thoughtfully. The more we can control the reflux, the less likely he is to have brady's or dips. 

Here's to a good report tomorrow!

Love,

Lori, Brian & Wyatt

... Guest Blogging (from Jess) ...

Hello all!

It's Jess, stepping in for one tired mama. Sue sent Lori off to bed this evening so she could get some shut-eye (turns out even when you are a mom, your mom still moms you! Thanks Sue!). As such, I get to take over.

I'm considering using this time to try out some new jokes, but instead, I'll get to what you all want to hear about ... the man of the hour, Wyatt!

Seriously, find me someone cuter!

Wy guy had an ok day today. He is now nursing, as tolerated, and in my update this evening from Lori, he'd nursed like a champ. They're continuing to supplement with rice cereal, in hopes that it helps him with the reflux, and helps him to gain some weight.

Speaking of which, Wyatt's weight is down about 50 grams. For those of you who don't know what that means (me!), he weighs in at 4 lbs, 7 oz. While concerning to those of us who love Wyatt and the K family, the doctors are ok with it for now. When measuring in the NICU, they look at his weight gain week over week, not day over day. Hopefully, this is an outlier and we'll see him creeping closer to 5 lbs soon. In the meantime, he's resting up.

This is how one of his parents looks while sleeping. Which one? Hint: I've never seen Brian sleep.

Since I've been given the reins for the evening (and possibly never again), I want to take a second to write a side note. While Wyatt is clearly the main focus, his mom deserves a little attention too.

There's something incredible about watching your best friend go on her journey to become a mother. You find out about the positive pregnancy test, watch her eat what seemed like thousands of Saltines, and see her cute belly grow. You get excited with her, experiencing the anticipation of bringing home her little boy.

Lori went through these milestones, but has had a different experience than expected these last few weeks. While I know this hasn't exactly been the journey she pictured, Lori has handled it with such grace. I'm not a mom yet, but when I am, I hope I do so with as much love and devotion as I've seen from Lori.

And so, tonight, yes, I ask for thoughts for Wyatt, our man of the hour. Thoughts and vibes that he keep growing and thriving and stops (or at least minimizes) the reflux and the brady episodes. But I also ask for thoughts for my best girl, Lori, and for Brian. They're ready to bring Wy guy home and begin the next step of their adventure as a family in their own home.

My favorite picture of the day!

Love to all,

Jess

...12.26.15...

Quick update...

Our little man is getting bigger! He's up to 4 pounds 9.2 ounces. Go figure. I just bought two packs of preemie diapers in anticipation of him coming home soon. Have no fear, I'll gladly let those go to waste to have my little man grow, grow, grow!

Last night Wyatt failed his car seat test within 10 minutes of starting it, which isn't surprising. He's still struggling with reflux during and after feeds. Rumors are swirling about possible discharge coming up, so if he doesn't pass before then, he will have to ride with someone in the back seat in case he has a brady and requires stimulation. Babies who don't have monitors would also require a monitor for the car, but we are already going home with a heart monitor so that's no big deal.

Today was a better day in terms of feeding. We (especially me!) are very thankful for a better day today. His feeds were less "eventful" and we are all getting more comfortable with how to handle the brady episodes when they happen. 

I'm off to get some sleep... something that is quite elusive these days and I suspect will only continue with a newborn in the house. 

Love,

Lori, Brian & Wyatt

...Merry Christmas!...

Wyatt wishes each of you a very Merry Christmas!

The NICU staff made a footprint card with his name and "My First Christmas". It will definitely be something we treasure for many years to come. 

Today I was able to join the staff for rounds. They decided to add rice cereal to his feeds in hopes that the cereal would weigh down the breastmilk to help remind his esophagus to close, as that is what causes the reflux. The reflux then causes the brady and or apnea episode. They added it to his noon feed first and that one was a bit of a struggle for our little guy, but it likely was not because of the cereal and more because of the iron they add to his milk because he's anemic. The iron smells horrible and the nurses have shared it tastes horrible too. He has yet to do well with the feed with the iron added. 

