Day 8

Carter had an MRI done yesterday morning. The purpose of the MRI was to see if there was a brain damage, or any abnormalities that might be causing all of the problems. If the results came back normal, then we are looking at a problem that is fixable either with time, therapy or surgery. If they came back with some sort of problem, then the problem is a million times more complicated and not as fixable. He did fantastic for the entire test. He didn't have to be sedated at all, which was great. Of course I have to research the problem until I was blue in the face, and worried about one thing and another. So waiting for these test results have been the most nerve racking thing ever!!! I was doing okay, until last night, I accidently dropped a glass cup and it shattered on the floor. For some reason that was my breaking point. I had a good little melt down, and felt much better afterwards. Anyway, we got the results back this afternoon, and everything looks perfect. SUCH A HUGE RELIEF!!! Now we wait until Wed or Thursday to repeat the swallow study. If there is a difference, then we can assume that the majority of the problem is prematurity. If there is no difference we will be transfered to UMC and go from there.
He also gained an ounce last night, which is the most he has gained since being hosptialized. Also the peditrician put him on some reflux medication, and it seems to be helping. So good news all around for today!!

Swallow Test

We left the hospital last night feeling pretty discouraged because Carter had a really hard day with his tube feedings. He was uncomforatable, cranky, spit up some, and had really bad reflux. So we were really anxious this morning for the Swallow test. We were at the hosptial about 7:45 for the test. We packed him up and wheeled him down to radiology. It only took about 5 minutes to get downstairs, but for his field trip they placed a blanket over the top of his crib so that he is completely covered, simply because people are curious, and we want to avoid germs, etc. We got down into radiology, and lifted up his blanket and that little stinker had taken his one opportunity of not being looked at constantly to take out his feeding tube!! In the room was the occupational therapist, who's job it was to feed Carter his barium laced bottle. Then the specialist who kept her eyes on the video screen the entire time, to not only evaluate the problem, but could see the second he started to aspirate on the milk and take it into his lungs, and could stop the test. Then the radiology specialist, who happened to be our stake executive secretary, and knows Karl pretty well. Then the NICU nurse that came with us. I am so grateful that she was the nurse that was on duty today, because she just had a knack for knowing when to make a small joke, or when to give a hug and reassure me that everything was going to be okay.
So the test itself was really interesting. On the screen you could see the milk, as he began to drink it, and a dark stream going into his mouth. At first he did okay, the first couple of sucks went down fine, and then all of a sudden, you could see the liquid completely stop going down, and just swirling around in his throat. It continued to back up into his throat and mouth, not allowing anything to go down, until it backed up enough and went up his nose, or down his airway. So basically, there is a muscle at the bottom of the throat, that contracts down and opens to allow food to go into the stomach, but it just stays contracted. They are hoping at this point that it is a premature issue, and that the connection betweent the brain and that muscle just needs to mature a little. So they are going to tube feed for 1 week, no more feeding tests, and then repeat the test next Wed. or Thursday. They will be able to see if the muscle is doing a better job or not. If it is, that we can continue on the idea that it is a premature issue, and if it doesn't improve there there are other options at that point...medicine, surgery etc. So at the least we are there for at least a couple more weeks, and go from there.
They also decided to half the amount of milk at each feeding, and just feed him more frequently. They are also adding rice cereal to it, to make it thicker, and have it be heavier in his stomach, so its not as likely to come back up. He also isn't gaining any weight, because he is using SO much energy with the reflux problems, so they are adding a caloric supplement to his milk. Halving the amount of milk made a world of difference. We did half the amount of milk at his 8 AM feeding, and he didn't have ANY reflux and slept through the whole thing. So that was fantastic!!
Karls car has now broken down 5 times on the way to the hosptial or on the way there. We have replaced the battery, cleaned the connections, taken into the shop twice, and now has the 3rd alternator in. Of course the car hasn't given us so much as hiccup in the last 2 1/2 years, and chooses this week to break down! I think if it breaks down again I'm going to go to the repair shop and ask for a refund and just buy a horse!

Day 5

We are on day 5 of being in the NICU. There is some good news and not so good news.
Good News:
*Carter is barely yellow anymore! Just a little under his eyes, and around his mouth.
*Before yesterday, Carter would only wake up when they changed his diaper, and he was not a happy camper at all. Well yesterday afternoon he was wide awake and HAPPY for over an hour. This happened again this morning!!! He is finally getting some of his energy back!
*Karls car broke down on the way to the hosptial this morning (bad news) but was able to get it towed and the alternator replaced by around 1:30 this afternoon.
*Kyra went to preschool this morning (which she has been missing desperately) and loved every minute of it. Then Kyra and Kyle went to a friends house to play, and came back SOOO happy, since they really haven't been out of the house in a week. Their friends had put together little gift baskets for them, to help occupy them when the new baby came. They loved them!! Thanks Laura for taking them....sorry Kyle pooped :(

