Day 18 Update

BBN came off the nasal cannula this morning and seems to be doing great without it..which means he is breathing 100% on his own! We are very excited that he could move from RDS (respiratory distress syndrome - the medical term for all of the breathing difficulties BBN had early on) to breathing 100% on his own in 2 1/2 weeks! Although it has felt like a long time to us, it's really amazing that his little body could heal itself so quickly and now his lungs are able to handle breathing on their own.

He continues to be bottle fed and tube fed every other feeding. For the most part he is finishing most of his bottles, although he is slow and some feeds are better than others. For now the drs are going to leave him in his isolet so that he doesn't have to spend calories keeping his own body temperature and instead can focus on gaining weight and feeding. Once he improves with the feeding, they will move him to an open crib, which will be another important step toward coming home.

Thanks again for following his progress. It means so much to us when we hear how many people are following the blog. We hope to have more good news to report over the weekend and hope BBN will be home soon!

Day 16 and 17 update

Sorry for not posting yesterday - we got so many comments about not updating the blog - it's nice to know so many people are following it. Thank you - it really does mean so much to us to know how many people care about BBN and our family.

BBN continues to do well. Tomorrow they will take him off the nasal cannuala which means he'll be breathing 100% on his own. Hopefully he will do well. We'll keep everyone posted.

The other exciting news is that last night he made it up over his birthweight. He is now 4lbs 1 oz. Hopefully we will continue to see steady weight gain from here on out.

If he does well off the oxygen, his main issue will be feeding. Like most premies, eating from a bottle is very difficult for BBN. Right now they are offering him the bottle at every other feed and feeding through the tube at every other feed. He has been spitting up a lot of his tube feedings, since he can't pace himself on a tube the way he can with a bottle. They are now programming his tube feedings to extend for a full hour so that his stomach doesn't get too full (they tried over a half hour, but he was still spitting up a lot) Hopefully once he makes a full transition to the bottle we wont' have to worry about this. It is common for premies to have reflux issues and worse case scenario there is a medicine they can give him if it persists.

The exciting news is that he drank his 5pm bottle tonight in about 10-15 minutes which is the best he's ever done - so we know he can do it.

If he starts feeding well then there is a chance we can bring him home next week, but we'll just have to wait and see how he does.

Thanks again for all of your love and support. We look forward to reporting more good news and hope to have BBN home soon.

Day Fifteen Update

BBN is two weeks old today! In some ways it feels like he's been around much longer than that and in other ways it feels like he was just born yesterday. He continues to make slow but steady progress. The doctors are a little surprised that he did not pick up bottle feeding right away since babies usually can handle this by 36 weeks (what BBN will be gestestionally tomorrow) - but given his rocky start they say it makes sense that he is making slower progress than they would otherwise expect. Right now they are offering every other feed by bottle and giving ever other feed by the tube because they don't want to tire him out too much. We hope he will pick up bottle feeding sooner rather than later since that will be one of the main factors determining when he can come home.

BBN also has to start gaining weight a little more consistently so that he can tolerate being in an open air crib to be able to come home. He is hovering close to the 4lb mark, but just can't seem to get over it. He keeps losing and gaining and losing and gaining. That's one of the reasons they don't want to bottle feed him at every feeding - because then he will burn so many calories eating he won't gain weight.

If he starts eating better and gaining weight in the next day or two, the soonest he would be home would be Saturday or Sunday - they need to see some consistency over a 3-4 day period. However, it could also be longer if he doesn't pick up bottle feeding this week. So, we'll just have to wait and see what he does.

We did speak to the moyel today about a bris and found out he needs to be off of oxygen for seven full days and close to 5lbs before he will do it. So it seems that we will have to hold off for a bris and naming - sorry to disappoint everyone. Ilan's bris took place when he was 5 weeks old - hopefully we won't have to wait longer than that this time around!

Day Thirteen & Fourteen Update

BBN had a good weekend. He got moved to a less critical room in the NICU, which is a good sign. This morning he actually took a whole bottle by mouth - which was exciting - although other feeds today he hasn't taken anything at all and had to be given the whole feeding by tube. We remember this stage with Ilan - some feeds are great, others are not - and it just becomes a waiting game for when they finally get the suck,swallow, breath sequence down. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.

BBN is still getting some oxygen through the nasal cannuala, but it's very minimal and he probably won't need it for too much longer.

Another big step that we are looking forward to is BBN's move from his isolet into an open crib - which could also happen in another few days.

