Random pictures

An Alert Austin
A sleepy Austin
Lex love holding his little brother!
Tummy time is the pits!
Austin sporting the cute I love mama onesie from Mikala.
Well, even if Austin doesn't think so, I think Jackson is very interesting!
Jer was very impressed with this sunset yesterday. Pretty!
This photo of Lex cracks Lex up. He loves it!
Paula, Chris and Jackson got this adorable onesie for Austin. You'll be seeing it again in our Thanksgiving photos!
Austin's cord stump fell off on Sunday night so yesterday we gave him his first real bath. Here is his curly hair.
The night before we checked into the hospital, the Sledge's from church brought us this great meal. Yum! The next night Austin and I were gone, but the Clover's brought good food for Jer and Lex to eat. Thanks!
Lex picking his nose. Classic.
Paula and Jackson getting acquainted with Austin.

At home now

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't update yesterday. We are at home. After a whole week away from home, there was so much to catch up on. Jer was great at keeping up with the housework, but he did have a lot of extra tasks on his plate with Lex being sick, then him.

I guess we should be extra thankful for Paula for watching Lex on Wednesday. She and Chris both ended up sick. Chris was at a scout campout (that he took time off of work for and paid $$$ to attend) and was sick as a dog. I feel so badly! We sure owe them! Plus, they are taking us in on Thanksgiving since we are so disorganized right now we were just going to get takeout for dinner on Thursday!

Here is the update I wrote up on Austin yesterday afternoon for our family websites. It gives a lot of information on Austin's diagnosis and follow ups:

We finally got approval for discharge. I am very happy. I have felt like a prisoner here all week. Our room is tiny with no bathroom and there are no windows except for one that goes out to the nurse's station (which also has no natural light) and lets in flourescent lighting all night long. I told Jer that I really don't think they would have let us leave on our own if I went crazy and couldn't take it anymore. They probably would have called CPS for neglect. So, in effect, we really were being held here against our will. But at least we are free now!

Austin will have three prescriptions. One for his home nebulizer treatments (every six hours), one for Zantac to reduce the acidity of his reflux, and one for Reglan to make food move through his digestive tract faster so it has less chance to reflux and bother him.

The results of the Upper GI study (barium swallow) were that he had reflux. The PH probe found that in the 24 hour study, he had 73 instances of reflux, with 17 of those being 5 minutes or more. The longest duration of acid sitting in his esophogus was 23 minutes. 15 of these reflux instances went all the way up to his throat. This was all without him spitting up once. He has silent GERD just like Lex had.

With the acid going all the way up to his throat, it is very possible that he was aspirating some of the acid, causing his rapid breathing. That is why he will have the nebulizer treatments to break up anything in his lungs and help him get them out.

We are going to need to follow up with the pulmonologist he saw here in 4 weeks, the gastroenterologist in 2 weeks, and his pediatrician tomorrow. Thank heavens for insurance!

What a week!

Hey everyone, it is Emily again. Austin and I are still here in the hospital. If only I would have known Monday morning what this week would bring . . . I think I would have just crawled right back in bed!

I've been meaning to post about the passing of Jer's wonderful Grandpa Holmes last Saturday. He was a great man who accomplished a lot in his 82 years. He was surely a character and we will really miss him. Here is a link to his obituary. His funeral is tomorrow and unfortunately we are not able to go.

Austin is doing well. At this point, we've put four days into getting a diagnosis of silent GERD (reflux). Austin has three great doctors working on his care, a pediatrician, a pulmonologist, and a gastroenterologist. He is receiving breathing treatments every six hours to clear his lungs. He's had numerous x-rays, an echo cardiogram, an upper GI study (barium swallow), a consult with a speech therapist to check on his sucking and swallowing, and he currently has a PH probe in. A PH probe is a wire that goes through the nose and down to the esophogus to measure acidity levels over a 24 hour period. Today I need to record every burp, cough and sneeze as they happen. I also need to alternate regular feedings with glucose water feedings. Austin is handling things well and all his caregivers comment on what a mellow patient he is.

