One pound!!!

We went to visit Caden today and learned that he is now up just over a pound from his birth weight; he now weighs 3lbs, 13 ounces!  Everyone says he is doing very well.  He is off the nasal cannula (except when we hold him) and "camps out" in a plastic tent.  The tent is just to give his nasal passages a break from the nasal cannula, which dries his nose out really bad.  We will try to get a picture of the tent in our next update as well as some pictures of the Ronald McDonald House.  They are going to try him without any breathing support later this week.

He has been getting much better at bottle feeding and takes about 30% of his milk that way.  Both us enjoy taking turns feeding him. See the video below!  We still intend to breastfeed and bottle feed when the time comes, but since he is a preemie and needs additional calories and supplements added to breast milk, this is the only way to get him moving in that direction.

Before being fed...a little grumpy.

 Being fed...a little better!

 All done eating...time to stretch out...

Better yet...snuggle up and take a nap with Daddy!

Growing!

Well, it has been a little while since an update, so here goes.  Caden is up to 3lbs, 6oz.  He is getting 32 mL of milk at each feeding, which is a little over an ounce. He continues to do well with maintaining his temperature – they’ve discontinued the heat and have the top of his bed raised up.  He is down to a 2L nasal cannula and generally is on 21-23% oxygen.  In plain terms, that is the lowest level of breathing support they can give him and 21% is what adults breathe naturally.  They tried him without any breathing support today, but he wasn’t quite ready for that.  They will try again in a day or two. 

He has shown interest in breast feeding and has even “latched on”.  Today he took 18 mL from a bottle at one feeding and 30 mL at another feeding from a bottle.  All in all, the doctors are very happy with his progress.  

We still have not heard back on the professional pictures, but plan to check on those soon.  We picked up the ashes of Tarson and Braxton today and we are still figuring out what to do as far as a memorial once we return.

We are still at the Ronald McDonald house which is going well.  We’ve been continuing to explore Ann Arbor and the surrounding area, finding great places to eat and cool things to see.  Thanks again for all of the support we continue to receive, it is very much appreciated.

Misc. and Joys of the Day

Our local newspaper, the Ark Valley News, ran an article about us and how the students at my school are helping us out in our time of need. You can read the article here.

We have been receiving lots of cards lately - Thank You!  We are enjoying the city of Ann Arbor, which is a beautiful place with lots of nice restaurants and things to do.  The snow has also been fun to watch.

Joys of the Day

1.  Caden is off his humidity, so now we can put clothes on him!
2.  Ate a nice home-cooked meal at Ronald McDonald House prepared by volunteers.
3.  Found out we didn't have to pay a $800 medical bill.

Joys of the Day: 1/19/12 and Hiccups!

1. Holding Caden.

2. Watching Grandma and Grandpa Loucks, AND Great-Grandpa Unruh hold Caden!

3. Enjoying Ethiopian food during "restaurant week."

4. Wearing my new non-maternity coat!

Bath Time!

Misc. Updates

Many of you have been asking to send cards, flowers, etc. to us in Michigan, so here is how you can send stuff to us:

Daniel & Michelle Ackland

1600 Washington Hts, Room 28

Ann Arbor, MI 48104

We also have Skype, so if you are interested in Skyping with us, just shoot us an email and we can arrange a time and date to do that.  dtackland@gmail.com or michelleackland@gmail.com.

We have not really received a time frame for when we expect to be released from the hospital.  An average time frame is when they would reach their normal 40 week due date (March 14th).  We think since he is doing so well that he may get discharged earlier than that.

When we return to Kansas, we plan to have memorial services, an open house, and a baby shower.  More details will be posted closer to the date.  

We had a professional photographer take pictures of all three babies, even some of them all together, and we will post some of those once they become available to us.

