Merry Christmas!

Wednesday night, they moved him to a regular room. Thursday night they said they'd take him off the oxygen and see how he did, however, that didn't happen until Friday morning (Christmas Eve). The doctor said the oxygen levels would drop while he slept, so they wanted to see how he'd do sleeping before they okay'd him to go home. Well, it's kind of hard to tell that if you don't sleep! His first 15 minute nap showed that his levels dropped and we woke him up trying to get the oxygen back on. But, when he woke up, his levels went back up, so we left him alone. His next nap didn't come until very late in the afternoon/evening. His levels stayed where they should, so the doctor at the hospital discharged him. We left the hospital by 8 p.m.

He's very weak. He tries to sit up, but gets worn out easily. I'm not sure how much weight/muscles he lost, but I know it will take some recovery time and some good eating to get back to 100%. He has an inhaler he will take twice a day and the breathing treatments if his wheezing comes back. The doctor said if it comes back and three breathing treatments in a row don't help, to head back to TCH. But HOPEFULLY it won't come to that! We are going to try to stay indoors and he is not going back to daycare until flu season is over! His body can't afford to go through this again! Thanks so much for all the thoughts and prayers over the past 10 days. He's our little miracle baby!!

Even better news!

Today, his chest tube was removed! This means he is waiting to be moved back to the pediatric unit like he was in before. Conor said he is acting more like himself, so I think all the meds are finally wearing off.
Per my sister-in-law's request, I am adding an update on baby Jack too! haha. He made the most awesome robot from nothing but pieces of whatever it was at Space Center Houston yesterday. I was freaking out that he hadn't come out of the kids' play area for almost 40 minutes, but was afraid to go look for him, thinking he might come out while I was gone. I finally just went searching b/c I was ready to go and found him behind the play area all by himself building a robot. He said he "told me he was going to be there." So he built this from scratch. It fell apart a few times while I helped him finish it up so we could leave, and he knew exactly where to put the parts back. He even knew the direction the motors had to be facing for the arms to turn like he wanted them to. Much thought was put into this and he was very sad he couldn't bring it home with him or even put legs on it.
The next video is self-explanatory and hilarious too! Needless to say, we had a blast! Thanks Big Jack for the free tickets!

Day 6 of ICU

Trevor was up much of the night. He wasn't fussy unless a nurse or doctor came in. He just stared around. They say when they come off the meds that he was on, this usually happens. He's been sleeping so much lately, he probably isn't tired. They just gave him a little bit of morphine so he wasn't just quitting pain meds cold turkey. He's breathing good, just a little fast. No word on the chest xray from this morning, so hopefully that's a good thing. Here's another picture of him, but looking a little happier than the first picture.

Good news!

This afternoon, at 3:30. they took the breathing tube out. It was funny because just this morning, they said it wouldn't be able to happen today. His numbers had been dropping this morning, so I'm not sure what made them change their mind and try. They left in the tube in his chest just in case they need it again (it helped somehow reinflate his lung). It's been 5 hours now and he's doing great! At first he was exhausted and fell asleep. Then he woke up and seemed happy, almost smiled, and was squirming like crazy! Now he's back asleep, hopefully for the night, eventhough the nurse still has to come in and look at him.
I haven't been able to hold him since Thursday, so hopefully tomorrow they'll take out the tube and he will be a bit more mobile. They took a chest xray about an hour ago, but have not looked at it yet, or told me at least. They said if it looked ok, he'd get to eat. They also took out the feeding tube, so I guess he'll get a bottle! The first one since Wednesday!

Santa visited, again!! He got a stuffed Mickey Mouse and two toys from him! So far, he's gotten more presents from the Santa up here than we got him! This picture is right after they took all the tubes out.

Update

Trevor's pediatrician stopped by this morning and said he's looking much better. She hadn't seen him since the craziness on Friday. His right lung has reinflated, and he is on minimal ventilator support. We'll see how he does as they slowly decrease that support. The chest xrays have looked good since Friday and his lungs are finally starting to sound better!