I am doing pretty well. I went for my two week check up yesterday (my big excursion out of the hospital for the week was to go to the doctor's office -- go figure) and the doctor is quite proud of his skills as a surgeon. I do have to go on some antibiotics for an infection, but in the grand scheme of things, that isn't a big deal.

Lex woke up Wednesday morning and greeted the day by vomiting all over Jeremy. Jer had to deal with a LONG day of caring for a sick kid and keeping him hydrated. We think that Lex picked up this bug when we were in the ER on Monday. We were being SO careful about keeping him healthy, too. After 24 hours, he got better but he still won't eat.

Last night, poor Jer came down with the bug, too. He said that it was HORRIBLE!!! At one point he tried to leave the bathroom to check on Lex and he blacked out for a second. So he crawled back to the bathroom and resumed vomiting. Yuck! Jer felt awful that Lex was essentially watching himself, but there was no alternative. Jer is weak today and doesn't want to eat, but he is feeling better.

So, it has been a crazy week! I have spent so much time away from little Lex since we don't want him and Austin in the same room right now, and we want to keep Lex out of the hospital and away from any other bugs. I miss that little boy so much! Before Austin was born, I'd never spent more than five hours away from Lex at a time. I spent almost 48 hours away from him this week. Sad! But Jer is taking excellent care of him.

We are hoping to be discharged tomorrow. If not, it should be Sunday. I am sure hoping for tomorrow!

Even though this week has royally sucked, I know that on Thanksgiving next week, we do have a lot to be thankful for. We have these two beautiful boys who despite their issues this week, are pretty healthy. I have a really great husband who will clean all the puke up and still do loads of laundry for me so I can have clean clothes here in the hospital. We have health insurance who will cover these medical bills. We have a great extended family who worries about us and checks up on us. We have a great friend in Paula who took a very sick Lex into her home when Jer had to attend a work dinner on Wednesday evening. Anyway, my point is, things will get better and we realize it.

Austin missed the hospital

Emily and Austin have checked back into the hospital. After a pediatrician appointment there were some irregularities in his breathing again. So after 3 hours at the pediatrician we headed back down to Ft. Myers to the ER to get admission into The Children's Hospital.

Today there are no real updates on the situation so I will give you some thoughts and a recap of the day so far. Today he is waiting to get an EKG (cardiac monitor) done and he is getting some respiratory monitoring at the time on his resp. rate and oxygen levels. Emily is doing fine hanging out with him at the hospital. Lex and I will be joining them later this afternoon. We are beginning to think people are doubting anything is wrong with him. based upon their initial reactions. Fortunately, the pediatrician verified his rapid breathing and we are going to make sure they get it figured out before they send us home again. The doctors seemed baffled because their textbooks and experience are not making sense of his symptoms or lack thereof. His breathing should have normalized about 72 hours after the c-section. They just say that he is just so healthy looking that they doubt anything could really be wrong. We are staying strong and just want them to figure out the problem or irregularities with his breathing. I am going to make sure they are 100% certain of no complications prior to his discharge or have them provide us monitoring equipment at home if they do not figure it out just so we can be on the safe side.
Emily and I are surrounded by some doubters since Austin's breathing has been relatively okay since he checked into the hospital so it is getting harder and harder to persuade his caregivers other than our pediatrician and neo-natalogist that anything has ever been wrong.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the well-wishes.

Correction

Jer is laughing at me right now because somehow on my "He's Home!" post on the 13th, I referred to a photo and forgot to post it. Jer finally asked me what I meant by "Lex introduced Austin to Alvin and the Chipmunks". We blame it on the painkillers. To protect my reputation as a sane person, here is the photo I was referring to.

This Time . . . . Last Time

Here are a few photos to show the similarities and differences between Lex and Austin.

Last time right before Lex was born (yes, I realize my belly was sticking out):

This time right before Austin was born (I am also embarrassed I have the same purse almost three years later. But I really like this purse.):

Last time right after Lex was born:

This time right after Austin was born:

Last time when Lex came home from the hospital:

This time when Austin came home from the hospital:

He's home!

Our boys both fell asleep during the one hour car ride home.

