Andrew day 15

Last night they transitioned him to the conventional vent and he is tolerating it pretty well. He had had a few episodes where his oxygen saturation went way down and they have to bag ventilate him to get him back up where he belongs.

The great news of the day is that I got to hold Andrew! It was 45 minutes of bliss.

Andrew day 13

Andrew has had a great day. He is tolerating his feedings well. And making  wet diapers more than he ever has before. Chris is with him at the hospital today and he says that Andrew is alert and opening his eyes and giving cues of discomfort. His stats also look very good today.

They gave him a little blood and a diuretic which may have helped him feel better.

Andrew day 12

Andrew is doing well today. He is still recovering from the infection. The docs are looking to transition him to the conventional vent in the next couple days. He is tolerating tube feeds well. The edema in his body is much better.

baby Andrew

Andrew was born on December 9th at 10:53 pm. He was born with only one developed lung because his diaphragm only partially developed in utero. The large hole in his diaphragm allowed his belly organs to develop in his chest and the lack of space is what inhibited his left lung from growing.

The last eleven days have been a roller coaster.

Day 1-3: The goal was to get him stabilized. The docs didn't know if his lungs could function on the ventilator, so it was a surprise when he was stabilized in a couple days.

Day 4: Surgery to put the belly organs where they belong and patch the diaphragm

Day 5-6: Stabilize

Day 7: Switch to conventional ventilator in AM. Stats dropped by afternoon and they put him back on the oscillating vent. Went off the paralytics.

Day 8-10: Fighting an infection. Being treated on antibiotics. Friday was the first real low because he was maxed out on oxygen and ventilator intensity. They started putting him on his belly.

Day 11: First milk feeding. They will give him 10 ml every 6 hours through a tiny NG tube that goes down his nose into his stomach. His CO2 levels remained high today and needed a lot of suction of the secretions in his lungs.

Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving from the hospital room at UCSF. The family joined me in here for an afternoon of pizza, quesadillas, pumpkin pie, thai salad, and turkey for one. Everyone brought their favorite thing to share. It was a great afternoon.

The best part was snuggling with my boys. We watched the movie G-Force and I got to take my first "outing" outside the room. I still can't leave the building, so we went to a little patio on another floor. The fresh air was nice still. And Jacob had a fun time playing on the scupltures and running around.

Some friends from San Jose came to visit as well. It was great to see familiar faces and get some extra hugs in. We have so much to be thankful for this year.

Grandparents Day

Grandparents day was a huge hit at the boys' school. Grandma was there spending time in both Aaron and Alex's class, watching the presentations, meeting the teachers, and friends. They all had a great time.

Jacob celebrated by wearing his new shirt "Grandpa's All Star"

Halloween 2011

Halloween was absolutely perfect this year. We converted our office into the costume changing room for the whole month of October and when the actual Halloween day came, it didn't disappoint. I was able to be a part of the school festivities by watching the costume parade and painting faces in Alex's class party.

After it got dark, we went trick or treating with a group of neighbors. Jacob sat in the stroller for more than half of it and we all enjoyed seeing our neighbors out and about.

Growing up in Portland we had to plan our costumes and decorations around the cold and rain. It is great to be here where it doesn't matter what you put outside for decorations because it doesn't rain all month. And you can dress up as anything because you don't even need a jacket on halloween night. Beautiful.

Aaron with his class at the costume parade

Alex's class picture

Original art the boys made to decorate for Halloween

Our neighbor's yard "Pirates of the Caribbean"

Our Trick or Treating friends