Lilypie Second Birthday tickers

Lilypie Second Birthday tickers

Friday, October 22, 2010

Gearing Up for Game Day

Better be well rested for the big game...

So I can cheer for all those touchdowns!

And talk about Heisman hopefuls :)



Monday, October 18, 2010

A Week in the Life...

Lucas is doing great this week... his weight is up (he has outgrown newborn diapers and most clothes) and his liver enzymes are down. Pretty much he just eats, sleeps, and poops all day long :) Next week he has a Frenulechtomy (sp?) scheduled on Wednesday which means he will soon be tongue-tied-less! I am so super excited about this because after the procedure he will be able to breastfeed normally, I will not have to pump after every feeding and he will not have to have a supplementary bottle; basically we will be able to have a more normal feeding experience. Below are some cute pictures :)

Passed out after tummy time

The Thinker

My green stripe wearing men

Sunday, October 10, 2010

1 Month


Luke is 1 month old! It is hard to believe that much time has gone by already - I guess it is when you become a parent that time moves into warp speed. Despite the many medical setbacks this month Luke has reached several developmental milestones... he is able to focus on a face, he can push his head (at a 90 degree angle) and upper body off the ground when he is on his tummy, he responds to noise, vocalizes in a way other than crying, and he even rolled over! I couldn't believe he rolled over so I placed him on his tummy again and he did it a second time right away...he has not done this again since being in the hospital when his IV was in the way :( It will not be long before he does it again I am sure. He is beginning to stay awake for a slightly longer time now which is exciting because we get to interact with him a little more.
One of my all-time favorite books is Where the Red Fern Grows, which is about a boy and his dogs. Maybe it is because of this book that I am anxious to make sure he has a good relationship with Archie and Lizzie. Today I started having them interact more by propping Luke up on them while they were laying down. It was cute to see his reaction to his fuzzy poodle and motherly GSP. Lizzie was really still and just looked at him while Archie licked the spit-up off his face. Archie did growl a little, which I totally did not expect. I will need to work on this a little more (Archie is starting to be really jealous of Luke and has been getting into things he shouldn't). At any rate, it looks like the beginning of a beautiful relationship :)

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Not out of the woods...

Well, we are home from the hospital but Lucas is not completely out of the woods. The original reason he was admitted to the hospital was due to a lack of weight gain. He was 7lbs 14 oz at birth and was not back to this weight by 21 days (usually this is achieved by 14 days). Then when we went to the hospital his abnormal bloodwork became the focus of his treatment and the lack of weight gain became an assumed symptom of the phantom diagnosis.

However, at his follow up appointment with the pediatrician he had not gained a sufficient amount of weight since his discharge (babies his age should gain 1 oz/day and he had managed .5 oz/2 days). There are so many potential reasons for this - low milk supply, his tongue tied disposition causes him to burn more calories than he can ingest at the breast, poor latch, and the ever so scary failure to thrive. Failure to thrive is not a term any mother wants to hear, and it is not one that is unfamiliar to my family. My older sister had this diagnosis at 18 months and my parents experienced a time of fear as they successfully nursed her back to health while facing accusations of neglect by her school. So, I attacked the first couple of options hoping they are the reasons and in one day he gained 3 ounces! At this point I am working on increasing my milk supply (lots of pumping, diligent timed nursing, and I am taking fenugreek and alfalfa which makes everything taste like maple syrup) and we are supplementing each meal with a bottle of expressed breast milk or formula until we can have his frenectomy done. I hope after the procedure we can stop this crazy routine and mommy and baby are able to figure out a supply and demand that is more natural.

Long story! I guess the moral is that we would like you to still keep us in your prayers until we are assured he is not having failure to thrive. I have limited time to take pictures or do anything because of the constant boob focus going on...so here are a few pictures from the hospital for your enjoyment.
Cuddle time with Mommy

Do I look like a guy who is sick?!?!? I am so strong!

My first bottle

I love my Daddy!

Typical boy... I love boobies :)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Monday, October 4, 2010

More Good News!

Ammonia levels are back to normal, and the liver enzyme levels are on their way there. Two more requirements before discharge - viral test results and weight gain. Sounds like we should be out of here today or tomorrow! May never know what caused this illness, but that's OK with us. No big bad syndromes or diseases!

No Bacterial Infection

The bacteria cultures came back negative, confirming that little Luke does not have a bacterial infection. So he got to go off of the antibiotics this morning! He's still on the antiviral until the viral results are ready. He had more blood work done this morning, but we are still waiting on the results, hoping his liver enzyme and ammonia levels are down. He's still eating and sleeping OK and still no fever.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Update

Basically just a waiting game now. Still no obvious reason for the elevated liver enzymes, so we'll have to wait until the infectious disease lab results come back - another 24-48 hours. Luke will stay on the IV antibiotics/antivirals in the meantime. Ultrasound of the liver showed no problems. Luke still seems to be feeling ok, and had good weight gain today. The doc did warn us that it's just one point and we're more interested in seeing a trend over multiple days.

Good News!

Preliminary results show no bacterial meningitis, which is great news! Still need to confirm and also test for viral meningitis. Luke has been started on Ampicillin, Acyclovir, and Gentamycin just in case. He still seems to be feeling fine and had a good night's sleep. Will post more when we know more.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Update From the Hospital

Luke got admitted to the hospital today after his appointment with the pediatrician. The doctors had a few concerns that they wanted to get checked out - heart murmur, continued jaundice, and weight loss - and thought it'd be easiest to accomplish the required tests at the hospital. We've been here since noon and the little guy has been a trooper through all of the poking and prodding. His blood tests came back and showed high levels of liver enzymes, causing the doctors to be concerned about meningitis. They are currently doing a lumbar puncture on him to get a sample of CSF to test, and while waiting for the results will start him on antibacterials and antivirals. Luke seems to be feeling fine, so it's all a bit of a shock to think that he may indeed have meningitis. Prayers are appreciated!



Sad but cute picture of Luke with his IV