Getting Close

We had to dress up Drew in his Jazz uniform for game day! He was wide awake when we got back to the hospital after the game. We like to think that he knows when we are coming:) Drew is doing so awesome with just about everything. He has become a fantastic little "big" eater. He gets a little mad after his feeding when the bottle is empty and we have to entertain him so that he will forget about his desires for more milk. Drew loves hanging out in his swing and in our arms, he is getting more and more bored with his crib and we just spoil him by picking him up every time he gets fussy. Drew's slow maturing eyes are pretty much the last challenge that he has to overcome before he can come home. Today his eye doctor decided that it would be best for Drew's eyes to have another week to mature before he can come home. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful doctors and nurses who work so hard to give Drew the best quality of life possible. It is miraculous what they do for these little babies, their love and care for our little boy will always be greatly appreciated. We are getting very excited and we can't believe that he could possibly be coming home next week! We are praying that his eyes will continue to get better and mature so that he can come home soon, but after all that Drew has been through we consider ourselves extremely blessed that he has done so well and we will happily wait as long as needed. We love Drew, he continues to bring our family so much joy.

Drew Says "GO JAZZ"

We had a pretty fun day today. One of Drew's nurses gave Drew a Utah Jazz outfit from build a bear! We dressed him up for good luck and so that he could feel like he was at the Jazz game with us tonight. Daddy took a ton of pictures and he was so proud of his little all star but if Drew wants to play ball he is gonna have to learn from Mommy:) Drew is doing really well and he is doing a great job with his feedings and seems to be making slow but steady progress with his lungs. He will have another checkup tomorrow with the eye doctor to determine whether or not Drew will need a follow up laser treatment. Depending on the status of his eyes tomorrow and if everything goes right, we think that Drew could possibly be home as soon as the beginning of next week! We are praying that his eyes will show some significant improvement, but we also know that we need to be patient and allow Drew to have the best opportunity to grow and mature even if it means that he will need to stay at the hospital for a little while longer. He is getting to be so much fun and we enjoy every second that we get to be with our son.

Latest and Greatest

Drew is doing really well. We weren't able to take very many pictures this past week because Drew's eyes were pretty sensitive and his lights were dimmed most of the time. So the past couple of days we have had a lot of fun taking lots of pictures and playing with him in his swing! Drew loves hanging out in his little swing with the music playing. He is doing a great job with his feedings and takes all of his bottles. He no longer has the feeding tube, and we think that he is getting close to coming home! He just needs his eyes to mature a little more and a few other things need to improve but he is doing awesome. We have been extremely blessed. Drew is such a little miracle and a gift to us from God. We are so grateful for all of the love and support that our family has received. We are getting pretty excited, we love Drew so so so much.

Back On Track

Drew's laser therapy on Friday went very well. He had a pretty stressful day and had to go through a few changes that he didn't like at all. His feedings had to be stopped before the surgery and Drew had to be placed back on the ventilator because of the anesthetics that pretty much knocked him out. It was a long day for Drew and for us. Seeing him just lay there almost lifeless due to the anesthetics and back on the ventilator was a little hard for us. The laser therapy lasted around and hour and a half and the doctor told us that it went really well. We will learn more about the results from the treatment over the next couple of weeks. Drew took a while to wake up afterwards and he was pretty groggy when we left him for the night. When we came back on Saturday morning the nurse told us that Drew woke up around midnight and that he got frustrated with the endotracheal tube so he just pulled it out! Just like that he was off of the ventilator and back on the low flow nasal cannula! Drew makes us laugh, he is a determined little guy and there is no stopping him. Well last night Drew was back to normal and decided to take the entire bottle for the first time! He has taken whole bottles for nine out of the last eleven feeds!! It is hilarious to watch him wake up about fifteen minutes before feeding time and he starts screaming for his milk. We call Drew our little piggy because he kinda snorts when he first starts feeding and he goes crazy trying drink the whole thing at first. After about twenty minutes he finishes and usually falls asleep, but today he was wide awake for five hours and demanded that we hold the binky in his mouth and sing him songs. He pretty much is going to get his way with everything, we figure that he deserves whatever he wants:) Well if Drew keeps this up we are told that he will probably be home within the next few weeks and we will get to be real parents! That will be an awesome day, we are so blessed and we love our little guy so so much.