Of course we'll continue to keep everyone posted throughout the week and hope we have good news to report.

PS - Thanks to those of you who pointed out that Kerry called BBN, Ilan in the last post. She is doing that all of the time and will be much happier once we can announce BBN's name at his bris - no word yet on when that can be, but we'll keep everyone posted.

BBN had a really good day today. He drank almost a full bottle! It's amazing how fast they learn. Yesterday they tried and he didn't know what to do and today he drank 25 cc's! (The last 5 cc's they had to give through the tube because he was too tired) The best part was that Kerry got to give him the bottle and David can stop on the way home from work to see if he'll take it again at the next feeding. It's a lot of work for BBN, but we're excited to see that he can do it.

We remember with Ilan that we used to have to fight with him and squeeze his cheeks to get the bottle in his mouth - hopefully this time around we'll have fewer feeding issues.

BBN and Kerry also got to do kangaroo care for a full hour and all of his numbers (heart rate, respiratory and oxygen) remained at perfect levels! It is so exciting that every day we are at the NICU it seems that we can be more involved in BBN's care and we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel!

We posted some new pictures above - the first three are his first photos without the CPAP where you can actually see his face. The last one is a picture of Kerry holding BBN for the second time. (In typical Newman fashion our batteries died in the camera the first time we held him...oops!)

Looking forward to reporting more good news over the weekend.

Day Eleven Update Continued

Just a quick update before we call it a night - BBN is doing well. He was struggling a little without the CPAP so they put him on a nasal cannula which provides very minimal pressure to help keep his lungs open. After some adjustment time, he seems to be doing well on that and most likely will be able to come off of it in a couple of days.

The nurse tried to give him a bottle this morning, but he wasn't yet able to coordinate the suck-swallow-breath pattern neccessary so they will try again in a day or so.

The great news is that Kerry got to hold BBN for an hour today skin to skin as part of kangaroo care which is very beneficial for pre-term babies. BBN did really well - keeping all of his numbers - respiration rate, heart rate and oxygen saturation - right where they need to be.

Now that BBN no longer has the CPAP in we can see much more of his face and we got some better pictures today. Hopefully I will get the chance to upload them and post them to the blog tomorrow.

Day Ten & Eleven Update

Sorry for not posting yesterday - we needed to catch up on some sleep so we figured we'd wait til this morning.

Great news to share - Baby Boy Newman is off the CPAP! They took him off about a half hour ago and so far so good. They will keep a very close eye on his breathing throughout the morning. There is a chance they may have to put him back on, but we are hoping for the best. If he stays off of it, that will be one more major step on his journey to recovery.

He is also up to 15mg of food per feeding and doing well on it, which means they can decrease the amount of nutrition he is getting through the iv. Depending on how well he does off the CPAP, the nurses may try giving him 5mg in a bottle later today to see if he can get the suck, swallow, breath pattern down.

Kerry did get to hold Baby Boy Newman again yesterday and this time he was able to tolerate it for about 15 minutes so we are making progress. Today the nurse wants to try "kangaroo care" which is where you hold the baby skin to skin on your chest so that your heartrate and breathing can help stabalize his. She thinks this may be good for him so we will give it a shot!

We'll try to post another update at the end of the day today to let you know if he managed to stay off the CPAP. Hopefully we'll have good news to report!

Day Nine Update

Kerry got to hold Baby Boy Newman today! It was very exciting, although she could only hold him for five minutes because his oxygen level started dropping. She is trying not to take this personally since apparently this is very normal for NICU babies. (We never experienced this with Ilan since we were able to hold him from day one). Since they are not used to being held, they have to get used to the sensation and it takes their bodies a little while to adjust. Apparently each day we can hold him a bit longer and he should adjust sooner rather than later.

In other good news, they have started to feed Baby Boy Newman again and so far he seems to be tolerating 5mg of milk every three hours. He digested his 8am and 11am feeds and hopefully will continue to do well throughout the day. If so, they will give him 10mg tomorrow and keep increasing the amounts slowly. Right now he is being fed through a feeding tube that goes into his mouth and down into his stomach. They won't start feeding by mouth until he is off the CPAP since it will be too difficult for him to eat and breath at the same time.

The CPAP is down to "room air" on the oxygen level which means that he is breathing the same air that we all do - with no extra oxygen. Now he is just getting pressure from the CPAP that helps keep his lungs open.

Kerry also got the pleasure of changing Baby Boy Newman's diaper today. Sounds very ordinary but when you haven't been able to have so much contact with your baby it's the little things like that, that make you start to feel like you are the child's parent.