Not as good news:
*The pediatric swallow test specialist was sick today, so the swallow test is postponed until tomorrow moring. But I found out that the swallow test doesn't involve him lying naked on a hard table. The baby is completely swaddled, and put in a vertical crib, and then a camera revolves around him. I also found out that the woman doing the study is the best in the city, and that the one of the best "swallow/feeding" experts in the nation is located in Tucson, if need be.
*Carter had a really hard time with his feed through his tube this morning. Lots of gagging, holding of his breath, and some spit up, but no vomiting, so that's good.
*The pediatrician came in and talked to me and gave me a couple ideas of what could be going on....unfortunately none of them were "Oh he's fine, you can take him home tomorrow!" The occupational therapist (who is fantastic, and very involved) is really baffled by what is going on, because she has never seen a baby have the milk come out their nose, and have the gagging and aspirating on the milk all together.

Other randoms:
We ran to walmart after Carters 11 am feeding and got a little web camera, so that we can use the laptop at the hosptial, log on to messenger, and then Kyra and Kyle can see baby brother. They are really excited about that!

Kyra and Kyle were "swimming" in the bath tub this morning and Kyra said "Kyle lets play dophins. You are the daddy dolphin, and I'll be the mommy dolphin." Kyle then asked "Who will be the baby dolphin?" Kyra pondered this for a minute and then looked at me and said "Can you let Carter know that he needs to come home so he can be the baby dolphin."

Other than that..not whole lot of other news. Karl usually wakes up at 7 AM, and goes in for the 8 AM feeding, and stays until around noon. Then comes home, we put the kiddos down for a nap, and I head up around 3 PM and stay until about 6 PM. Then we put the kids to bed, and have been heading back up at around 7:30 PM and staying until midnight. But that last couple of days we have just been a little more tired, and have headed home around 9 PM. Kyle doesn't seem to be having too hard of a time with all of this, but Kyra obviously understands what going on a little bit more. Last night when we were heading out at 8 PM, we could tell that she was going to have a break down if we left again, so Karl just went into the hosptial, and I had an extended bedtime reading with her. She is in much better spirits today!

Thats the news for now. Thanks for all the offers of meals, rides, and babysitting. Its really appriciated!!!

Update

Carter is still at the NICU. When he was born he had a lot of fluid in his lungs, but he did a really good job about coughing/sneezing it all out. So we were able to go home. About a day after he got home, and was really starting to eat, we started noticing that he was gargling the milk in the back of his throat and then choking on it. He would only take a couple sucks, choke, and fall asleep. We did everything to try and get him to wake up and eat more. We then tried giving him a bottle, but he choked on that as well. While he was home, he was eating less and less, and sleeping more and more. The pediatrican warned us to really keep an eye on him and make sure he wasn't turning yellow (since he was premature, I guess its a much bigger issue), becoming jaundice. Well after a day or so of this, he was so exhausted from choking that we couldn't get him to wake up at all. Well on Saturday morning, after being up all night trying to get him to eat, but not getting him to, we noticed that he was starting to look yellow. So we took him back to the hospital, where the pediatrican looked at him. His bilrubin levels were high, and they were really concered that he wasn't eating. I guess he kind of has to poop the bilrubin out, in some way, so he has to eat in order to do that. The choking issue...the occupational therapist thought that because he was early, his brain hadn't developed the ability to eat and breathe at the same time. He would just suck and suck, and not take a breath. Well when it got to the point that he would finally take a breath, he was aspirating on the milk, and taking it down into his lungs, or out his nose. Which would lead to pnemonia. She thought that we would just give him a couple days and she would work on "teaching" him how to eat and breathe. So they told us that they were going to admit him to the hosptial, put him on a feeding tube for 24 hours, then after the 24 hours, we would try and breast/bottle feed him. Well after 24 hours, we tried it, and he still choked. So we would have to wait another 24 hours and try again. Unfortuantely during those 2 days, he vomited a couple feedings up, he had severe reflux, and had quite a bit of stomach pain. They tried the feeding test again this morning, and he still choked. So now they are thinking that it may not just be something that he has to learn, but that they might be something physically wrong in the back of his throat. So the plan now is 24 more hours, and try the feeding test again tomorrow. Then on Wed they are going to do a swallow test (the premie swallow test specialist only comes in on Wed...grrrr..) For a swallow test, they will take him to radiology, and add a little bit of barium to his bottle, then while he drinks it they will take pictures of where the milk is going, and exactly whats going on in the back of the throat. Then at that point we can either rule out the possiblity of a physical problem, and will go back to trying to "teach" him how to eat every 24 hours, or deal with the physical problem. That is were we are now with Carter.
We are doing okay. My parents were able to come and stay with the kiddos for a couple days, so we can go back and forth to the hospital. Karl's sister is coming into town this afternoon to wrestle the crazies for a couple days.
Other than that, I took Kyle back to the pediatrician this morning, for a follow up on his leg. He jumped off a ledge at the zoo a week ago and has been limping since then. We took him in last Tuesday, and they couldn't see a break on x-ray, but because his bones are so small, usually you can only see the bones healing. So she had us come back today, and we took more x-rays. But they still look clear. So no evidence of anything being broken. So really there isn't a lot they can do, other than put him in a boot, and waiting a month and seeing if he is still limping at that point. But the boot can be a pain for little kids, so we just have to keep him in his tight fighting shoes all day every day, except for sleeping for the next month and go from there.
Well there is the update for now. Thanks for all the love and support!!!

