Well, today was another somewhat up and down day.  Campbell continues to breathe well, but has stopped digesting. Because of that, he’s lost a little weight.  We had gotten spoiled with a few really positive days in a row, and so even a little setback wasn’t much fun.  That said, it is just a small and reportedly common setback and we are still really encouraged by all the good news.

On the far more “up” part of the day, Meredith got to hold Campbell as they changed his bed.  This is the very first time that she had gotten to hold him, which she loved. He also took to it, it seems, since he cried as soon as we put him down (one of the very few times we’ve actually heard him cry).  Pics of the proud (and really happy to hold him) Mom below.

Today was the first time Gigi (Joy) got to see Campbell – she’s been sick and had been dying to get up there!  (Pat (Pat-Pat) & Ernie (Bing) got to see him the day after he was born, and Papa Doc (Bill) got to see him last Sunday).

We got a great report this morning.  They fed 2 ccs of breast milk Campbell overnight every 4 hours, and he’s digesting well. I got to change his diaper and take his temperature.  He’s still on the ventilator, but doing well with his settings, so we keep hoping they are going to step him down soon.

Going to go back this afternoon and will see if there are any changes.  Thankfully, Mason made it home from VA to see him today!

AFTERNOON UPDATE

Well, it was a great afternoon, as well, for the little guy.  They extubated him again, and being off the respirator seemed to take a lot better than last time.  With the new breathing apparatus, he has a pretty cool hat on, which is good for me so that he stops showing off about having more hair than I do.  They also took him off the light for jaundice, which means he doesn’t have to wear his “glasses” for now.

I (Mason) changed the second diaper of my life–the first being a couple days ago; I didn’t do so well, but the nurse was pretty nice to me about how bad it was.  We hope the positive reports keep coming.

The pictures below show him with the new breathing setup.

    

The entire medical team makes us feel at home.  They even made Campbell a nice sign:

We got a good report on Campbell yesterday.  His heart was continuing to do better.  The nurses said that they couldn’t hear the murmur anymore.  His breathing was still doing well and they were hoping to soon extubate him and take him off the ventilator – maybe even jumping over CPAP to a high-flow oxygen machine, which would be really great.  And, his stomach was doing better too.  He had a couple of poopy diapers, which is a good sign that his digestive system is starting to work better.  They are hoping to try feeding him milk again soon.  Yay!

Unfortunately, with the winter storm in VA, Mason had trouble getting home to Memphis.  After repeated cancellations, he’s now scheduled to get in tomorrow (Friday) morning.  Let’s hope he actually gets here!

Day 7.

Well, today was an up and down day.  Mason called this morning at 5 to see how he was doing, and they told us that they had to re-intubate him.  Apparently, his stomach was really distended.  They can’t continue the medicine for the PDA as long as his stomach is this way, so we had to stop the medicine.  Also, the CPAP pushes a lot of air and can cause air in the stomach, so that’s why they had to re-intubate him.  Fortunately, it wasn’t because he wasn’t breathing well on his own – he was – but until the PDA is resolved, he has to go back on the vent.

Then, later in the morning, we got some good news.  Apparently the partial doses of the PDA medicine have really helped.  His PDA is now very small (though still there).  Still, the doctors are now not very concerned about it – it’s closed enough that they are okay with leaving it as it is for now and focusing on other things.  This was a big relief to us!  Also, his stomach is improving, so hopefully that will mean they can extubate him and put him back on the CPAP soon and start trying him on solid food again.  Fingers crossed.

Here’s a pic of him from today.  

Day 6

We got good news and bad news from the doctors today.  The good news was that his breathing improved enough that they extubated him and put him on a CPAP overnight.  We finally got to see his cute little mouth!  He seemed much more comfortable on the CPAP than on the ventilator, even though he’s still adapting to it.  (Apparently he was at one time sucking so hard on his pacifier that he kept forgetting to breathe).

The bad news is that the PDA didn’t close, so they’re going to have to do another round of medicine to see if that works.  If not, they may want to do surgery, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that the medicine will work.  We can’t progress to trying to feed him solid food until the PDA issue is resolved.

Day 5.

Today we got to go home from the hospital, but we had to leave Campbell behind, which was super hard and emotional.

We did get word that they were treating him for the PDA and hoping to get a repeat echo to give us more information about how he was doing soon.  His breathing was apparently improving enough that they hoped to extubate him soon and put him on a CPAP machine to assist with his breathing, which is much more comfortable for him and much less invasive.

Day 4.

Sunday was a day of rest and recuperation for me, but was I was starting to feel a little better after the surgery.

We got the news that the doctors thought they detected a murmur in Campbell’s heart, and had that diagnosis confirmed by the cardiologist.  He has a “large” PDA (patent ductus arteriosus), which they hope will close with medicine.  They started him on indomethacin.  Unfortunately, while he’s taking this medicine, we can’t try feeding him, so we have to hope this will repair his heart.  Meanwhile he’s still doing well with his breathing, and his stomach seems like it is improving as well.

Here’s a pic of mom and dad with Campbell.

Day 3

Well, I finally got to see Campbell.  After progressing well from surgery the night before, the doctors let me get up and ride to the NICU to see Campbell.  I had to wait almost 36 hours to see him, but it was worth every second!  He is so precious, and I was so relieved to be able to see him in person, even though Mason had been giving me great updates.

We also officially named Campell on February 21st.  We weren’t exactly prepared for his arrival and hadn’t totally settled on a name.  Fortunately, he seems to like it.

They tried to feed Campbell some milk, but he couldn’t digest it, and they had to suction the bile from his stomach.  Apparently this is a common issue with babies in the NICU.  We’ll wait for his stomach to feel better and then try again in a few days.  His breathing was good, though.  He remained on the ventilator, but was largely breathing on his own.

Day two.

I was bed-bound all day Friday, and I was very frustrated by not being able to see Campbell.  Unfortunately, after I delivered him, the placenta wouldn’t release, so the doctors tried all day to get me to deliver the placenta on my own, but in the end they had to do surgery on Friday evening to remove it.  Unfortunately, they had to open my uterus to do so, so it was essentially like having a c-section.

Campbell received a good report on day two, as well.  He was doing well, but a little jaundiced, so they put him under a phototherapy lamp to break down Bilirubin in his body to eliminate the jaundice.  You can see him below sunbathing in his “cool” sunglasses.

Campbell Mason Lowe was born at 5:51 p.m. on Thursday, February 19, 2015 at Baptist Woman’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Campbell arrived quite unexpectedly 12 1/2 weeks before his due date of May 19, 2015.  I was experiencing labor-like pain and drove myself to the doctor’s office on Thursday afternoon.  On the way, I realized I was having contractions about 4 to 5 minutes apart, but it was too late to get a ride.  They checked me at the doctor’s office and then admitted me to the hospital. Campbell arrived less than an hour after I was admitted.  Campbell obviously couldn’t wait to meet his parents, even though he also couldn’t wait for Mason to arrive at the hospital from the airport for the delivery.  (Mason arrived about 45 minutes after Campbell did).

Campbell initially breathed on his own and cried, which was very encouraging, but he was immediately intubated and admitted to the NICU.   Meredith was able to briefly touch him before he was taken away.  Mason arrived and was able to visit with him and get an update from the doctors about 8:00 p.m.  Initial reports were positive.  Campbell was experiencing many of the issues the doctors would expect from a baby his age, but they were optimistic about his condition.  We were terrified but encouraged.

Here’s a picture from just after he was admitted to the NICU: