Owen is Home!!! Finally!!

Today we had the last few visits by the doctors, speech therapists, occupational therapists, nurses, nurse practitioners, and home health personnel at Kosair. There are a lot of people involved in caring for these little babies. We were cleared to leave at about 1:00 PM today and got Owen home just in time for us to give him his first feeding on our own. It's funny after almost 4 months since Owen was born to come home with him and feel like we just got thrown into parenting. Luckily we were so well-prepared for dealing with his feeding tube at Kosair. We only had a couple milk spills while we fumbled around with his feeding gear.

Thank you for all the support along the way. We wouldn't have made it without all the thoughts and prayers, the gifts and food, and all the other things our friends anf family have done for us. We feel so thrilled to finally be able to start bonding with our little guy and watch him grow every day.

This is Owen right after his first photo session this morning with Bella photography. He was really good for the pictures. His outfit was very cute, but even the newborn size was a little big for him.

Owen getting his first meal at home. I think this rocker swing will be a big hit. He falls right to sleep.

Owen passed his car seat test. He stayed in it contently for an hour and a half with no desats! We're getting closer!!

The paci helped!

These sunglasses looked so small in the store. They look so big on him.



Things look to be lining up nicely for Owen to come home! He is recovering well, and he gets his sutures out today. He's had some redness around the placement of the tube. They gave him some antibiotic to be sure its not infection, and today they say its looking much better. He's tolerating his feedings well so far. He's up to 60ml and the feeding time has been cut down from 2 hrs to 1 hr. He's also feeding less frequently. He's moved from every 3 hrs to every 4 hrs. Monday, they'll try the bottle feeding again with the speech therapist. 
He passed his hearing test. He's off the pulmicort - No more meds for breathing and lung development.
Yesterday they started discussing discharge planning with us. They reviewed the steps and talked like it would be soon! We're working hard to get our ducks in a row. We went and purchased our first box of diapers. We got him a cute outfit for his pictures which will be taken at the hospital before he comes home. We're getting the car seat ready for the big test at the hospital. We're trying to get his room and the rest of the house in order.  
Its very exciting!! We're praying things comes together and he's home very soon

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Owen is moving right along. He hasn't had any strong pain meds since 1:45 am today. They are still giving him tylenol, and he seems pretty content. This evening he was very awake and engaged in interaction with us. He was looking around, watching people move around in the hallway, listening to music, and watching his mobile.
They started using the g tube today. He's on continuous feeds with breastmilk only as of now. Slowly they will build up the amounts and shorten the time frame. Then they will assess needs with combining the formula again. Next they'll begin the bottle feedings. He's done with the IV. They removed it at 10pm tonight.
He's maintaining weight well. He actually gained yesterday, but that was due to the fluids. Today he's just a tad more than the day before. Still around 6 lbs and 12 oz.
The nurse prac said today that if he keeps progressing this well, we'll talk about discharge planning next week. We're so excited. Hoping and praying he comes home soon!
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

Owen is recovering well so far. He came back to his room with no ventilator attached! Our little guy wants nothing more to do with that device. He does have a cannula with an oxygen flow of .5 to help him breathe as long as he needs it. They are working to manage his pain. They watch his heartrate and his blood pressure to determine his pain level. When they're up, they give him some pain meds. Hopefully he'll need less and less. He looked comfortable when we left today. All of his blood levels were good. He'll be on IV fluids for a day or two until he recovers and they can start using the g tube.
Last night when they weighed him, he was at 6lbs and 12oz! He also had an eye test yesterday morning. His ROP condition has regressed so much that he will not have another exam for 6 months! That's great news. We're so happy that things went well today. Hopefully our sweet Owen will be coming home before too long. Please keep him in your prayers.

Surgery Success!!

Surgery went great today. They were able to complete everything laparoscopically so he should have minimal scarring. He also did well enough through surgery that they should be able to take him off the ventilator before returning him to his room. Owen's in a recovery room for about an hour to make sure he's breathing okay. So we're just waiting for our strong little guy to come back to us. We'll keep posting updates about his recovery. Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts coming our way. It helped him through a successful surgery. He should wake up and finally not have anything taped to his face! He'll be a much happier baby.

Surgery Tomorrow

Owen will have surgery tomorrow afternoon around 12:30. He is having his last meal right now before he goes on IV fluids for a while. He already has the IV in his head. It's been a long time since he's had one of those, but he's handling it well. The surgery should take a couple of hours tomorrow and we will post something on the blog as soon as we get word about how everything went. We hope that the surgery will be smooth and that he can get off the ventilator soon after surgery and have a quick recovery. We're so nervous for our little man. He is 6 pounds and 12 ounces. He is growing so much. Can't wait until he's home!