The one word you don't want to hear...

NICU :( Our new little guy was admitted to the NICU yesterday morning with some complications. He didn't pass the tests this morning, so they will wait another 24 hours and try again. Hopefully tomorrow will go better, and he will be able to come back home in a couple days!

Sibling Lovin'

We were able to come home from the hosptial yesterday afternoon with our little guy!! They said that he did a really great job clearing out his lungs and that we really just need to keep an eye on him for jaundice (since he was a little early.) Here is a picture of all three of the kiddos next to each other on their Birth day. Its funny, sometimes I think they all look alike, and at other time, not at all! I forgot to post this picture with my first post. But this is Karl and I when Carter was about 5 minutes old.

We were welcomed home by a banner made by Daddy, Kyra and Kyle! Ballons picked out by Kyra and Kyle. A cake made by Grandma and Granpa with the kiddos to celebrate Baby Carters birthday!! Kyle thought this was a fantastic idea!And roses from Mom and Dad!Kyra and Kyle are doing great with a new baby. Kyra is so excited she is about to burst and was in our room at 4 AM just talking about how happy she was to have him home. My parents had a great idea to help Kyra and Kyle (specifically him) adjust to having the baby home. They ran to walmart and got a game for Kyra and legos for Kyle, then left the gifts in the garage. Then when we walked in the door, we told them that Baby Brother got them some presents. Well the idea went over beautifully, especially with Kyle, and he was instantly in love. He kept running over to Carter and saying "Thank you so much baby brother for my legos" and giving him kisses!Kyra is our little mommy. She loves to get him blankets, pick out a new outfit, get the stuff for changing his diaper, etc!. She is always gentle and reminds everyone to sanitize their hands! I think the kiddos didn't quite undertand that Carter wouldn't come home already knowing how to crawl and talk. But they were not discourged. This is them, helping him with Tummy Time, to help him learn.Here is Karl with some baby time...and Kyle time...and Kyra time. He assures me he had the situation under control. :)When I was looking through the pictures to compare the three kiddos I came across a picture of Karl when Kyle was born. I can't believe the difference in Karl. So the top is the one with Karl and Carter, the bottom with Karl and Kyle!

Carter Reid Adams

I went to my OB 2 weeks ago and was told that I was about a 1-ish cm dilated. But I usually start dilating about a month early. So no big deal. Well I went in for my appt. yesterday and she said I was 6 cm, and the head was already down!! But technically they can't do anything (like break your water etc.) until you are 37 weeks, which I wouldn't of been until Friday. So she sent me home and said if I feel anything to high tail it to the hosptial and bring something to cut the umbilical cord with. (I'm not sure if she was joking or not.)
Well I was okay until about 10 pm that same night, and then started having contractions about every 5 minutes. I tried changing positions, taking a bath, but the kept coming. So finally around 12:30 AM we called my dad to see if he was awake enough to drive to Tucson,and a friend to see if she could watch the sleeping kiddos until my dad got here.
Karl and I got to the hospital, and they checked me and I was 8 cm, but not really in a lot of pain. So everyone ran around crazy thinking they were going to deliver any second. Well I guess Carter got cold feet, because he stayed at 8 cm for 5 hours!! Finally they agreeded that they would break my water to get through the last 2 cm. The doctor tried breaking my water twice, even with the crochet hook looking thing and it wouldn't pop! They dubbed me the "Bag of steel". So we waiting another couple hours, and I finally became a 9 cm, and after a couple more attemps broke the water, and very shortly after that he arrived!
He came about 8 AM. Although he is 3 weeks early, he has been out biggest baby! He weighed in at 6 lbs 15 oz, and 19 inches long. He also has red hair, but with a brownish tinge to it.
He was having some problems with a lot of liquid in his lungs, but seems to be doing a lot better!!

Here are a couple quick pics and a video of him inheirting his brothers tongue wiggling!

He got his tongue from his brother!

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