Loves His Bottle

Drew wakes up every three hours and can't wait to start sucking on his bottle. Today he did so well taking his bottle, it was like a switch was turned on and suddenly Drew knew how to suck, swallow and breathe all at the same time. It has been amazing to watch him grow and learn. He is currently taking about half of his milk by bottle, which is awesome! On Wednesday Drew had his eyes examined. The eye doctor has diagnosed Drew with Retinopathy of Prematurity. Simply put it means that Drew is at risk for retinal detachment which can cause vision impairment or even blindness. It has been decided that tomorrow Drew will undergo laser therapy which we are praying will be the only treatment needed and that he won't have any long term difficulties with his eyes. Drew has had so many challenges and he has fought so hard to overcome them. We know that he will fight hard and overcome this challenge as well. Drew has been very blessed, he has also blessed so many of us who have been able to witness the miracle of his life. We just keep praying that Drew will be blessed with the strength and desire to overcome this most recent challenge and that his doctors will be inspired to perform well. We love Drew so very much, he is so precious and sweet.

In An Open Crib!

Drew graduated from his isolette on Friday night to a "big boy" open crib! Mommy and Daddy were so happy to see their little guy all grown up just hangin out in his new crib. Drew has done remarkably well for a while, and we are thrilled with his progress. Drew now weighs three pounds five ounces. He is still learning to take a bottle which might turn out to be a long process but he should get it soon. Tonight he took about 6 milliliter's (which is his best yet) by bottle and then we were told that he got tired. Mommy and Daddy hold Drew every day and he absolutely loves the attention. His hair was all spiked on saturday and he was having so much fun showing off for the camera. Drew can be fiesty at times but he is so sweet that he just makes us smile and laugh. We keep praying that he will continue on his miraculous path so that we can bring him home some day.

Still Going Strong

Drew has done so well and has grown so much. He now weighs close to three pounds two ounces. Drew has been tolerating lower settings on the high flow nasal cannula and seems to have tolerated his changes in medicines. Drew is no longer on pain medication and he will soon be off of hydrocortisone. Drew has been getting cuter and cuter everyday. Drew is getting very strong and his cry is so cute but getting pretty loud too. We love Drew so so much, we are very grateful for our sweet little "big" guy.

Big Boy!

Drew is getting big! Well he seems big to us, he is just a few grams shy of three pounds! He is looking so cute and his personality is starting to really take form. Drew loves attention, he loves to squueze our fingers, he loves songs and loves to be talked to. He seems to get bored sometimes and he really doesn't like to be left alone. Drew recently started trying to bottle feed! The first attempt was pretty funny, he slowly swallowed four milliters and then fell asleep. It was so funny, he was exhausted. Learning to take a bottle might take a while, it is a lot for him to learn how to suck, breathe and swallow at the same time. We love watching him try new things even if he doesn't quite grasp the concept right away. We enjoy the process and the funny faces he makes when we introduce new things to him. This week we worked on doing some excercises with him, we gently pressed down on his shoulders, we moved his hips from side to side and we continue to do leg presses. Drew is so precious to us and we love taking part in his growth.

Doing Really Well

Drew is doing really well on the high flow nasal cannula. He is getting bigger and stronger every day. We love holding him every day and we can't believe how much he has progressed in the past month. Drew loves his binky and he loved hangin out with his little teddy bear today. Mommy and Daddy are so grateful for Drew, we love him so much.

One More Step

Today Drew was taken off of CPAP and placed on high flow nasal cannula! He is doing really well and seems a lot more comfortable. Today we were able to hold Drew for quite a while. He absolutely loves being the center of attention and we think that he was trying hard to smile and maybe even giggle a little today. Drew has grown and progressed so fast us but it almost doesn't seem real that we will have him home some day. We get excited just thinking about how wonderful it will be when he can come home, but for now we are enjoying the experience of watching our little guy grow stronger every day. We keep praying that he will continue to progress without any serious setbacks and so far God has granted Drew that blessing. We are very grateful for our son and we love him.

First Bath!