His 3pm feed went much better and he had zero brady's during the feeding. He had a few after, but they were correlated to when he spit up or sneezed. His 6pm feed was not so great. He had a couple during the feed itself and a couple after the feed. Each of these caused him to turn blue or gray and one was almost 30 seconds long. I was sobbing. It's such a helpless feeling watching your child in pain and be unable to help them. All we can do during these episodes is to rub his back, tap his feet, or rub his sternum to remind him to breathe. Again, just a very scary thing to watch. I am forever grateful to the nurses who have to help me through these moments. I can imagine I don't make their jobs any easier as I require more reassurance than their actual patient. 

My mom arrived this afternoon and we are so thankful she is here, as Brian had to work for the holiday and is on midnights so he needs to sleep during the day. This allowed me to have company at the hospital while helping to care for our little man and allowed for Brian to have some peace and quiet at the house. We are hopeful Wyatt will be discharged while she is here so we can have an extra set of hands while trying to get acquainted with our new normal with a newborn at home. Especially one who is on a heart monitor.

I hope each of you enjoyed your holiday. I must say, today didn't really feel like Christmas. We look forward to the many years ahead with our little man at home, where he belongs.

Love,

Lori, Brian & Wyatt 

...Christmas Eve...

Today was a bit of a rocky day. We started off the day thinking we were heading home & all that stood between us and freedom was a car seat test. Unfortunately, Wyatt had different plans for us. He had some difficulty feeding today, causing quite a few brady episodes. They all still seem to correlate to feeding, pointing toward reflux continuing to be an issue. In the beginning of the day, they were only occurring when I fed him and not when the nurse fed him. By the end of the day, it didn't matter who was feeding him or if he was getting a bottle of breast milk or nursing-- he was still having brady's.

When Brian and I walked in and saw him having an episode with the nurse, we knew right then that we wouldn't be comfortable taking him home and asked the nurse if we could speak with the nurse practitioner (his provider today) and everyone was in agreement that he should stay a little longer. They ran some blood tests to see if there is an underlying infection or something they are missing. We will see what that yields.

One of the episodes tonight caused him to turn very pale and was very, very, very scary for us.
We know that this is absolutely the best place for him and while we are disappointed he isn't home tonight with us, we know we have many holidays with our little guy and this is just a small hurdle. There is talk that he could come home in the coming days, assuming he gets his feeds under control. We were trained today on a heart monitor that will come home with him, ensuring we can monitor his heart rate when we aren't right next to him.

It is difficult for us this evening, knowing our son is in a hospital on his first Christmas Eve. We are so thankful for those who are unable to be with their families tonight in order to care for those in the hospital, along with the first responders, like Brian, who are working and away from their families. We also are thinking of those who are celebrating their first Christmas with an empty place at their table. Hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight.

We continue to pray that Wyatt matures and gets the hang of eating and breathing at the same time. We also pray that if it is reflux that's bothering him, we can find a solution for it. Please also pray for those making decisions about his care, that they not make these big decisions without carefully considering all of the options and outcomes.

Love,
Lori, Brian & Wyatt

...New Digs & 2 Weeks Old!...

Our little man is 2 weeks old today! Still so hard to believe that 2 weeks ago this blonde bambino stole our hearts.

Mr. Wyatt got all settled in his new digs last night around 9:30 pm. I was able to run over to see him, speak with a nurse, and tuck him in for the evening. When I got there he was in an incubator because during the transport and transition, his temperature dropped a bit. It was never super low and didn't really seem to impact him much, but it was on the lower end of normal and the NICU felt more comfortable warming him up a bit before letting him hang out in the crib.

Overnight last night he did well with his feeds and maintaining his temperature so when I got there this morning, he was in the crib! His nurse this morning also shared some news that *maybe* his discharge is on the horizon. There were some dates thrown around, but with the holiday coming up and with a potential for coming home with a heart monitor, we just aren't sure when it will happen. He also has to continue to maintain all that he's done in his short amount of time since being transferred. He also still needs to pass the carseat test, which is sitting in the carseat, all hooked up, with monitors keeping track of his cardiac function to determine if he can ride in the car. If he fails, we would not be discharged.

