More miracles

We had a bit of a scare over the weekend when we were told that Kian might have meningitis again. (He didn't really have it last time, most likely). The number of white blood cells in his cerebrospinal fluid went way up. They put him back on antibiotics and told us we may have to go back to Primary's. So they did all sorts of tests, and 2 days later, the number went way down. They did a CT scan of his brain to see if there were any small pockets of infection by his reservoir, and they didn't see anything. So they stopped his antibiotics, and called him infection free. All of your prayers are paying off!

Kian is growing fast. He is getting close to 5 lbs and is 17 3/4 inches long. We are working on breastfeeding and he is getting better at that. They put him back on caffeine again to help him breathe more constantly (he would take big breaks from breathing) and that seems to be helping. All in all, things are going pretty well.

Little miracles

Kian is still doing well. He is in the feeding and growing stage of his life right now. Last week his eye exam showed stage 2 ROP, which is the eye problem preemies can get. We were told that stage 2 (out of 5) isn't very bad, and it could resolve itself. Yesterday's eye exam showed stage 1 ROP, so it is getting better! It was such a relief to know that. Prayers do work! Kian weighs 4 lbs 6 oz today, and is progressing slowly but surely. He was due 5 weeks from now. The picture is of him in his big boy crib. It was taken last Saturday. We haven't got any new pictures because Chris is in charge of taking the pictures at the hospital and he has been working lots of extra hours this week. But soon we will have more.

Doing well

Kian has been doing great since we got to IMC. He has been growing and staying warm and being a good, cute boy. He's on 1 liter of O2, and doing everything we expect him to be able to. Next task, eating by mouth. We'll see when he's ready to do that.

In other news, Kate wore her first braids to church Sunday. She was very proud of them. And quite adorable, if I may say so. Kian's hair is very much like Kate's when she was born. Lots in the back, not so much in front.

Back to IMC

Kian has been doing well. His head has responded well to treatment, and the doctors are very pleased with him. He hasn't made progress in many other areas, but hopefully now with his head under control, he will start learning all the other things he is supposed to do. His age now is 34 weeks adjusted, and he weighs 4 lbs.



He has done well enough that he was able to go back to IMC from Primary's. So the picture above is him in the little transport unit, which you can see below. The little guy has already had 2 ambulance rides in his short little life.

He's wearing clothes!

Kian has been doing well enough on his temperature to come out of the isolette and start wearing clothes to help him stay warm. He looks like a real baby in his clothes. They are huge on him, and they are preemie size. He has been doing well with his reservoir taps, and we get to see another head ultrasound tomorrow to see what kind of a difference it has made.

Surgery went well

Kian's surgery went well. I held him for about an hour before he went in. We accompanied him to the OR, then we ate some lunch at a parents' group meeting, then walked over to the U of U hospital (holy cow, that's changed), and he was back in his room by the time we came back. He looked absolutely snowed. He was still sedated and intubated, but started waking up a couple of hours later. In the picture above you can see his little incision on his head next to the pillow he is lying on. You can see it better in the picture below. The little lump at the end of the incision is where they will draw off the cerebrospinal fluid.

When Chris talked to the nurse this morning, they had already extubated him, so he's back to breathing on his own and doing a good job.

Surgery tomorrow

After seeing the head ultrasound today, the neurosurgeon decided to go ahead with the reservoir. So that will happen sometime tomorrow afternoon. It supposedly is a quick procedure, but he will have to be intubated again and then weaned off it again. I'm glad they aren't going to wait anymore if he really does need it.

Growing and more waiting

Kian is doing well. He has been gaining weight, and now weighs 3 1/2 lbs. He's down to 3 liters of oxygen and is taking his feeds over 1 hour. His head grows some days, and some days it doesn't. So we are still in a holding pattern with that. He'll have another ultrasound on Tuesday, since Monday is a "holiday."

Kate, meet Kian

So one of the positive things about moving to Primary's is that their visitor policy allows children 2 and up to visit siblings. So yesterday Kate got to see her brother for the first time. She did great and didn't want to leave. She waved and said "Hi Kian," and look, he waved back! Ok, not really, but he sure is cute with his eyes open.

Wait and watch

So the neurosurgeon said we can wait a bit longer to see what Kian is going to need. He may have surgery next week to put a reservoir in his brain so they will be able to drain some of the fluid from his ventricles. They will do another head ultrasound Monday, and keep measuring his head to make sure it isn't growing too fast. He's been gaining weight. He now weighs 3 lbs 5 oz. He's doing great otherwise.