On A Roll

Drew had another fairly good day. He is kind of in cruise control and not regressing but not improving a whole lot either, but we are thrilled that he is doing well! He still has some difficulties with his lungs which we believe could take a while to mature. His tummy remains his favorite position and he was pretty calm all day. They have planned to do another possible head ultra sound on Monday to make sure everything is still going well. He loves when we hold his hands we think he has a big sense of humor because he likes to pee on the nurses! Tthank you all for everything, we keep praying that little Drew will continue to progress.

Drew Is Doing Well

Another good day for our son! Today was a fairly uneventful day for Drew, he is stable and doing well. They did another heart echo to see whether or not the PDA (open artery that should close at birth) had closed off. The results show that it remains slightly open along with another area in his heart that is also supposed to be closed. They believe that these holes will close on their own and because they are not causing too much trouble they will wait to see what happens. His lungs are still full of fluid and there are still areas that show collapse on the x-rays, so they have been tweaking the settings on the ventilator to see how Drew reacts. The lab work that they did on his blood today also showed that he was having a little difficulty with ventilating the co2 out of his body and that he is having a hard time maintaining consistent levels of sodium. They believe that with a little fine tuning of his nutrition and ventilation (breathing machine settings) that he will find stability in these areas as well. So that is all that really happened today, the nurses said that boring days are good days! So we just hung out with our little guy and once again sang to him and held his hands before we said good night. Mommy made Daddy change two diapers today and each time it took Daddy forever! Thank you all again for everything, and most of all thank you Drew for coming into our lives! We love our special little guy.

Two In A Row!

Two great days in a row! Drew is continuing to amaze us with his strength and desire to live. We know that he has felt uplifted by the countless prayers offered for him, and we would like to thank everyone again for all of the prayers and love. Sometimes in life we feel like we are being carried by angels, and these past twelve days have been amazingly peaceful for us. We realize that there is a long road ahead of us and we look forward to continuing to witness the power of the priesthood and prayer. Drew is still at risk for infections which cause setbacks and his lungs still need to mature quickly. One area of concern is the small risk of hydrocephalus (blocked circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid). This can occur due to blood clots from the intraventricular hemorrhages (brain bleeds) that Drew experienced. Hydrocephalus can cause the ventricles and other areas to swell and apply pressure to the brain, which we are praying that Drew doesn't have to encounter. The nurse practioner felt optimistic that Drew would break down the cells from the intraventricular hemorrhaging normally and that this wouldn't be an issue. Yesterday little drew started to get his first taste of real food...milk from Mommy! They start with only one CC of milk every twelve hours which is not very much but it helps to get his stomach working. Although he doesn't get to actually taste it due to him requiring a feeding tube, we think that he is excited to have something other than water in his stomach. He is still very funny and loves his new position on his tummy. He is developing some funny facial expressions which make us and the nurses laugh pretty hard. We love visiting him and singing to him while we touch his little hands. Drew brings us so much joy and we love our little boy.

Answer To Our Prayers

Today we thank our Heavenly Father for a wonderful day with Drew. The nurses said that he has taken a step in the right direction and that Drew is the most stable that he has been for a while! We were told to celebrate because Drew is doing great in comparison to a couple of days ago. His Head ultra sound came back as stable which means that he hasn't had any further bleeding in the ventricles and that the previous bleeding is subsiding which we pray will break down without blocking the normal flow of spinal fluid. He is oxygenating really well today but his lungs are still full of fluid and they need to heal and mature quickly. While Drew still has many challenges yet to face we are remaining optimistic and confident that God is ultimately in control of the outcome of our son whatever that may be. We are extremely grateful to everyone for the prayers and fasting for little Drew and our family. We have felt uplifted through this experience and we know that your faith and prayers are carrying us, thank you all for your support and love. Drew loves to sleep on his stomach now just like his mommy and he loves to squeeze our fingers with his little hands. Today the radiologist was trying to do a kidney ultra sound and Drew kept kicking her hand! He is starting to develop a funny personality and he is trying so hard to open his little eyes. We love spending time with him, he radiates a powerful spirit that has inspired us to focus on the truly important things. Life is so precious and we are grateful that Heavenly Father has answered our prayers and allowed us to be with Drew for another wonderful day.

Sweet Boy

Drew has such a sweet spirit. Upon entering his room we can feel his love and power. We love our sweet little guy so much and we thank him every day for the powerful influence that he has had on our lives. Yesterday was extremely difficult for Jenn and me. We received the results from fridays head ultra sound and it looks like drew has another intraventricular hemorrhage (brain bleed) now in his right ventricle. Also his little lungs are struggling to consistently oxygenate his body. They are full of fluid and are beginning to tear due to the pressure that they have to apply from his ventilator (breathing machine). Basically his lungs need to heal and mature quickly or the longterm result will not be favorable. We met with the Neonatologist last night and as she explained these complications Jenn and I just tried to hold back the tears. The doctor explained that we are at a point where he will either get better or complications will quickly get worse. She also told us to prepare ourselves to let little Drew go if he starts to rapidly regress. After the conversation with the doctor, our sweet nurse decided to lift the top off of Drews isolette so that Jenn and I could kiss and talk to our wonderful boy. We spent a long time with him last night talking and singing to him. His tiny hands reached for ours and he would squeeze our fingers! Then today when we went to see him he looked really good! He still has a lot of fluid in his lungs but his oxygen levels have improved and his heart rate and blood pressure look really good as well. They say that his status will remain day to day, but we are enjoying every second that we get to spend with Drew. We love him so much and he has already changed our lives forever, we know that God is ultimately in control of Drews outcome and we trust that our Heavenly Father will do what is best for Drew and our family. We are so grateful for Drews sweet spirit and the precious lessons he has taught us. He will always be our sweet Boy.