Joys of the day: 1/14/12

1. Holding Caden

2. Aaron and Katie arrived later than expected, and we slept in again :)

3. Watching Aaron and Katie hold Caden (this is a process with preemies as it has to be skin to skin contact, and all monitors have to remain functioning on the baby)

4. Snow fell all day...so pretty!

Joys of the Day: 1/13/12

As we aren't expecting any MAJOR updates in the near future, we have decided to post our "Joys of the Day."

1. Holding Caden (I can't imagine this won't be #1 for a LONG time)

2. Turning off all alarms (I even took a night off from pumping) and sleeping until we were good and ready to get up!

3. No calls to the hospital in the middle of the night.

4. Woke up to a beautiful snowfall. Not enough to make the roads awful, but enough to make everything pretty.

Bad News, Good News - Part 2

Last night we received a call that Braxton (Baby C) was not doing well.  So we packed up from the Ronald McDonald house and came over.  We held him as best we could in the incubator and were able to get him to stabilize.  This afternoon we were told by doctors that they were afraid his bowels were leaking inside of his abdomen.  The options were to let him slowly go or to insert a drainage tube and see if he needed surgery.  We decided to go ahead and go with the drainage tube.  Our decision was based on the fact that he had been such a fighter so far and we wanted him to make the decision for us.  He quickly decided for us and it was that this was too much.  The doctors also informed us at this point that his quality of life was quickly getting worse.  We again made the difficult decision to remove all support and let him go.  He passed away around 9:28pm EST.

We were able to get a local Mennonite pastor to come and baptize Tarson for us today.  As mentioned in previous posts, we will have him and Braxton cremated and then hold a memorial service once we are able to return to Kansas.

Caden is doing very well and will be able to move up to the next type of breathing tube tomorrow.  We have been changing his diapers and will get to give him a bath too.  He is up four ounces from his birth weight to an even 3 pounds.

We want to thank everyone again for everything you have done for us – it is very much appreciated.

Picture Update!

 

Baby C

Baby C

Baby C

Baby C

Caden

Caden

Caden

Caden

Tarson

Tarson

Bad News, Good News

Let’s start with the bad news.  We knew coming into this that it didn’t look good for Tarson, the baby with the heart defect.  Doctor’s met after doing tests and informed us that he has hypoplastic left heart.  It would require a surgery that would reroute blood to the lungs and bypass that side of the heart.  It requires that he have a strong right side of the heart.  Unfortunately that was not the case as the right ventricle also has problems.  The doctors did not feel it would be in his best interest to attempt surgery.  Before we really had a chance to make any sort of decisions, Tarson decided for us and took a turn for the worse.  His body was not getting the levels of oxygen it needed.  We made the most difficult decision of our lives and made him comfortable by removing all of his tubes.  We held him for several hours until he passed away around 5pm EST on January 7^th, 2012.  We are having him cremated and will hold a memorial service when we are able to return to Kansas.

Baby C took a turn for the worse last night as we received a phone call late at night.  By the time we arrived in the NICU, Baby C was doing much better.  They are still quite concerned, however.  We still have not received word as to the gender of Baby C, but if Baby C is a boy, the name will be Braxton Jace.

Caden is doing very well and had his umbilical feeding tube removed and a pick line inserted into his foot.  Michelle went to his room to pump last night when we went to see Baby C when we learned that we could hold him!  We were able to hold him for an hour last night for the first time.  We were so excited!  They think that he will be able to go to another type of breathing tube that is even better than the one he is on, so another positive sign!  Michelle even pumped enough milk for Caden to have two feedings over night!

Michelle was released from the hospital yesterday and was able to walk outside for the first time since November 14, 2011!  She is recovering very well from the c-section.  We went out to supper last night with Dan’s parents, who joined us yesterday.  We are now staying in the Ronald McDonald house within short walking distance of the hospital. 

Speaking of the hospital…we cannot be more pleased with this hospital.  Every staff member we have come across, from janitor to doctor, have been some of the nicest people we have ever met.  

BABY DAY!!!

