Primary Childrens

Kian was moved to Primary Children's medical center last night. His hydrocephaly is increasing in the nuerosurgeons are based at Primarys, so that's where he needs to be. He will be evaluated by them hopefully today, and we will know later on if he needs treatment and what kind. He rode in the ambulance with 2 nurses and we followed behind.
This was his ride. A little isolette on a stretcher. He'll probably stay at Primarys till he's ready to go home.

A Good Week

Kian has had a pretty good week. He has been stable on his nasal prongs. In fact, they are slowly weaning him down, and today he is getting 3.5 liters/min, down from 5 a few days ago. I have gotten to hold him now 2 days in a row. We wrap him up in blankets and I hold him in front of me and just stare at him. He tolerates that much better than kangaroo care (skin to skin). He has grown eyelashes now, and is much more alert and awake than previous weeks. So now his main task is to rest and grow and mature. He'll get an eye test this week (Papa says I better hurry and teach him his ABCs, but I don't think it's that kind of test), and in a couple of weeks maybe he will start eating from a bottle. Oh yes, current weight: 2 lbs 14 oz.

Cutie face

So this was Kian's CPAP delivery method. I guess he just wanted to try out all the different styles of O2. I held him yesterday while he was sporting this look, and it was awkward. Plus he didn't breathe much while I was holding him, so our time together didn't last long.

Now he's on a nasal canula, and we can see more of his face. He is becoming more alert and opening his eyes a lot more. He's gaining weight, too. He's up to 2 lbs 12 oz.

So cute! He's getting all of his feeds through the OG tube in his mouth. No nutrition in the IV. Yea! And he has to wear big preemie diapers because he was soaking through the other ones. These diapers are huge on him.

Kian day 20

Here's Kian's new breathing device: nasal prongs. He's been on CPAP and IMV, and back to CPAP. His heart rate and O2 saturation have been dropping, but he's doing better today.

These next few pictures are from a few days ago. This is what we call his Perma-scowl. Only we've found it's not permanent. There are times when he looks peaceful.

We love it when he is wide awake, which isn't often.

Bonding. It's great.

They told us Friday they think Kian has meningitis. They did a lumbar puncture to obtain cerebro-spinal fluid, and it was bloody, which is a good indication that the blood from his brain is draining. The LP was pretty indicative of meningitis, so he's on different antibiotics to help with that. Poor guy probably has a big headache, though. He's back up to his birth weight, and he has actually grown an inch in the almost 3 weeks that he's been here.

Off the vent, again

Kian was taken off the ventilator again this afternoon, after proving sufficiently that he could breathe on his own. There is a new doctor on who has a different plan than the last doctor. So we will hope that Kian is able to keep up the effort. He's on nasal CPAP now. They moved him to a new room that has a window (very enviable, apparently), which means he is no longer one of the most critical babies. Good for us, bad for the other families.

Chris's Grandma passed away this week, at age 99. We will be going to her funeral in Blackfoot this weekend.

Kian day 14

Kian had a good few days, but instead of taking him off the vent today like they planned, they think he has an infection. So he gets a few more days on the vent, I suppose, and a 7 day course of antibiotics. Chris is back to work today. Here's another picture of our little man. He sure doesn't seem to look much different day-to-day. Chris puts them in black and white if the lighting is too wacky to fix, or if Kian's skin color looks horrible due to poor exposure. The conditions are not ideal for photographs. Chris does a pretty good job, though.

Kian day 10

I got to hold Kian for the first time yesterday. Do you see his tiny little head?

He actually sucks on that little pacifier. He loves it.

Chris's first diaper change. He didn't even break him (we were worried.)

Awwww. He's had a couple of really good days. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. We met his little neighbor in the next room and her parents. They were due the same day, but their baby was born at 25 weeks and weighed less than a pound. So we are feeling very blessed.

More Kian Pix

I'm in love with his feet. They are so perfect and tiny, with bitsy little toenails. He's back on the ventilator, and loves lying on his tummy.

Kian's first week

Here's our little man. He is doing really well, considering the start he got. We found out he has had some bleeding in his brain that has affected his frontal lobe. We are praying mightily that that damage will go away. He's off the ventilator and on CPAP, but taking breaths all on his own. He's done really well the past few days, and we feel very fortunate to have him with us.

Baby Kian

This is our new baby Kian (pronounced like Ian, with a K). He was born Tuesday morning. I was 27 weeks pregnant and started bleeding, so we decided I should get checked out at the hospital. It's a good thing I did, because as soon as I lay down on the bed in L&D, I really started to bleed. They decided to get the baby out ASAP, so they did. We were only in the hospital about 45 minutes before we had our baby. 2 lbs, 8 oz, 15 1/4 inches long. He is beautiful and has dark hair. I think he has a dimple in his chin just like his daddy. It's kind of hard to tell, though, because of all the tape and tubes. He is having a rough go at this point and has some bleeding in his brain. We are praying that all goes well. We have the best family, ward and friends anyone could hope for, and are grateful for all of you. We will update with pictures as we get the chance.