We are getting there slowly but surely. We are excited that each day brings improvement and looking forward to seeing our little guy grow stronger every day.

Day Eight Update

There is not so much new to report today - which is a good sign. We much prefer this calm "slow and steady" growth to all of the surprises Baby Boy Newman was throwing at us last week. He continues to do well on the CPAP with his oxygen down to 30% and his pressure at a level 6 (when it gets to 5, that is most likely when they will take him off of the CPAP).

Since he no longer needs blood gasses every six hours, they removed a line from his belly button which was being used to draw the blood. This is great since it means one less line connected to his body. It also means he can rest more comfortably on his stomach if he prefers that position (since babies in the NICU are closely monitored by machines there is no SIDS risk for stomach sleeping)

Since the respirator is out of his mouth, he can now suck on a pacifier which seems to calm him down when he gets upset.

They haven't tried feeding him but will most likely try again tomorrow.

The exciting news is that if all goes well tonight we most likely will be able to hold him for the first time tomorrow! We can't wait to start this important skin-to-skin bonding which is as therapeutic for the baby as it will be for us!

We really want to thank everyone for all of their comments on the blog, emails, phone calls and support during this past week. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful group of friends and family. We feel so loved and supported during this time and it means so much to us that so many people have our little baby boy in their thoughts and prayers.

Day 7 Update w/ pictures

Great news! Baby Boy Newman is OFF the respirator and on CPAP. He seems to be doing well with the transition. He was moved into an isolet today and hopefully will enjoy the peace and quiet.

He is almost back to his birth weight - tipping the scales at 3lbs 14oz. Feedings have not resumed but hopefully they can try again soon. In the meantime, Baby Boy Newman is enjoying a healthy, OU certified and heksher tezdek diet of lipids and electrolytes.

As you can see we've finally posted pictures. A brief warning. Baby Boy Newman has a lot of tubes connected to his body but many are just monitoring his vital signs. We'll get some more photos soon now that he is off the respirator.

As you can probably tell from the tone of the post, David is now involved in the blogging.

Best,
Kerry and David

Day Six Update

Baby Boy Newman had a pretty good day today.

He started the day with a blood transfusion because his hermatocrit levels were a bit low. This is probably because they take blood from him so often to measure his oxygen levels, and he cannot manufacture enough to keep up. He took the transfusion well - much better than mommy took the surprise 6am phone call from the hospital asking for parental consent for the transfusion :-) There's nothing like seeing a hospital phone number on caller id so early in the morning to get a person's heart rate up! But all was fine in the end.

He continues to do well on the respirator - requiring only 40% oxygen. If all goes well tonight and his chest x-ray looks good in the afternoon, there is a chance that they will remove the respirator tomorrow and switch him to CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure).

They have held off on feeding him more milk because he was not digesting what they were giving him so well. The nurses explained this is just his way of telling us his digestive system isn't ready yet, so they'll try again in another day or so.

They took out his second chest tube today and most likely he will be moved from his warming table into an isolet tomorrow, which will be much more comfortable for him because it will be quieter than being out in the open.

Mommy enjoyed her first day home from the hospital and loved spending time with Ilan. Ilan is having a bit of a hard time understanding why mommy can't pick him up and play with him on the floor. We've tried explaining that mommy has a boo-boo on her belly and hopefully after a couple of days, he'll come to accept this temporary change.

Hopefully we'll continue to have good news to share tomorrow!

Day Five Update

Baby Boy Newman had a stable night and seems to be starting the day off on the right foot. He had his best blood gas result yet, pleasantly surprising his doctor. They were able to get his oxygen level down to 50%, and although they've had to bring it back up a few times, this is a good sign as it's the lowest he's needed since his birth. They also were able to lessen the pressure on the ventilator.

At 11am Kerry got to hold the feeding tube as the nurse gave Baby Boy Newman his first drops of breast milk by mouth. He seemed to tolerate it well. At 2pm they'll check to see how much he digested (they can actually use the tube to see what's left in his stomach from the 11am feed.) If he tolerated it well they will give him more milk. If not, they will hold off.

His echocardiogram came back normal which is also good news.

He has been resting comfortably for the most part without any pain medicine. We hope that this is the beginning of his road to improvement.

Kerry got final confirmation from the doctor that her liver levels have returned to normal and she will be coming home today. She is very excited to come home and spend time with big brother Ilan who she misses.