Today he took all of his feeds orally and was even able to nurse for a bit. This is very exciting for us! I am convinced he's doing so well with feeds because we got his tongue tie fixed, or at least partially because of that. Wyatt was very vocal today when he was upset or hungry, which made me giggle. I may have grabbed my phone to take a picture of it because it was so cute. He sounds like a little sheep. I promise I snapped the picture and then soothed him, I didn't torture him.

We continue to ask for prayers for all of the nurses, doctors, techs, etc. involved in the decision making for Wyatt's care. May these people all make thoughtful decisions and in the best interest of Wyatt. We pray that Wyatt continues to grow, maintain his temperature, eat like a champion, and maintain his heart rate. 

Thank you for your love and support,

Lori, Brian & Wyatt

...News!...

Wyatt says, "Guess what?! I'm one step closer to going home! I can't believe it!"

We found out late this afternoon that Wyatt was being transferred to Anne Arundel Medical Center, which is a lesser intensity NICU than Hopkins. This is a good thing, as it means he is one step closer to coming home. 

As you can imagine, this means that his report tonight is full of great news. During rounds this morning, they shared our little guy is now 4 pounds 7 ounces. He is gaining weight and this is excellent. He took 66% of his feeds orally yesterday and was on room temperature air for the full 24 hours. However, he did not transition out of the crib, as the team was content with leaving him in the incubator while they figured out the details of his day. Little did we know, this was because they were preparing to bust him out of there. 

We got to hear him cry a bit more than usual today because they changed his feeds, so little guy is giving us additional clues that he is hungry. I'm not sure many parents treasure the sound of their little one communicating via crying, but we certainly did! I'm not convinced I'll be thankful for this in a few weeks when he's crying in the middle of the night, but I'll try and remember the feeling and be thankful for it even when it's 2 am. 

Please pray that Wyatt handles the change in scenery well and that the staff of Hopkins has communicated his needs well to the staff at AAMC. Please also pray that his care at AAMC is equal to the care that he received while at Hopkins. 

Lots of love,

Lori, Brian & Wyatt

...12.21.15...

Today was another great day in the NICU for baby Wyatt. During the night, the night nurse began the process to wean him out of the incubator, which involves turning down the temperature to room temperature, 27 degrees celsius. He has to tolerate it for 24 hours in order to change over to the crib. We should know whether he was successful or not tomorrow morning.

On our way to the hospital this morning, we got a call from the ENT (ear, nose, throat doctor) discussing their consult yesterday and to obtain consent for the frenetomy, or tongue tie release. We assumed this would take place later this week, so imagine our shock when I was feeding Wyatt and the ENT and his assistant came in to complete the procedure! Brian stayed in the room to be with our little guy, while I chose to walk out. I couldn't handle the thought of seeing my baby in pain, so thankfully his daddy is much braver about that and was able to stay with him to help comfort him. Turns out he's a champ! He only cried for about 3 seconds, then started rooting. I came in and fed him and he was so very happy. You could tell he was a little confused about his tongue being so free because he was sticking his tongue out while feeding.

That hair kills me. We try to flatten it out a bit, but it just won't stay. He reminds me of Einstein with that white mess of hair! 

Brian joined the team for rounds and it was a good report. He had a few cardiac events, a few brady's, but all in all the team is impressed with his progress. Their focus for now is the feeding. It's not uncommon for preemies to have brady's and his are self-resolving. This means they don't require stimulation from someone to remind him to breathe and he fixes his heart rate on his own. This is a good thing! He is now up to 4 pounds, 6 ounces. He's getting to be such a big guy! He may even be about ready to transition into newborn size clothes. He's still rocking the preemie diaper, and likely will for a little while. He's a peanut with long legs, so the preemie clothes are fine except the length. I suspect he takes after his dad in this case and this will be the story of his life, rocking high waters! 

My heart melts watching my two boys bonding. Daddy is watching the monitor while he holds him. Daddy is so good with understanding the monitors, which can be a little confusing. The monitors keep track of Wyatt's cardiac function and alert when there is an issue. However, they also alert when another baby on his hall has an issue. The alerts are different, but I panic when I hear them and Brian has to constantly tell me, "It's not him." or, "It's him." He is also very good at understanding the point in which we need to actually be concerned because sometimes a monitor won't pick up his oxygen levels and it will show a de-sat, when it really is a faulty measure. Or when a brady is just a few beats below the normal range. Thank goodness for Daddy, he keeps Mommy sane. 