Yesterday Drew got his first bath! Before he got wet they took out his nasal prongs and feeding tube, and they also took off all of his monitor leads. We finally got to see our precious little guy without any of the tubes or wires! He looked so cute and his facial expressions had us all laughing. He would squeeze his lips together and his mouth looked like a little cheerio. Drew loved hanging out in the warm water. He was trying hard to smile, it was the cutest thing and he absolutely melted our hearts. Drew did so well trying to breathe on his own, we held the flowing oxygen mask close by his face so that he could inhale the air that had a high concentration of oxygen. He had to work pretty hard to breathe but he did surprisingly well. Bathing him and holding him without the tubes was one of the greatest moments we have had with our son. For the first time we were able to interact with our son without any of the restraints from his life sustaining but restricting tubes. After all of the fun it was time to put the wires back on and put the feeding tube and nasal prongs back in. We weren't there when they put the nasal prongs back in but we heard that he threw a big fit:)Drew has a funny personality and he is not afraid to let you know when he is mad, unfortunately he needs those tubes to live (hopefully not too much longer). Drew is getting so strong and he is a testimony of the power of prayer. Today they were able to place him on straight CPAP. He is no longer requiring the assistance of high pressures and he doesn't need the occasional assisted breaths! We are very grateful to God for his progress. Drew has had wonderfully inspired doctors, nurses and specialists. Thank you to all who have prayed for our son, he is so precious and we love him more than we could ever describe.

Two Months!

Drew had his two month birthday yesterday! He is 16 inches long and weighs two pounds nine ounces! We have grown so much with Drew, he has taught us many invaluable lessons. Drew has taught us to appreciate every moment of this precious life that God has given us. Our family will forever be changed from these experiences that we have had these past two months and we look forward to the joys that we will share with Drew in the future. He is doing well and we have been very blessed to witness his miraculous progress. We love him so so much.

Going Strong

Drew is doing great! He is getting stronger and better every day. These past few days have been wonderful for us. After he was extubated last Thursday we got to hear Drew's cry for the first time! It was so so sweet to hear our son and although it would usually not be a pleasant sound his little cry was music to our ears. He is slowly getting stronger, they were able to lower some of the settings on his nasal IMV CPAP today. Drew is now on full feedings and he is digesting well, he almost weighs two pounds nine ounces. We are so pleased and grateful for his progress, we just keep praying that he will continue to grow and mature without any serious set backs. Drew has shown a lot personality recently and it looks like we are going to have our hands full with him. He has become very social and loves lots of attention. We love Drew more than we ever could have imagined.

One Big Step

Drew is doing so well! We are very proud of our little guy. Drew has been off of the ventilator for 33 hours! Yesterday around 2:00 PM Drew had his endotracheal tube removed and was placed on nasal IMV CPAP. He is growing so strong, we pray that he will keep doing well without the full support of his ventilator. He has had his moments and has thrown a few fits but he calms down with his binky and a gentle but firm hand on his legs and head. Drew loves it when we sing and tell him stories. Today his eyes were wide open and he looked so cute. He is our little hero, we are so grateful for his strength.

First Outfit

Drew is growing and getting stronger every day. Yesterday Drew got to wear his first little outfit! We couldn't believe how tiny the outfit was but it still looked huge on Drew! He looked so handsome in his little onseie and he had a wonderfully relaxing day yesterday. Today Drew did well again and he had his first eye checkup. It is great to see him growing and progressing. Mommy and Daddy get to hold Drew once a day every day! We love the time that we get to hold him and interact with him outside of his isolette. Drew is so sweet and we love him so so so much.

Baby Steps

Drew has taken some big steps and some little baby steps recently. Yesterday was an eventful day for our little guy. He was given the chance to get off of the ventilator and he was placed on a high flow nasal cannula. Drew lasted for about an hour and after struggling to embrace the adjustment, it was decided to place him back on the ventilator which was a smooth transition to familiar territory for him. This was a little discouraging but at the same time we are thrilled that he is getting so close to taking that big step and getting off of the ventilator for good. Drew has made so much progress and we are extremely blessed to witness his strength and God's mercy. Drew has almost doubled in weight since the day he was born and his nutrition now all comes from breast milk which is fed to him through his OG tube that goes in through his mouth and down to his stomach. Today they were able to remove Drew's PICC line which was used as a long term intravenous access line through which he would receive his medications and some nutrition, he will now receive all of his nutrition and medication through is feeding tube! He is looking so good and Mommy and Daddy were able to hold him again today! This was Mommy's third time and Daddy's second time holding Drew. We love him and we are very grateful for the progress he is making every day.