Ilan has done wonderfuly this whole week. He has had a great time with nana, abba and seema and does not seem to be bothered at all that mommy was not around. He has come to visit mommy in the hospital almot every day and quickly found the pantry with the jello, cookies and milk. Ilan provides a daily reminder of how well NICU babies do and we have every reason to believe that Baby Boy Newman #2 will follow in his older brother's footsteps and become a healthy, active and very entertaining little boy.

Day Four Update

So far today is proving to be a relatively calmer day for Baby Boy Newman. His blood gasses are still not coming back great, but the doctor said they are on the "low end of normal" They are continuing to adjust the levels on the respirator to make sure he is getting the oxygen he needs.

They believe that the tears in the lungs have healed and they are removing one of the chest tubes today. They are also going to be inserting a PICC line either today or tomorow so that they can decrease the number of times they need to stick him with iv's. He will be fed a combination of lipids and electrolyte solution through this line. Once his breathing is more under control, the doctors and nurses will talk to us about beginning oral feedings.

The head scan they took yesterday came back normal, as expected. We are still waiting for the results of an echocardiogram which should be back later today.

The doctor said that he expects the next day or two to continue to be rocky but he expects Baby Boy Newman to start showing some improvement this weekend.

Kerry is still scheduled to go home tomorrow and looks forward to being able to spend some quality time with big brother Ilan.

We'll continue to keep everyone posted and hope we'll have good news to report in the coming days.

Day Three Update

Baby Boy Newman had a bit of a hard day today, but is resting comfortably now. He developed a tear in the lung (pneumothorax) on the other side as well, so they put in a chest tube to clear that up. The good news is the most recent chest x-rays show that the tubes have cleared most of the air that was there.

They also switched the type of respirator he is on to one that works in a much more gentle way, so hopefully it will be easier for him to breath. They are still taking blood gasses every six hours to get a sense of how much oxygen is in his blood. We are hoping that with both chest tubes and the new respirator we will see these numbers improve.

The doctors think that he might be having so much trouble with his lungs as a result of the fluid that was in his abdomen during the pregnancy. It could have been pushing up on the diaphragm and hampering lung growth.

So we will wait to see what tomorrow brings. We should have the results of a few more tests and we'll continue to keep a close eye on him. The doctors believe that there is a good overall prognosis and he is just giving us a bit of a run for the money these first few days.

We'll continue to keep everyone posted. Thanks for all of your support and good wishes.

Correction on Date of Kerry coming home

Sorry guys - didn't mean to scare everyone. Kerry is coming home this Friday, February 13th. Hopefully this is not ominous :-)

Baby Boy Newman's First Days

Hi,
In an effort to keep everyone posted of Baby Boy Newman's progress, we decided it would be easiest to create this blog to track his progress through the NICU.

Baby Boy Newman was born by c-section on Monday, February 9th. Following in the footsteps of his brother, Ilan, delivery was earlier than planned - although not quite as much of an emergency situation. Kerry was admitted to the hospital Sunday night the 8th with elevated liver counts and when they kept going up, the doctors decided to deliver at 33 weeks and 6 days.

Baby Boy Newman weighed in at 4lbs even at birth and was initially breathing on his own. The fluid in the abdomin (ascites) which the doctors had been following closely throughout Kerry's pregnancy only appeared in trace amounts - which was great news!

Baby Boy Newman's breathing became a little more labored after his admission to the NICU. While Kerry and David are surprised at this finding (especially because Ilan had no breathing issues at 32 weeks), apparently this is very typical behavior in a 34 weeker. In fact, some times babies who are 34 weeks old do worse than the ones born earlier because they have some strength and try to fight the machines a little more - thus working too hard.

The doctors discovered a small tear in the lungs (pneumothorax) which was causing some of the difficulty and have inserted a small chest tube to relieve pressure. The tear should heal on it's own after several days. They also decided to intubate Baby Boy Newman to make sure he was geting the oxygen he needs. They are taking blood gasses pretty frequently to determine the amount of oxygen the baby is getting and adjusting the levels on the intubater (pressure, amount of oxygen, etc) so he is getting what he needs.

Kerry is healing nicely from her csection and her liver counts already started coming down within 12 hours after delivering. She has started pumping so that when Baby Boy Newman is ready to be fed (right now he is being fed through an iv until they sabalize his breathing) her milk will be waiting for him. Kerry is expected home from the hospital on this Friday, February 13th.

We will try to post some pictures soon. Thanks to everyone for their wonderful wishes, calls, etc. Your support means so much to us.