Back in the hospital

Just over a year after coming home from TCH, Trevor was back in it! Ever since he got sick at the end of October, there always seemed to be something wrong everytime we turned around. He'd get better for a few days, but then have a fever for a few days. I think the earache came back once, then he got a rash everywhere. The doctor said it was a virus and that the rash was a sign it was almost gone. Then within a week, he started having a cruddy cough. The doctor said this time he almost had pneunomia and he started breathing treatments at home. I think that time, he ended up missing 8 1/2 days of daycare within two weeks. I think he went back the week after Thanksgiving. Then was okay until last Saturday, the 11th. He had a fever again. The nurse said to give him Benadryl for some reason. Then the next day, he started wheezing, so we started breathing treatments. Monday got worse and I almost took him to the ER, which I probably should have, but we waited until Tuesday morning. The doctor said he had the flu and pneumonia and was sent straight to the ER at TCH. He spent 6 hours in the ER before we got moved to a room. Then Wednesday was an okay day. He got a bear from Santa and some building blocks. This picture was taken before he went to ICU. They tested him for RSV and said he had that. They haven't mentioned the flu since Wednesday, but I think he did have that and they gave him Tamiflu to treat it. Thursday night, I noticed his breathing was much worse and told the nurse. They looked and said they'd keep an eye on him. Well, Friday morning, his vital signs dropped and he was moved to ICU.

They hooked him to a breathing tube and took a chest xray. His lung was leaking air out into the chest cavity, causing an air pocket that made the lung collapse a bit. They had to insert a tube in his chest. The first two attempts were not successful at removing the pocket of air, but the third time worked. He still has the tube, I'm not completely sure why. Since he looked so pale, they had called me to say he might need a blood transfusion, but after testing his blood, his levels were okay. His pediatrician said he's always that pale, then they realized we are too. Saturday and Sunday have been stable. They put in a feeding tube yesterday and are giving him formula. They are slowly trying to decrease the amount of oxygen he is getting. Once the breathing tube is out, he can go back to the regular room. No word on how long it'll be.

He's walking!

2 months later

It's been a while since I updated this! He has 8 teeth now! They are very easy to see. His drooling has lessened considerably. He was doing alright at daycare. He finally got used to it and stopped crying in the mornings after a while. But there were some nights when he would wake up every hour screaming. I think it was because he had been given dairy (one time it was milk, pudding once, and grilled cheese). Each time, I talked to the director about how he can't have dairy products. I was told to tell the teacher, however, the teacher in the mornings did not feed them lunch, so the message wasn't being passed on. Once the excuse was that it was "low-fat"milk in the pudding, and lastly, that the employee didn't know that government cheese had milk in it. That's where I drew the line, and we switched daycares. He's been in the new one 4 days and each day has been GREAT!
He had his first earache about 2 weeks ago, which caused a fever of 103 two nights in a row. He also began standing up and clapping his hands. Each time, Jack would say "Look Mommy!! Trevor is standing by himself! Good job, Trevor!" Even after the tenth time, Jack acted like it was the first! Last Saturday, at my sister's house, I stood him up. He looked around and took 7 steps, like it was nothing! He did it one other time, but we had a hard time getting him to do it at home. He's taken a few here and at the new daycare, but nowhere near 7 again!!
He's become more vocal. He says da-da alot, but at lots of things, not just at Conor. Jack still makes him crack up laughing all the time. I think he broke our television by banging repeatedly on it. Hopefully it's repairable under our warranty. We have to wait until Thursday to find out. He had his first trip to Tennessee at the end of October. He was really good on the way there (we drove) and did good during the rest of the trip too! The way home was not so much fun.
That's about it! I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving. That was his due date, so he'll be like a one-year old would be. I'll post pictures soon! There's alot!