Wonderful Day

Drew is doing great! His feedings are going really well and he is even starting to get a little tummy! Today he was awake for a long time and it was so funny to see his little eyes scanning around the room. Drew still likes to throw a fit every once in a while but for most of the day he did great. Depending on how he does tonight, tomorrow might be a big day for Drew. They are thinking about trying to take out his breathing tube and placing him on CPAP, which would be a huge step for him. It is exciting to see that he is making progress and growing. We are praying that this attempt will go well and that he will have the strength to stay off of the ventilator. Drew is an inspiration to us all and we love him so much!

Getting Better Every Day

Drew is a strong little guy. He is doing pretty well and we have enjoyed this nice stretch of good days. Drew is doing better with his feedings and he is tolerating some lower settings on his ventilator. He has almost doubled in weight since his birth and he looks really good! Drew's favorite night time story right now is "I Knew You Could" and his favorite songs that Mommy and Daddy sing to him are "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" by John Lennon and "Jesus Once Was a Little Child". It is amazing to see how well he responds when we sing and play with him, but he will also let us know when he is tired! Drew definitely recognizes Mommy's voice and tries to pop his eyes open when he hears her. We are so blessed to have him and very fortunate to spend time with him. His next big step will be to get off of the ventilator and breathe on CPAP. We know it will be challenging for him, but we have to believe that he can do it - even if it takes a few tries:) We love Drew so much!!!

Happy New Year

Drew has a lot to look forward to this year. He is doing really well and we are so grateful for his progress. Today Mommy and Daddy got to hold him! This was Daddy's first time and Mommy's second. Drew loved every second that he got to cuddle with us, which lasted for about an hour and a half. We are praying that he will continue to grow and get stronger so that we can have more opportunities to hold our son. They have started feeding him Mommy's milk again and it doesn't look like he has an infection! We love Drew so so so much, he is so sweet.

Up and Down

Over the past six weeks Drew has gained one pound! He now weighs two pounds four ounces! He had a wonderful christmas and last week started out looking really good. Drew was stable for most of the week and it looked as though Jenn was going to be able to hold him again, but on Friday Drew started showing some signs of a possible infection. He was becoming a little irritable and some of the blood tests weren't looking very good. He was also having a very difficult time digesting any milk, it would just sit in his stomach and not move through the digestive tract. Yesterday he had some more blood drawn and sent to be tested after which he was placed on antibiotics and his feedings were stopped. The tests usually take about two days for results but so far they have not come back positive with any infections. One possibility for Drew's change in behavior could be that he didn't respond well to the smaller doses of hydrocortisone, so they have increased his doses back to where they were previously. His feedings of milk will continue after they can figure out what the problem is with his digestive system - hopefully soon so that he can grow. Drew's lungs have stayed the same for the past week and we are praying that they will show some significant signs of improvement this week. He is so precious and it breaks our hearts to see him struggle through these challenges. We feel very blessed to have so much support and such wonderful nurses and doctors who all care for our son. We love our precious little guy and hopefully we can hold him this week!

Merry Christmas Drew

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Drew is doing well and he is enjoying his first Christmas. Jenn's mom wrote a beautiful poem about our beautiful boy. "An early gift from God above was sent to us for all to love, our precious gift, our baby boy, has brought us love, faith, hope and joy." Merry Christmas to everyone, thank you all for your love we are very blessed and we love our little angel Drew!

Indescribable

Yesterday was a day that we will never forget. Jenn got to hold Drew for the first time! Mommy and Daddy got to sing and talk to Drew for almost 45 minutes while he cuddled on Mommy's chest. The feelings of love that we have for him are so strong and this experience forever changed us. Drew has an extremely powerful presence and we feel very blessed to have him. He is doing well and his lungs might take a while to fully mature but he is stable and oxygenating better every day. We can't wait until we can hold him again, we just love him so much.

