Update

Mathias and I saw Dr. Denny again this past Friday. Mathias is weighing in at 11 pounds now! He's gaining about a pound a week...let's hope he doesn't continue at this pace! He'll weigh as much as me in...well, you get the idea.

Denny said that we can ditch the apnea monitor next Friday! He also took Mat's head circumference and, perhaps being alarmed that it was 39 centimeters (not exactly sure what it should've been), ordered another CT scan. Like, now. So I lugged baby, carseat, diaperbag/purse, and apnea monitor and walked over to the hospital. (Not so bad since it's right across the street.) The technician said that if Mathias wasn't completely still, they'd have to admit him, sedate him, and try it again. I said a quick prayer that that wouldn't be necessary, and wouldn't you know, Mathias really started to act "sedated" on his own! (I can't really say that I'm surprised. God works like that ;)) He didn't move a muscle!

Friday night we took off to spend the night at Seth's twin sister Sandy's place about 2 hours from our house, and then to my aunt and uncles about 20 minutes from there on Saturday. My dad and his twin brother turned 50 this June, and my uncle's birthday gift was a trip to MN to see the Viking/Packer game with his son. (They came in from North Carolina) So when we arrived home late last night, we were thrilled to hear Dr. Denny's voice on our answering machine saying that the CT results were in and that Mathias is showing vast improvement! The hemorrhage is resolving and there's no sign that the absorption of blood has caused any blockage or swelling or anything like that, so yea. PTL!

My Grown Up Christmas List

5. For some time away from the kids with my husband. Lately I feel as though we're facing each other with our arms outstretched and a crevasse between. That crevasse is called Madachias.

4. For 8 solid, uninterrupted hours of sleep. I feel like a zombie. Forgive me for making unintelligible conversation.

3. For my body back. I'd like to fit into my jeans again without cutting off circulation.

2. For an orderly house. I'd like to make it through one day getting more done than the laundry and the dishes.

1. For forgiveness from my children for "parenting from the couch". But how else do you do it when you have a 3.5 week old who needs to be fed, burped, changed, fed, burped, rocked, changed, changed, CHANGED!

HA!

THIS is what happens when you let your camera (and your son) out of your sight:

We're HOME!

Not to be forgotten...

Madison's first day of school was this week! In all the whirlwind of events, we CAN'T forget to mention that!

This is her second year of preschool at the school she attends. She LOVES it! Last year her class consisted of only 5 kids: 4 girls, one boy. This year her class size has TRIPLED!

Saying "Goodbye"

No tears shed for this goodbye:



This morning we were "discharged" from the ICN!! Mathias has gone four days without an episode, and our Dr. wanted Seth and I to start getting "comfortable" with having the huge responsibility of caring for Mathias without ICN nurses to rely on. So he sent us to our room, and said that if we're comfortable enough, we could go home tomorrow!

As for the apnea monitor that he's on, it's pretty intimidating...it's got two sensors on his chest that are held in place by some "sputtum",as the lady from the home medical store called it, a padded belt, and some velcro. If "provoked", it sends out an ear-piercing signal that I'm sure, once we're home, will offend the neighbors. So far, knock on wood, it's only sounded when the connection was loose.

Maybe my hopes are too high, but I'm very optimistic that Mathias will pull out of this just fine, and SOON. The fact that the monitor hasn't been "needed" for four days is very promising, but a comforting thing to have in case...

I'm a little apprehensive for the day he has/gets to go home, but I know that God is in control. I'll rest in that.

BIG IMPROVEMENTS!

Mathias no longer needs an IV!! He's been eating really well and his antibiotic series' are through, so this morning they took out his IV. They also took him out from under the heat lamps and he's able to be in his crib! He's still got the O2 tube in his nose, and the heart monitor probes, and probably will throughout the weekend, but we are thrilled at his progress! They're weaning him off of the O2, and sometime today they'll probably hook him up to the apnea monitor they're giving us to take home next week, so we know what to anticipate when we go home.

Thank you for all of your prayers!

We Covet Your Prayers

Yesterday morning, after Seth had left to go home to help Becca get Madison ready for her first day of school, I was sitting in my hospital bed, when Dr. Denny walked in. He sat down in the chair beside me and asked how I was doing. "Great!" I said. "I'm ready to go home!" "Well," he said, "Mathias isn't doing too well."

He explained that earlier that morning, a nurse had been in the nursery holding another baby, when she looked over at Mathias and noticed that he was turning blue. She called for another nurse and together they tried to wiggle and stimulate Mathias to get him to take a breath. They tried suctioning his mouth, thinking that a mucus blockage was making it hard for him to breathe, but that wasn't it. Finally, he did start breathing again, and his color returned to normal. He had 4 more of these episodes, including one lasting about 4 minutes before Denny was able to visit with me to let me know what was going on. Denny said he suspected some sort of acid reflux, but they were running some tests, and Mathias wouldn't be able to go home yet. They would discharge me and assign me to a new room, and I was welcome to stay for free as long as Mathias was there. He told me that I could go and see him whenever I was ready. After he left the room, I called Seth to let him know what was going on, then stood in the shower and bawled.

When I got the the Intensive Care Nursery (ICN), Mathias was in the middle of another episode, and his nurse and Dr. Denny were there trying to coax him to breathe. He was connected by all sorts of tubes and wires to various monitors, and they were holding an O2 hose up to his face to encourage him. I put my finger in his hand and he gripped it tightly. I stood there and watched as tears streamed down my face.

A pediatrician was consulted, and after she watched him during one of these spells, she ordered a spinal tap in addition to the head ultrasound and GI tests that were already ordered. She told us that we could wait in our room until the results came in. I think we were in our room about an hour, hour and a half, when she came to tell us that in doing the spinal tap, they found blood in his spinal fluid, and that that was indicative of bleeding on the brain. They were going to do a CT scan and she'd come back and tell us the results. As soon as she left the room, I started crying and Seth and I held each other. When she came back, she told us that Mathias had a subarachnoid hemorrhage. She said that although these are not common, they're not uncommon either. However, they're more common in premature babies. She said Mathias was a textbook case. Babies are born appearing to be very healthy, and then about 2 days later, they have difficulty breathing. A lot of times, this happens after the baby goes home, and perhaps, many cases are missed because of infant fatality.

I feel extremely blessed that this happened when it did, and that we had Mathias in the nursery overnight instead of in the room with us. He's such a content baby that when he has these episodes, he doesn't make a sound. I think that under different circumstances, we may have discovered this too late.

Mathias is doing wonderfully today. At about 6pm last night, they taped an O2 tube to his nose, with the oxygen constantly flowing into his nostrils. Since then, he has had NO epidodes! He's on an antibiotic until tomorrow, and they'll keep him through the weekend. If, at that point, he's ready to go home, they'll send him home with a monitoring device that will let us know if these spells happen again.

Thank you for your prayers for Mathias and the rest of our family. I'll try to keep everyone posted on Mathias' condition. We love you all.

Meet Mathias Paul!

Mathias was born Monday, September 3, 2007 at 8:37 PM. He was 8 lb. 7 oz. and was 21" long.

Welcome to our world, Mathias!