Catch up

Trevor has 5 teeth now! One of them is just now coming in. He started daycare the week of his birthday. He's doing better now that he's adjusted. He's still crawling super fast and pulling himself up on everything. He likes to eat papers that he's not supposed to eat. Sometimes he thinks he can stand up by himself, and for a few seconds he can. One picture is of our "green eggs and ham dinner." Trevor had green peas and ham. He also made his first official beach trip two weeks ago. He LOVED playing in the sand. And yes, he might have tasted a bit too. He tried to eat seaweed, but didn't get that far. Jack made an Abraham Lincoln hat at school, and he thought it'd be funny to put on Trevor. The other picture is of his sophisticated superhero pose.

Happy Birthday!

Trevor had a good birthday! Instead of cake, he had watermelon! He loves it!!! In the evening, he started clapping his hands together! He does it for just a little bit in the video I'll try to post. We've been working on pat-a-cake for a while now. It's his favorite thing to do besides peek a boo. I also found that he likes spinning in circles (even though I learned this week that kids don't get as dizzy as adults do).

Successful surgery

Trevor had a cyst removed this morning. It was at the corner of his eye. It just seemed to pop up one day, and the doctor said it would grow very slowly and would eventually need to be removed. We decided to go ahead and do it because the scar would be smaller and he wouldn't remember a thing! He did so great! He had a bottle @ 1 a.m. and we arrived at 6 a.m. It was all done by 8:30 and we left at 9! He was smiling and laughing in the car and hasn't slowed down a bit. He'll go on Thursday for a follow-up visit.

Trevor started crawling about two weeks ago! Now he is pulling himself up!

Flashback

I was just sitting in Trevor's room rocking him to sleep, looking at the pile of clothes he has outgrown. I can remember the day he was big enough to wear clothes! Sounds funny! But it took about a month and a half for him to be big enough to be allowed to wear clothes! It is so great to hear all the doctors that we see (it's been a few the past few weeks!) say how healthy he is for being so early. They always sound so surprised. At the eye doctor, he said his vision was good, which I know can be a big problem for preemies. He's a lucky kid and has the best big brother ever!!

Trevor's developmental check-up

Last Friday, we took Trevor to the Ages and Stages Clinic at Texas Children's. They send us surveys about his development to follow up with him. His corrected age (age from his due date) then was 7 months 5 days. I didn't actually figure that out - they did. So they observed him to see how he compares to a 7 month old. There was a doctor, a physical therapist, an occupational therapist and I think a psychologist there. He pretty much just played with toys and they made noises to see how he responded. They were very impressed with his physical abilities - trying to crawl and sit up, grabbing toys, but speech wise, he is behind about three months (so like a 4 month old). But Jack was behind too, we just didn't get it official until he was about a year and a half old. He has since started squealing when he is happy and is becoming more vocal. They saw how needy he is and this doctor agreed that letting him cry it out in his crib would not work for him. He needs to learn to comfort himself, so we need to figure out how we can get him to do that. He's still at 16 pounds but eating baby foods like crazy! We are so blessed to have a healthy baby!

Trevor can sit up!

Trevor is now able to sit up on his own for a little bit. He still tumbles over every now and then. When he is trying to crawl, he can get to a half way sitting up position from his belly. He scoots around, but I don't think it's officially crawling yet.

Pictures!

Trevor is trying very hard to crawl. Last week he started putting his knees under him and wobbles back and forth.

Doctor visit

Trevor went to his 9 month check up on Tuesday. He is almost 16 pounds and 27 1/2 inches long. He is close to catching up with where he should be. The doctor was surprised at how long his is. She said he should be eating things with protein and we still had him on stage 1 foods. So he's got some catching up to do on his eating. She said he should sleep better when he gets three meals a day. He has not been sleeping good at all, but we're really going to work on getting him to sleep without a bottle and him getting himself back to sleep on his own when he wakes up.
He went in a swimming pool for the first time today! He loved it! It had a very shallow end, (only about a foot deep) so he could stand up in it. He loved splashing his hands in it. Maybe he'll like baths better now. He has also started putting his knees underneath him when he's on his belly. I think he'll be crawling any day now!