Events of the morning: Contractions woke me up at 5 am. At this point, I was on meds that were supposed to be controlling the pain of contractions, so I knew it was probably baby day. At 6, my nurse came in to take my vitals and I let her know that contractions were about 5 minutes apart and fairly uncomfortable. She hooked me up to monitors, and said she would let the doctors know, but that the contractions may stop in a few hours. (EXACTLY what I was hoping for, hours and hours of waiting to see if they went away!) Luckily monitors confirmed that I was indeed having contractions, and when doctors made rounds, they said it was time to get moving. By 9 am, I was in the O.R. receiving my spinal. The babies arrived at 9:28, 9:29, and 9:30!

Caden Allen: 2 lb. 12 oz. 15 inches. Caden came out crying and healthy. He has a head full of white blonde hair, and is doing very well overall. He has one line into is umbilical cord for feeding, and is getting extra oxygen via CPAP. There is a chance he’ll end up on a ventilator to help him breath, but based on his gestational age, he is doing VERY well.

Tarson J: 2 lb. 9 oz. (we need to check on length?) Tarson also came out crying with a head full of white blonde hair. While he came out looking perfect as can be, the left side of his heart isn’t working, and the right side isn’t perfect either. In a bigger baby, they would reconfigure his heart so that the right heart would do the work (this is a multiple surgery process done over several months). Unfortunately, Tarson’s heart is so small that surgery would be nearly impossible, and likely only prolong his suffering. Based on how the next couple days go, we’ll have to decide whether we want to try surgery, or just make him comfortable.

Laken Janelle: 1 lb. 5 oz. 11 ¾ inches. Laken was also a cryer with lots of white blond hair. Unlike what we expected, her face appears normal, and doctors said that if they didn’t know about previous speculation on chromosomal issues, they wouldn’t have suspected anything based on her facial features. HOWEVER, there is now a question of her gender. It appears Laken wasn’t getting all the nutrients she needed, and her head got the bulk of nutrition. Her genitalia is unclear, and will be determined with a karyotype. Since we were under the impression that her chance of survival was so minimal, to find out that her only issue may be waiting on genitalia to develop, we are pleased as can be!! (We will change her name if she turns out to be a he.)

Mom: I am doing well. Within hours of my C-section, I ate and walked to prove I was ready to see my babies. I am in no pain except when I move, but even moving hasn’t been terrible. I did experience motion sickness on the way back from seeing the babies, but have otherwise been very comfortable.

Happy Birthday!

All three are here! Everything is going better than expected. They were born at 9:28, 9:29, & 9:30 weighing in at 2 lb. 12oz. , 2 lb. 9oz., & 1 lb. 5 oz. We will post more as time allows and as we learn more.

Happy New Year!

Shortly after we arrived in Michigan, several doctors came to visit with us.  They also determined that Michelle is 4-5cm dilated.  She was hooked up to a machine to monitor contractions and the baby’s heart rates.  They also determined that she had begun having mild contractions.

Shortly after we rang in the New Year, Michelle’s water broke and she began leaking amniotic fluid.  The doctors gave her another dose of steroids to strengthen the baby’s lungs and antibiotics to lessen the chances she develops an infection.

A full sonogram was done and Caden (healthy boy) is 2lbs, 7oz, Tarson (heart defect) is 2lbs 6oz, and Laken is 1lb.  We were told that Laken has a very serious genetic disorder  and has very little chance of survival.  Tarson is also believed to have additional heart defects beyond aortic stenosis.  They like for babies with his heart problems to weigh 2000g (4lbs, 8oz), and he only weighs 1100g.  They will do whatever they can for him, but they are not very hopeful.  Caden is doing well and they believe he should be fine after a stay in the NICU.

This has been pretty devastating news for us.  We appreciate everyone’s kind words and prayers.  We don’t have many answers at this point simply because the doctors are unable to provide answers until we deliver.