Tomorrow will be a big day for our family, as it's Brian's last day before going back to work for a few days. We continue to pray for Wyatt to tolerate his feeds, while still gaining or maintaining his weight. We also pray that he tolerates the transition to the crib, if that is what happens through the night. And as always, pray that his cardiac events decrease. Please also pray for Brian as he transitions back to work. 

Thank you for joining us on this journey,

Lori, Brian, & Wyatt

...Oh, Baby!...

Today was another good day for our Wyatt. He had very few cardiac events last night and he took two 20 cc (20 mL or .6 oz) feeds for the nurses. I was also able to feed him about 20 cc's in the afternoon. What an amazing feeling, feeding your baby! My heart overflowed with love for him while I was looking into his eyes, feeding him, knowing my little guy was working so hard to do something so difficult for him. He did not have any cardiac events during the feeding and only had a few instances of reflux about an hour and a half after feeds. The nurse assured us this is pretty normal.

A day or two after Wyatt was born, Brian pointed out to me that it looked like Wyatt was tongue tied. We didn't think much of it, as there were plenty of other things to be worried about at that time. Now that we are starting feeds, it is pretty important. We talked to one of the doctors and he said he would look into it, as she felt like it was impacting his latch and his feeds. I was worried from a speech perspective as well. The nurse today really pushed it with the doctor and Wyatt will have a consult with the ENT, who performs a laser surgery for this procedure. It shouldn't be a big deal and because it's impacting feeds, it should get done sooner rather than later. 

This afternoon, Mr. Wyatt had a photo shoot. We took photos of him in his Christmas stocking. Yes, baby in a stocking. We "tortured" him and stuffed him in his stocking. It was absolutely precious. He was a trooper. I think his dad was more affected than he was! Brian kept saying, "Just remember, this is all your mother. I am NOT doing this to you." and his nurse and I kept snapping pictures. It was so much fun having nurse Lynn (his primary nurse) join the fun! Here are a few pictures from the photo shoot. No babies were harmed in this photo shoot.

Another great day for our little man. His nurse shared once again that they are ready to try him out of the incubator, but they want to be sure they have the feeds under control before that happens just so he can focus all of his energy on eating and not on regulating his temperature.

We continue to be in awe of this little fighter. He is so strong, even when we sometimes aren't. We continue to pray that he grows bigger and stronger, he tolerates his feeding challenge, and he keeps reducing the number of cardiac episodes. These are all requirements to be considered for going home.

Thanks for your love and support,
Lori, Brian & Wyatt

...12/19/15...

Today was another quiet day at the NICU. It started off tear filled while dropping off Nana at the airport, but got so much better with lots of snuggles with our favorite blonde boy. 

We made it to the hospital in time for rounds and it was a quick update today because our little guy had a great night. There was some conversation regarding the incubator vs. crib but ultimately the decision was made to keep him in the incubator while initially playing with his feeds. The thought is that he won't have to work to maintain his body temperature, which means his body will focus only on digestion and growing. It's more important that we make the feeds work for him, so the transition to the crib will wait a bit. I won't lie, I was initially sad about this decision but realized that this is the right way to do it for a higher chance of success. No need to fuss around with too much at once. 

Mommy and Wyatt got to kangaroo (and nap!) for quite a while today. Our little guy loves to snooze on mommy. He snuggles in and falls asleep quickly. He loves to sleep with his face smushed down, nose to mommy's chest. This makes mommy super anxious but the nurses always say he looks great, sounds great, and sleeps great. Can't ask for much more! 

While we were there today, little man started sneezing a bunch and snooters were flying all over that incubator. It was comical. The nurse doesn't think it's a cold or anything, she thinks it may be from the change in feeds. His food is coming in a bit quicker, so it may be irritating his nose a bit or it could be some reflux. She will keep an eye on him through the night to be sure it's not a cold. 