Lex introduced Austin to Alvin and the Chipmunks

We took Austin home this afternoon! It is so great to have him here. Here are a bunch of photos. Lex and Austin's meeting went really well. Lex was very sweet. He has given Austin kisses and hugs and offered him a drink of water and a train to play with.

Tomorrow should be the big day!

Lex has really enjoyed playing with CJ in the waiting room. CJ's little brother was born two weeks ago at just 28 weeks. He was 2.5 pounds. CJ asked my mom for my phone number so he can invite Lex to his birthday party next September!

I am pretty sure that tomorrow will be the day we can bring Austin home! He has been off of the oxygen and pressure for over a day now, and he is doing really well. He is tolerating his food well and doing great! We won't find out for sure until 10:30 tomorrow morning, but I am really hopeful.

I am happy that he has had such great care, but I am so anxious to get him home and get a good look at him. When we are at the hospital, it just seems like the nurses are the Mama and I am just a visitor. Today, his nurse even told my mom that she couldn't hold Austin since it wasn't his designated "touch time". That bugs me. My mom is the grandmother, for goodness sake! Plus, all the other nurses have let us hold him anytime we wanted.

Overall, though, we've had great nurses. It is just hard to have anyone else take care of your child. I've spent more time away from Austin in his first week than I've been away from Lex in Lex's entire life!

Austin is one week old!

My mom's first time holding Austin

Jer's first time holding Austin

Austin's monitors. From my understanding, the 100 is the oxygen levels in his blood. 100 was good. This is measured by a monitor on his foot. The 152 and 154 are both heart rate (from sensors on his chest), and the 41 is his breaths per minute (from a sensor on his tummy). Now he averages about 60 breaths per minute, but he varies quite a bit.

Lex's nap time last Thursday while I was still in the hospital.

My parents sent these flowers and I thought they were so pretty!

Hi! It is Emily again. In just two hours, Austin will be one week old! I absolutely adore that kid! He is still in the NICU, but he is showing some great improvements. I really hope he'll get to come home in a few days.

I got back from the hospital on Friday night, and we have a sort of routine going on for visiting and checking on Austin. We get up, call in and check with his nurse to find out how he is doing, then head out to visit him in the afternoon and deliver the milk I've pumped for him. It is an hour's drive each way to the hospital, so we can only go once a day. We spend a few hours there, then come back home. Lex isn't allowed to go and see Austin (he still hasn't laid eyes on him), so we take turns sitting with Lex in the family waiting room. Later that night we call his night nurse to check on him again. Then the next day starts!

Jer is back at work this week, but luckily my mom is here for a visit! I love having her here. She is very helpful and fun to be around.

So, back to Austin. He is still in need of pressure in order to breathe, but he no longer needs oxygen. He was able to start bottle feeding instead of tube feeding this weekend. Yesterday when Iwas visiting the doctor came by and told me that Austin could nurse. He did so well! I was concerned that he wouldn't be able to nurse after all that bottle feeding. Anyway, it really made my day.

I'll post more pictures soon. I sure hope in a few days I can add some "coming home" photos for him! Below is a short video of Austin breathing a few days ago so you can see why he needed help. He was averaging 2 breaths per second.

Update on Austin and Emily

The light in the photo is blue because of the girl next door to Austin. She has jaundice so has the blue hue from a bug zapper going nonstop.

Today Em and I were able to each visit Austin a couple of times. I got to hold his little foot and talk to him for a while. I told him we can't wait to hang out on better terms. You will have to ask Em what she said because I get to watch the Lexter while she is in there and vice versa.

Em gets discharged tomorrow evening most likely and that means Austin will be staying in the NICU. We will be coming home full time again and coming back for visits as often as we can. He is doing well but still having the transitioning issues in his lungs. They gave him a new oxygen acessory for his nose so he doesn't take it out as much due to the discomfort but it is also there to assist in his feedings. He is eating very well through a tube that goes directly down into his stomach.

Once again, he has to bottle feed fine for 24 hours and stay off of oxygen assistance for 24 hours before he can move out of the NICU into another nursery. We still have no definitive date for his departure but we are in no rush to get him out of the NICU due to the wonderful care he is receiving there and the good oxygen he is breathing.