Growing Stronger

Drew had a nice peaceful day today. Other than the enema that helped him fill his diaper he didn't have to endure anything traumatic. His lungs are working so hard and trying to get stronger. He is oxygenating and ventilating pretty well, and because of that they were able to slightly lower some of the settings on his ventilator. We cherrish days like these, it is so much fun to play with his legs and hold his hands when he feels good like he did today. We pray that this will continue and hope that his lungs can mature quickly so that we can hold him soon!

First Try To Breathe

Drew had an eventful day today. He started out doing extremely well and his lungs had even showed some pretty good signs of improvement, which gave the doctors some hope that maybe he could breathe without support from the ventilator (breathing machine). Drew has been on the ventilator since the day he was born and the doctors would like for Drew to get off of his ventilator as soon as possible. Drew had also outgrown his breathing tube and the nurse practioner as well as the physician decided that today would be a good opportunity to see if Drew can breathe without the ventilator. They took the breathing tube out of his trachea and placed him on the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) which forces air through small tubes that fit into Drews nostrils. Immediately Drew decided that he didn't really like the change and began having difficulty oxygenating well. They intubated him again with a larger endotracheal tube and placed Drew back on the ventilator. Through all of this Drew was kicking and swinging his arms, he is a little fighter but wasn't quite ready for the big change. It took a little while but Drew returned to his happy self and we spent the rest of the night taking pictures of him in his hat and booties that our nurse brought for him. Drew loves the camera and we love taking lots of pictures of him. We love Drew!!!

Wonderful Day

We Received really good results today from the head ultra sound that they did yesterday! We were really excited to hear that the bleeding in Drew's left ventricle has subsided and that he is slowly breaking down the dead cells without complicating the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. The nurse practitioner explained that the bleeding Drew experienced early on shouldn't have any long term affects on his development. This was great news to us and we know that Drew has been extremely blessed. We are aware that he has many more hurdles and that he is at risk for complications due to his prematurity but we feel that Drew is doing well and we are grateful for his progress. His lungs are still very immature and it is going to require some time and patience for his lungs to improve. Drew has started on Mommy's milk again, they had stopped feeding him due to some motility difficulties but he seems to be digesting better now. We love Drew so so so much, he is our little miracle.

One Month!

Drew is one month old today! We cannot believe how fast this past month has gone by. He now weighs 1 pound 13 ounces and is 13.75 inches long! In his first month of life Drew has had to miraculously overcome many challenges. In these beginning stages Drew has faced more trials than many of us will ever have to confront. Today at church we discussed the humble circumstances under which our Savior was born as well as the incomprehensible agony that he endured during his life. We can be assured that Jesus knows of Drew's difficulties and that somehow his atoning sacrifice has had a large affect on Drew's life. It is such a joy and a privilege to spend time with our little guy. Today was a good day. He is doing well and his lungs are even showing small signs of improvement! We were excited to be able to play with his legs and hold his hands again today. After we changed his diaper and took his temperature Drew decided to wake up and play. He was awake for about an hour and he loved pressing his little feet up against our hands. Drew has brought us so much joy and we are so grateful to have him in our family.

Getting Better

Drew has been doing pretty well for the past two days. Yesterday his only problem aside from his lungs was that he wasn't urinating at all, but the nurse said that today he has been "wizzing like crazy!" We believe that he is overcoming the infections and that could be why he is doing a lot better. Drew looked really peaceful and happy today. We took some good pictures with him yesterday and today. We think he loves getting his picture taken, and we know that he loves it when Mommy and Daddy sing and read stories to him. His lungs seem to be doing a little better and we hope that they will continue to grow and strengthen. He has overcome so many challenges and we know that all of the prayers in his behalf have uplifted him and our family. Thank you so much to everyone for your support and mostly for your constant prayers. Drew is so blessed to have so many wonderful people who care so much about his well being, and we are so blessed to have Drew in our lives. He has taught us so many priceless lessons and has brought our family closer to one another and closer to God.

Hard Day

On Wednesday Drew was doing pretty good. He was oxygenating pretty good and it seemed like he was getting over his infection. Yesterday started out pretty good but Drew had a difficult night. His lungs are not getting better and he was having a hard time oxygenating as well as ventilating out the co2 from his blood. Today was a tough day for Drew. He has a new infection and his lungs are really struggling. We are amazed at his toughness and strength, but he is in need of a lot right now. Drew is on a lot of antibiotics and they had to switch his ventilator (breathing machine) tonight because he was really struggling with the jet and drager ventilators. He is doing ok on his new ventilator the oscillator. We pray that his body and the antibiotics will quickly defeat these infections and that his lungs will do better on this ventilator. Despite these challenges Drew is fighting hard. He needs lots of prayers for his lungs. Thank you everyone for your prayers and love.

