Our Growing Boy!

Eric is up to 3lbs. 9oz. and doing very well. He is big enough now that he is able to regulate his own temperature so Troy and I got to hold him swaddled instead of having to shove him down in our shirts. It was awesome. He even gets to wear clothes now and will be out of his isolette soon and into a mini crib. My sister Tami is up here helping us out this week. We love having her and Jacob is in Heaven having another person to make him giggle!!

3 Pounds!!!!

Eric has gained an entire pound!! He has come a long way and is doing very well. I finally had time to update his pictures. Enjoy!

NEW NEWS

Eric is doing very well. He is up to 2 lbs. 13 1/2 oz. Huge huh?!! He is growing so well and will need a haircut soon!! The most exciting news is that he was able to be switched to Nasal Cannula, which is one step away from needing no help with his breathing at all. Such a big switch from a week and a half ago!! Eric's heart rate has also come down. It turned out most of that was caused by him hating the Nasal CPAP. The prongs that go up the nose on that are so long they were aggitating him and Monday night he even had a little bloody nose from them. That is why they tried him on the nasal cannula, to see if the shorter prongs would be better for him and without the aggitation maybe he would need less help. They were right, and he is doing beautifully with the Cannula.

I will try to put more pictures on soon. I know everyone is waiting.

Eric is doing good!

Well, the steroids worked wonders and Eric has been on nasal CPAP since Tuesday at 2:00pm. NO MORE VENTILATOR!!! Hopefully he is able to maintain this change. He is doing really great with it. The only concern now is his heart rate which seems to be staying a little high. They are monitoring that but aren't overly concerned with it at this time. He is even being a little smartie pants and will take his CPAP out and breathe just fine on his own. Troy and I got to hear Eric cry for the first time, since the vent tube is out of his throat. I told the nurses I may be back in 6 months to make that crying stop!!! Ha Ha, yeah right, it is music to my ears!! Eric has also gained more weight and is up to 2 lbs. 10 oz.

Thank you again for your words of encouragement and prayers. Everyones prayers are definately being answered.

Update

Eric had a little step backwards on Wednesday night. He was diagnosed with Pulmonary Interstitial emphysema (PIE). This is a sign that his lungs are being damaged by the ventilator. The airways and sacs in the lungs develop tiny tears and air leaks out of them, into the small spaces in the tissue of the lung. The air cannot be drawn out so you have to wait for him to reabsorb it. In the mean time he has been switched to a jet high-frequency ventilator, which is easier on the lungs. This sounds really bad but, amazingly enough the very next x-ray of his chest looked better and the x-ray last night was the best they have seen this far. This is all promising but is also a sign he cannot stay on a ventilator a moment more than he needs to. So, this weekend we will have to make the decision on whether to put him on steroids to help him get off of the ventilator quicker. There can be side effects to this but leaving him on the ventilator can lead to more serious problems.

We pray that he continues to respond well to his treatments and advances with the steriods with no long term problems.

The foot prints were done by Meghan, one of Eric's nurses. His feet have already grown about a toes length since birth. He is up to 2 1/2lbs. and is getting some meat on his bones. He is even well on his way to having chubby cheeks!!

Gaining weight

They weighed Eric again last night and he gained 90 grams yesterday so he is actually up to 2 lbs. 6 oz. He is also up to full feeds, so he consumes 5.4 oz. of milk over a 24 hour period.

(These pictures are really dark but he looks so peaceful. They moved him out of the "Teeny Preemie Area" and the row that he is in keeps the lights lower so it is a little harder to get a good picture.)

Sleeping on his tummy

Eric is still doing really well. There isn't a whole lot of new info. He is still on his vent. Eric had lost a little weight but has been gaining an ounce a day for the last three days so he is back up to 2 lbs. 3 oz. I got to hold him the last 2 nights and it was wonderful. He loves it when we read to him. He calms right down. I can't believe it has already been more than 3 weeks since his early arrival.

Pray for us that Hurricane Hanna stays away. It is supposed to hit the entire Savannah, Beaufort, Charleston area this Friday. If it looks like it will hit Charleston hard they will evacuate Eric to another hospital in either Greenville or Columbia. If it looks bad, but not bad enough to evacuate they will transfer Eric down to the 4th floor to an area with no windows. Ronald McDonald house, where we are staying in Charleston, will close down completely even if it is a voluntary evacuation. So we will either see if they transport Eric and go where he goes or just come home. Nothing like a little stress added on stress!!