Emily is rapidly getting better and is up and moving around. She is healing really well and is staying on top of her pain with good drugs. Pills are good! Pills are good! (Dumb and Dumber references never hurt!)

Ladies and Gentlemen...Austin Drake Walsh is here! (Austin for now at least)

Here are the stats:

Born at 9:50 am on November 4th, 2008.

8lbs 4 oz

20 1/2 inches

Baby and Mama are doing just fine but he is in the NICU right now. Here is what is going on:

I just got back from the hospital and everything for the most part is going very well. The baby is getting taken care of in the NICU right now and the care there is fantastic! Here is the lowdown on what happened. When he first got plucked out of the womb he wasn't crying very much. The nurse went to go clean him and get him going in he world and she said he had lots of fluid in his lungs. She got him cleaned off and he started to cry a lot so that was a good sign.
The fluid got cleared out and I followed the nurse to our post op room for Austin to recuperate. As she was doing tests she noticed he was having chest contraction issues and did some tests. It turns out that his oxygen levels in his blood were lower than they should be. So a NICU nurse was called in and he was assessed for about 15 minutes and it was deemed necessary he go to the NICU for monitoring and care for at least the first night.
I have gone to the NICU several times to visit and he is very animated, crying and full of vigor and vim so don't worry. He just needs his oxygen levels to be monitored. Right now he is requiring 30 some odd percent pure oxygen as opposed to the 21% we usually need. His chest is still contracting rapidly while at the same time breathing quite fast so they have given him something called a cpap to help him out.
We should have a NICU update tomorrow morning about 11 so I will keep you posted.

Poor Emily has still not really been able to see the baby or hold him. She saw him before he went into the NICU at around noon but hasn't seen him since. I just talked to her and she is hoping to get there around midnight to see her new baby boy

36 hours!

In just 36 hours I am having this baby! I can't believe the day is almost here! Anyway, just wanted to let you all know what to expect. Jeremy will be contacting our parents right after the baby is born, and will send them a photo right away from his cell phone. Hopefully they will be able to forward the news on to our siblings and family.

Jer is going to have a long day, but I am hoping that when he gets home later that night, he will have time to upload better quality photos of the new baby and post them here. If he isn't able to do it that day, he will probably be able to do it the next.

I have never mentioned here that we've been waffling about the baby's name. We just don't know if he'll be an Ian, a Miller, or an Austin. Or he could be born and look like something completely different! I am hoping we'll be able to come up with something quickly! We'll just see what he looks like! What if they made a mistake and it is actually a girl?!?

Anyway, wish us luck! I am excited, but nervous! It is just crazy to think of all the changes this week has in store for us!

Happy Halloween!

The photo above was taken last month at the Orlando Science Museum, but Jer wanted the scary-eyed Lex picture to be held back for Halloween. Creepy!

Anyway, we had a great Halloween on Friday. Like last year, we crashed the party for Chris, Paula, and Jackson's neighborhood. They had pizza in the park followed by trick or treating (Jer went around with Lex while I stayed with Paula to hand out candy). Later they had a haunted walk for the older kids, and Jeremy had a BLAST scaring all of the kids. Don't worry, by then Lex was safe and sound at home. I knew he wouldn't be able to handle the haunted walk!

Lex was Thomas the Tank engine. I thought it was cute that the costume had a pocket on the front to hold candy in. Unfortunately, it got a little heavy for Lex, so Jer had a separate pumpkin to collect his loot instead. Here are some photos:

Here is the group photo of the kids in the park. Unfortunately, you can't see Jackson from the angle we took this photo. He is the Wheaties box in the back. Lex is the outsider in the swing. He loved the swing so much he didn't want to get out for the photo.

It is great to have a Daddy to carry you when you get tired:
It is also great to have a friend like Chris to carry your kid when you are tired of carrying your kid! The adorable little candy corn in this photo is Lexi. She is a very sweet little girl we go to church with. She is incredibly patient with me when I constantly slip and call my Lex "Lexi" in front of her. It can be very confusing!


I hesitated to post this since I am not a fan of myself in black, but here was my "costume". I bought the skeleton shirt at Wal-Mart for $10, then painted the baby skeleton on the abdomen.