One Week Old

Drew is one week old today! It is hard to believe that our little guy has already been with us for a whole week. Today was a really good day for us and him. He is oxygenating a lot better and his PDA (the area in the heart that didnt close at birth) is almost completely shut! He responded well to the medication that they gave him and the doctors believe that it will shut completely over time on its own. They did renal and head ultra sounds today. We should get the results from the head ultra sound tomorrow which will better show the full extent of the intraventricular hemorrhage (brain bleed). We are still praying very hard that the bleeding hasn't increased. Overall we were very happy today with his progress and we thank everyone who has prayed and fasted for his and our well being, we are very appreciative of your love and support. Mommy and Daddy got to hold little Drew for the first time while the nurse changed his bedding. It was an experience that we will never forget and a feeling came over us that is indescribable. We love our sweet son so so so much.

Thankful For Drew!

Today was our first Thanksgiving with our son Drew. We took a picture with a steralized baseball next to his head today so that everyone could see his size in comparison. He had a rollercoaster day. At times he was doing a great job with his oxygen saturation levels but as soon as we thought he was improving his lungs would start to struggle again. They took a couple of chest x-rays to help see why he is experiencing such dramatic peaks and valleys. Each x-ray basically showed that a large portion of his lungs are either full of fluid or they are collapsed and are not able to oxygenate the blood. They are trying different ventilators (breathing machines) and are trying different positions to see if they can stabilize his lungs better. The one certain diagnosis is that his lungs are extremely under developed which is due to his prematurity. Tomorrow they have scheduled to take a heart echo (scan) as well as a head ultra sound. This will let us know if the PDA in his heart has closed off and the head ultra sound will give us a better understaning of the intraventriculr hemorrhage (brain bleed) that they noticed earlier this week. On this Thanksgiving we realize how blessed we are and we have so much to be thankful for. We are so grateful for our wonderful son Drew! We love him so so much and continue to pray for his well being.

What's new with Drew

* Wednesday November 21, 2007. Drew had a good day today! We have learned to cherish days like these. He has been given the medicine to help close the opening in his heart. The medicine is given once every 12 hours and requires three doses. So far he is responding well to the first dose. His lungs are looking a little better but they still have a lot of fluid in them. They will do another head ultra sound on Friday to follow up on the intraventricular hemorrhage (brain bleed). We are praying for a favorable outcome and that the bleeding has not increased or started in any areas of the actual brain. We are constantly reminded that the Lord knows so much more than we do and we are learning that his ways are not always our ways. This has been a tremendous opportunity for our faith to grow.

We Love Our Son

Drew is fighting through some difficult challenges. On Tuesday November 20, 2007 we were told that he has some new complications. His heart has a Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA), which basically means that an area of his heart that should have closed off after birth is still open. This is fairly common in premies and is treated by a medicine that they will start shortly. He also might have a Persistent Foramen Ovale (PFO), which is another area that didn't close off in the heart but should correct itself over time. The area of most concern is the brain. He had another head ultra sound today that indicated a minor grade 2 intra ventricular hemorrhage (brain bleed). The complications of this are not very serious, however there is concern that if this hemorrhage grows or appears outside of the ventricle that he might risk more serious complications. We are praying that God will bless our son and we thank everyone who is doing the same. We will know the full extent of the hemorrhage on Friday after another head ultra sound. We love Drew so much and we are extremely blessed to have this beautiful boy in our lives.

Still Fighting

Monday November 19, 2007 was a little difficult for us and Drew. We were told that this will be a rollercoaster of emotions. He had a rough night and one of his lungs collapsed but it was corrected simply by turning him onto his side. The new worry is that his lungs are filling with fluid and they have given him some medication to help dry him out. He is still fighting hard.

Another Good Day

November 18, 2007. Drew spent his first Sunday celebrating the news from the results of his first head ultra sound. The doctors say that to their surprise there isn't any bleeding in the brain! That is absolutely miraculous given his intense delivery and his extreme prematurity. Aside from a few imbalances in sodium and glucose, he is doing really well. Drew started his light therapy to remedy biliruben. Daddy helped change his diaper today! We love our little boy.

Doing Well

On Saturday November 17, 2007 Drew was doing extremely well. He was fighting so hard and his heart and lungs looked great. They were still concerned that this might just be what they call a honeymoon period when newborn premies do exceptionally well for the first few days and then begin to experience complications. We are amazed at the ability that these doctors and nurses have to give these special little children a chance at life. We love our son and we are so blessed to have him in our lives. We were able to touch him today and he tried to grip Jenns finger with his tiny hand!

Little Miracle

On Friday November 16th 2007, our little boy Drew James Towner came into the world. He is such a miracle. He came into our lives very unexpectedly. He was born 4 months (16 weeks) early and weighed one pound four ounces. He is so amazing and we have truely witnessed a miracle. He has an amazing spirit and is truely so close to the veil. We are getting a good education about the body and the way that it works. We learn new things about Drews brain, heart, and lungs daily. He is doing good and has a very strong spirit that is fighting very hard to stay with us. We've had a lot of good days and a few difficult days. Drew is so special to us so it is hard to hear any negtive news but we are all staying strong. We pray that Gods mercy will be poured out to our little boy. We know that he knows all and we are willing to accept his will.