Getting Better

Drew had a good day today! He did very well all day and it is apparent that the prayers and medicine are working. One of our nurses explained to us that he had done some tests on Drew that weren't scheduled until six hours later but he felt inspired to do them immediately. It turned out that the prompt treatment Drew received as a result of those tests saved Drew from some serious complications! It was a real testimony of the power of prayer as well as a confirmation that Heavenly Father is in complete control. Drew is starting to feel a lot better, he oxygenated very well today and his sense of humor is back! Drew loves to kick and play, Jenn and I spent 45 minutes tonight playing and talking to him while he was awake. It was so funny to hold our hands up against his little feet while he would push against them like doing leg presses. Each time we would pull our hands out he would start kicking and squirming so we quickly put our hands back in and he would start pushing against them again. He was also sucking pretty hard on his breathing and feeding tubes so we gave him his binky to suck on for a while. It really is the cutest thing to watch his little mouth suck on the binky while he has his hand holding it in place. Time goes by so fast when we are with Drew, we love every second we get to spend with him. We pray that he can have another well deserved good day tomorrow.

Roller Coaster Continues

This was a rough weekend for Drew and for us. Drew confronted a variety of challenges but he is doing a lot better tonight. On Saturday morning Drew wasn't tolerating any of the routine cares and check ups. His lungs were not oxygenating very well, his lungs were not ventilating CO2 very well, he was dehydrated, his kidneys had some difficulties resulting in an increase of total body acid as well as lower urine output, his adrenals were not supplying a sufficient amount of hydrocortisone which plays a complex role in regulating normal body functions, his feedings of milk were stopped and all liquid in his gut was sucked out, and his TPN (nutrition fed intravenously) had to be replaced with sugar water. Drew has to be the toughest little guy in the world to fight through all of these challenges. All of these complications led the doctors to believe that Drew had contracted an infection. They took a few blood samples to be cultured and started him on two types of antibiotics last night. His blood cultures showed this morning that he has a bacterial infection and will need to stay on the antibiotics for around ten days. He is also on hydrocortisone and he is well hydrated again. Drew was put on a different ventilator (breathing machine) last night. The new machine is called the Bunnell life pulse high frequency "jet" ventilator, it works in tandem with the Drager ventilator and Drew is responding really well to his new ventilator. His lungs looked a lot better in the chest x-ray today and he is oxygenating as well as ventilating CO2 extremely well! We were so impressed with his recovery and we are so grateful for his desire to keep fighting. We know that he can feel the support from all of the prayers from his friends and family. We will find out this week if Drew will have any long term complications from the challenges he faced this weekend. We keep praying that Heavenly Father will bless him and help us to trust in his will. Our family continues to grow closer every day and for that we are very thankful for these experiences.

First Binky!

On Wednesday Drew got to suck on his first binky! He absolutely loves it which is a good indicator that he should be able to eat without too much difficulty when the time comes to remove his feeding tube. The binky looks huge in the picture but it is the smallest little binky we have ever seen, it is so cute! Today we had a care conference which is a meeting with the neonatologist, physical therapist, speech therapist, case manager and a few other specialists. The conference was setup to clarify Drews status and progression. We learned a lot about the long road that lies ahead of Drew. His lungs remain the main area of concern as they have not progressed very much in the past week. The main complication in his lungs is a condition called atelectasis and the treatments they've given have not helped much. While his lungs remain the main area of difficulty he is still able to oxygenate well which is very good and we pray that his little lungs will mature quickly. Next week Drew will have another head ultra sound and we should know the full extent of the intra ventricular hemorrhaging (brain bleed) that drew had two weeks ago. The doctor seemed fairly confident that the hemorrhaging that Drew experienced was minor and will not have a long term affect on his development. Overall aside from his lungs Drew seems to be doing well, he is growing and now weighs one pound eleven ounces! He is so sweet and has received so much support from so many wonderful people. We love our little guy.