Trevor has had peaches and sweet potatoes now. He's not a fan of peaches, but loves the sweet potatoes. He is still trying hard to crawl. He scoots backward. He smiles at strangers and still thinks Jack is the funniest thing alive. Although in this video it was me making him laugh. One time in the car Trevor started randomly laughing at Jack. He has been to the beach three times now (not actually on the beach, just to the house) and to the pool yesterday. When he sees someone eating, he'll start smacking his lips and can hold his spoon (with no food on it of course)!

I thought Trevor loved green beans and bananas, but he absolutely loves green peas. He rolls over like crazy. It looks like he is trying to crawl. He's about 15 pounds now.

Trevor is rolling over alot now! It took me a few days to catch him doing it, but I finally saw it! He is eating green beans as well as bananas now. Whenever he sees a bowl now, he does this thing with his lips that sounds like he's smacking them. It's funny! I think he's teething now. He's been a bit fussier than normal and is always trying to eat his hand. This is a picture of how he fell asleep on the way to the beach!

Friday Trevor had bananas for breakfast! He liked them! He also rolled over for the first time!! He is a little over 14 pounds. Jack was showing him a sock monkey and he laughed so hard, for almost five minutes straight! He smiles everytime he sees Jack.

Happy Easter!

Trevor is trying really hard to roll over. He throws his arm over his body, but that's as far as he gets.

So while doing some spring cleaning, I found Jack's baby pictures on a cd! Looking back at them, he doesn't seem to look as much like Trevor as I thought. Jack's eyes are much larger! Jack always made crazy faces too! The top two are Trevor, bottom two are Jack.

Trevor's up to 14 pounds. About two or three weeks ago, he started grabbing at things. He pays attention much more when you hold something in front of him. He loves this crinkly book of his. When he's on his back at an angle, he even acts like he is trying to sit up.

Trevor had 4 shots today (his RSV and then his 6 mo shots)! He weighs 12 lbs 7 oz. He's been drooling like crazy and I thought it was b/c he was teething, but the doctor said it was because he is ready for solid foods! So we are going to start cereal twice a day. If he does good, she said we can start baby foods in a few weeks. His size is right on track for a 3 month old (his corrected age) so that's great!

Trevor is making more and more noises every day! He laughs at funny faces. This chair we bought is supposed to strengthen his muscles to help him learn to sit up by himself. I also have a Moby wrap that he loves to be in!

Here are some new pictures. He's about 12 pounds now. His next check up is the first week of March along with his last RSV shot! He slept through the night one night this week. We've been using cloth diapers for a few weeks. I haven't found the right adjustment yet so they still leak every now and then, but otherwise they are great!

I love this picture! I just realized I took it two weeks ago.

Trevor started sucking his thumb about two weeks ago. It's really just when he's hungry though so hopefully that will stop. We started using cloth diapers last week. They are working well so far. I'd recommend them to others. They are called FuzziBunz. Trevor laughs alot. Since he's been on Prevacid, he is much happier all the time.

Jack likes to read to Trevor. He's trying to read 100 books (b/c of the 100th day of school yesterday).

This is Trevor's pouting face. Conor would copy his crying and he would stop making the face. Then he'd do it again and stop as soon as conor would start. It was hilarious. I'll have to try and record it next time. This video is of him rolling over to his back. He's doing good - still sleeping for quite a while at night. He's 11 pounds.

On January 4, Trevor had his immunizations. He weighed 7 lbs 15 oz. On the 6th, a physical therapist came out for an evaluation. It is part of a program called Early Childhood Intervention. She said he looked great and would probably not qualify. Even though they could only adjust back two months, he was still doing things better than they expected, like holding up his head and rolling over from his tummy to his back. He's been sleeping well. The doctor said we could let him sleep through the night, just to make sure he gets enough to eat during the day. She said his adjusted age was only 3 weeks even though the due date was 11/25. He laughs alot, but has alot of gas too. Here's a video of him laughing. Jack always gets the hiccups when he laughs too much too.