26 grams, Open Eyes and Continued Breathing Scares

Hi Everyone,

Sonia and I hope that all of you and yours are well.

We visited Isaac again today and it was another day of highlights and moments of almost utter panic.

First the good news. The doctors have Isaac up to 9ml per feeding! They reweighed him today and as of this morning he was 525 grams - up 26 grams from 499 grams just this past tuesday. We were so happy! They also measured him and despite all of his challenges with weight, he has actually grown in length from 30.8 cm at birth to 32.4 cm. Thank you Lord!

Isaac opened his eyes even more today. I know he can't really see his mommy and daddy but I could have sworn that he was looking right at us! It almost seemed like he moved his eyes around looking for someone or something to focus on. I know there may be issues with his retinas especially now that they have increased his oxygen because of his CLD but his eyes are really so pretty. Thank goodness that Isaac got his mother's eyes.

Isaac was also willing to hold daddy's hand again today. What a grip! If you look at the picture to the right, you can even see the whites of his knuckles!

Sorry folks but most every picture we have for this posting is face down, froggie style, because the doctors think this position is better for hi his digestion and maybe breathing. You'll also note that a few of the pictures have him pretty snug to prevent him from moving around too much. Again to help avoid breathing tube problems.

He seems to be eating ok as well. He has been off of antibiotics for a couple of days now and has been able to have bowel movements without an anema for the past couple of days.

It is so great to spend even our little hour with him every day. I so wish we could spend more. Unfortunately, today was at times more frightening than yesterday. Isaac is having even more difficulties with his breathing. He seems to suffer from apnea quite frequently and his oxygen saturation level seems to crash all of the time now. The nurses say that it is much worse just after feeding perhaps because of the milk in his tummy. Either way, Isaac was having major trouble when we visited. His saturation percentage would fall into the low 70s and they at times were manually pumping oxygen into his lungs, first with the ventilator and then literally manually with a squeeze bulb. They also changed his breathing tube yesterday in the hopes that it would help. Our poor little boy looked a little worse for the wear as he seemed really tired and a little listless.

The doctors keep telling us that he's ok and none of this seems to be a big surprise to them. Of course as his parents and being first timers with something like this, we have a hard time just keeping our hearts in our chests everytime our little boy struggles like this. I almost wish that they didn't have so many monitors because it is really stressing us out to hear the constant alarms and to see the square breathing signals that tell us when the ventilator is 100% breathing for Isaac because his system has forgotten.

In addition, while again the doctors don't seem so worried, his heartbeat is up from 160 to about 170 and his temperature is up a little as well. They tell us that it isn't because of an infection but I don't think they are good nevertheless. I'm so happy that Sonia and I have gotten into the regular habit of praying openly with our Isaac so that we can affirmatively and publicly lift him up to the Lord for His care and mercy.

I think that God knows how fragile Isaac's mom and dad are. Maybe that is why, in between these problems and bouts of apnea, Isaac will perk up for a little bit and open his eyes again searching for mom and dad. When he does I completely forget about everything else!

He's also still coming up with the cutest little poses. We call this one the "Thinker" after Rodin's sculpture. As a couple of you have mentioned in your posts, Isaac has discovered the entertainment value of this breathing tube. Bad boy!

All in all, we know deep in our hearts how fortunate and blessed have been so far with Isaac. He has problems but we know that things could be much worse and many of you have had much more traumatic experiences this early.

We are trying to figure out the best way to start looking into alterative NICUs that could take Isaac after he gets a little bigger.

Thank all of your again for your continued prayers. We know in our hearts that a major reason Isaac is with us and is still hanging in there is that He is listening to your prayers.

God bless,

Jong