All in all, another great day! 

XO,

Lori, Brian & Wyatt 

...12/18/15...

Today was another great day for our little dude. Our morning started off with Daddy and Nana joining rounds while Mommy and Wyatt did kangaroo care. During rounds, the team discussed Wyatt's night which was unremarkable (a good thing!) and then discussed the plan for feeds. They determined that he would get one bottle of breast milk (15 cc's), while being disconnected from the continuous feeds. The reason for being disconnected is to hopefully begin showing his little tummy what it is like to be hungry which will pique his interest in feeds. Last night they attempted a bottle while he was still on the continuous feeds and he took a few swallows then a big gulp. After the big gulp, he gagged a bit and became pretty frustrated with the bottle and refused it.

But today?!?!

"Oooooooh! Nana (Grandma Prudden)! What do you have there? It looks like something I might be interested in, huh?!"

He did it! Wyatt took the bottle like a champion and Nana was the lucky one to feed him his first bottle. Nana thinks it's probably because she had a good talk with him about the importance of taking a bottle AND because she was holding him. She might be on to something. He took the full bottle and was happy as could be afterwards. No cardiac events while eating or immediately after. They will keep an eye on the cardiac events to see if anything happens tonight. Because eating is hard work for a preemie, there could be a small increase in events as his body had to work hard for those 15 cc's because of sucking, swallowing, and breathing all at once. 

For those of you who are looking for specific prayers/vibes/etc, please pray that Wyatt continues to grow and tolerates his feeds. We are also praying that he continues to tolerate the temperature decrease so he can bust out of the incubator and into the crib. We also pray for the staff working with Wyatt, that they may be sensitive to his clues while also still pushing him toward his goals. Additionally, please pray for Wyatt's NICU buddy Jimmy. Jimmy is being released to a step down NICU tomorrow, which is so very exciting for him and his family, but also a little anxiety producing for his parents as he has an hour medical transport drive to the other facility and will have a new staff tending to him. We will be sad to see his family go, as we have bonded with them, but we are SO excited for their next step.

Love & Hugs,
Lori, Brian & Wyatt

...12/17/15...

This morning started off a little rough, as we had to say goodbye to Brian's parents. They were heading back to Arizona. We will definitely miss having them around & Wyatt will miss his Grandma and Grandpa.

Today was a quiet day in the NICU, which is just what our little guy needed. It's been a busy 8 days and he was sound asleep most of the day. Today we were able to be part of the daily rounds. Rounds are performed by the NICU team, which includes his nurse, a few doctors, a neonatologist, a respiratory therapist, and an intern or two. Because his hospital is a teaching hospital, there are always plenty of people joining the crew. On rounds today we learned that they had begun the weaning process from the TPN and as of 5pm today, he was no longer on these fluids and his PICC line was removed! This is excellent news, as the PICC line gets in the way and can be frustrating for him when they try to tuck him in. The next step is bottle feeds, which they attempted today but he was too sleepy to be interested. Silly boy!

In other exciting news, our little guy is steadily gaining weight. He is now 4 pounds 3 ounces, which is 1 ounce shy of his birth weight. Keep growing, Wyatt! 

This afternoon, Wyatt got a visit from Santa Claus! He and one of his elves made his way through the Children's wing of the hospital and stopped in for a few pictures. We so cherished this moment, as we are trying so hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year and this helped so much. 

We look forward to many more great days with our little man. 

...1 Week...

Wow! It's hard to believe our little guy is 1 week today. That's 7 days old. Just 7 days ago he entered our world and stole our hearts. Seems like he's been here forever, but also seems just like yesterday. Such a weird feeling. I suppose those of you who have children will tell me that this is just the beginning.

Today we got the results of the MRI, which was exploring the cyst on the brain and checking the pituitary gland. All of their findings were in the normal range! This is EXCELLENT news! We also spoke with the pediatric cardiologist when he was on his rounds, who confirmed that the tiny murmur they heard is just that, tiny. He said he will continue to monitor him while he's in the NICU (I think because he knows just how cute our little guy is!) but he believed things were just fine. We asked if there would be long term impact from the murmur, or if it would be something that would preclude him from obtaining certain jobs, participating in contact sports, etc. He assured us that he could be whatever he wanted to be, except maybe a fighter pilot but he was pretty convinced not many people are qualified to be fighter pilots. 

