And we're HOME!!!!!!!!!

Heading Home!

Finally doing this well!

Movin on up... :)

Between the hat and his eyes he looks like some kind of alien...a cute alien I guess.

Ok on to the news. Friday and Saturday showed much improvement as far as the eating is concerned. So much so that they were able to take him off his IV fluids! This was the last of anything connected to him. So being cord, tube, and IV free they have decided he is able to move upstairs to a private room. Normally this is about a 24 hour period and if the baby passes they are on their way home. However, with Luke still on antibiotics and not having shown he can gain weight steadily without the IV, if everything goes well we could be looking at the end of the week for a departure date.
With Luke being in a private room this means that Sara has pretty much moved into the hospital for the next week. They put you under strict rule to keep baby in your sight 24/7. You can't even go to the bathroom without calling a nurse to watch over them. Good news is she will start nursing tonight and every feeding from now on. Tyler and Emma still are not allowed to see him where he is at. However, as they transported him from the NICU to his room they got to sneak a short peek at him as they wheeled him down the hall. The nurse was kind enough to stop for a second so they could look at him. Needless to say they were very excited!
We're thankful for your continued prayers that once he is off the antibiotics in a couple days that he would continue to eat well and gain the necessary weight to come on home. Love you all and will continue to keep you updated.

A few pics...

Here's the latest...

Well the experiment with the formula was pretty much an epic FAIL. He actually began spitting up more of the formula than he had been with the regular milk. Sooooo, back to breast milk. Also, since the last update, they have done an ultrasound on his stomach to see if the muscle that allows food to get through was possibly in a state of spasm therefore restricting the flow of food. Thankfully that ultrasound came back negative, and therefore sparing Luke from surgery this weekend!! Instead they have started him on a very aggressive antibiotic called azithromycin hoping this will both kill any virus that may be present, and help with motility (help the food head south instead of north).
We don't really have a timetable for when he will move upstairs, the Dr. just said he would like to monitor him from the NICU a while longer. As far as NICU life, Luke is spoiled rotten. He has those nurses wrapped around his little finger. Yes it stinks that he has to be there, but while there he is getting the best care any parents could ask for. That's about all for now, we'll keep you updated with any new developments.

Another week? Here's the latest on Luke...

After rounds this morning, the Dr. suggested that we try something different since there hasn't been much progress in the last several days. They don't want to keep him there for no reason, but at the same time they need to figure out why he isn't keeping his feedings down. His temperature is doing well, he's gaining some weight, the feeding tube is gone, the only thing is that he is still spitting up quite a bit after he eats... and most of it has brown in it which is an indication of old blood (sorry to be graphic, that's just what they're telling us). So here's what they want to do...

They are taking him off of Mom's milk and starting him on a formula that is "pre-broken down", so that his stomach doesn't have to work as hard to digest it. This will also help to tell us if he has some type of allergy to milk. To fully know if this is working will take about a week. His orders to be moved up to special care shouldn't be affected by this, so he could go upstairs anytime. Sara and I were able to look at these rooms last night, they offer much more privacy for Mom and baby. It's almost like having a NICU room all to yourself. We hope to have a little more information in the next couple of days. We'll pass it on when we know anything more.

Jeremiah 1:4-5 - The word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart."

Just for fun...

She loves her some Michael Buble... who knew?

Short update...

So the video didn't work as well as it was supposed too, but what you gunna do?

Video Blog #2...

Here's the latest...

Video Blog #1...

Another round of x-rays...

I was able to be with Luke today for his 5 o'clock feeding. He was a little sluggish and didn't eat as much as he had been. Then towards the end he spit up a little bit, the problem being there was brown in it. Then Sara just called from the hospital saying that he had spit up more of the brown stuff and the Dr.'s were going to do some x-rays to see what was going on inside his little tummy.
When I was there he had been moved from the incubator to a crib, not sure if this little set back will change that or not. Sara is going to keep me updated tonight and I'll pass on more when I hear from her.
Praying that the x-rays are negative and that he will keep down his feedings.