You may be able to see from this photo, our little man has gained 40 grams since yesterday! He almost looks chubby in this photo! His total weight is now just over 4 pounds. They increased his feeds to 10 cc's an hour and will begin to wean him from Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) and replace with fortifiers in his breast milk. This will begin the process of attempting to go off the continuous feeds and begin oral feeds, which is a requirement to be able to go home. We were warned that sometimes this process can be arduous, as the little fighters just sometimes take a few steps back before going forward as their little bodies just get overwhelmed with remembering all that is required of them. So we remain cautiously optimistic that he will tolerate the transition. 

Mommy doing kangaroo care (skin-to-skin) with Baby Wyatt. This practice is supposed to help baby grow big and strong by keeping the baby warm, helping to regulate his heart beat, helping him to gain weight, and spend more time in deep sleep. The best part of mommy's day is kangarooing with Wyatt. 

Just a shot of his hair, as I know all of you reading are very impressed with that full head of hair. Even his daddy is a bit jealous of that hair! 

For those of you who are looking to support us in prayer, good vibes, positive thoughts, whatever... please pray that Wyatt continues to gain weight, continues to regulate his temperature (so he can bust out of that incubator! Mommy wants to access him ALL the time!) and tolerates the decrease in his temperature support. We are also hoping that he will continue to decrease the cardiac events. All of these are pieces toward being able to come home. 

Love and Hugs to all of you,

Lori, Brian & Wyatt

…12/14/15...

As you know, Wyatt was born on 12/9/15 at 1:23 pm at only 35 weeks. Before he was born, we were informed that our little man had a congenital heart defect. As a result of this, we were well followed and were set to deliver with a huge team of people including the NICU team. 

After Wyatt was born, an echocardiogram was completed to see exactly what was going on with his little heart. As it turns out, the heart defect he has is actually not as complicated as it was originally thought. Thank goodness! He still has a heart defect called dysplastic pulmonary valve and includes a mild/moderate regurgitation. In English, that means he has a valve that is not quite as it should be, but this defect is not one that will require open heart surgery in the first year and he may never need surgery. He will be monitored throughout his lifetime to confirm that his heart is still working as it should. In addition to the valve issue, he also has an enlarged right ventricle, which is what confirmed the need for an early arrival last week. This should regulate itself over time and apparently most NICU babies have this same condition. Again, he will be monitored for this but may never require intervention for it.

 Currently our little man is set to undergo some additional testing in the form of an MRI, as they found a cyst on his brain, but don't really know what exactly that means and should hopefully have additional information after the MRI is completed. It has been ordered and we gave consent for it this afternoon, so hopefully within the week. 

He is on room air through a nasal cannula. Preterm babies have a hard time figuring out all that is required of them when they are in the real world, and he sometimes needs some reminders to keep up his heart rate. It is not alarming, as he is at 21% oxygen which is what you and I breathe. When his heart rate drops below a regulated number, it is called a bradycardia, or a "brady". He was having many of these after feedings, which suggested reflux was an issue. They discontinued oral feeds and began using an NG tube, so he receives his food through the tube. The end goal is for oral feeds, which is a requirement for him to be able to bust out of the joint! But we will take baby steps to get there. The reflux seems to be better with a change in the delivery of his feeds as well as the addition of total breast milk.

Today a PICC line (peripherally inserted central catheter) was installed because our little man has quite an attitude and LOVED to annoy his nurses by pulling out his IV lines. We know that this little guy is a fighter and certainly takes after his father, as he is quite a jokester. He peed on the ultrasound technician, peed on a nurse, and has pulled out multiple IV lines. 

We don't have any idea how long this NICU adventure will be, but a good target is his due date (1/12/16). Of course it could be longer or shorter, but the staff has shared that a lot of people use that date to help guide their thinking. 

We thank you all for your calls, texts, prayers, etc. as we navigate this journey with our little man. As we know more information, we will plan to update here.