Nicu Day 71

Will had a great night. He gained 45 grams and now weighs 3lbs 3oz or 1435 grams. His flow was decreased down to 2 from 3 and he will get a blood gas in the morning. All is going well in Will's life today. We ask that you pray specifically for the new flow of 2 to work for Will and that he will begin to regulate his body temperature so he can be moved into a crib soon. Around 35 weeks gestation, which he will be tomorrow, is when preemies begin to regulate their body temperature. We are ready for him to take the next step to a crib so please pray for that.

Just a fun thing to know: In one month Will has gained 605 grams or 1lb 6oz. How's that for good weight gain for the month of March??

Nicu Day 70

Will had a good night. He is up to 3lbs 1oz or 1390 grams. He's getting bigger!! I'm not with him today because I've not rested like I should have because I'm hardheaded and now I'm feeling it really bad today. I sometimes consider myself superwoman but realized today I'm not and I need to slow down or I'm gonna get worse. It's killing me not to be with him today. But I'm getting updates and pictures from Will's "Aunt" Christy who is an amazing person!!

Will will have a blood gas in the morning. So all in all he is missing his momma and his momma is missing him but he is in good hands today.

Nicu Day 69

Will is 10 weeks old today and still 3lbs or 1360 grams. He lost 10 grams. He measures 14 5/8 inches long and his head is 10 7/8 inches round. He is growing!! So far he has had a good day. The doctor did not make any changes today so all is well.

Nicu Day 68 evening

Will has had a good day. He was lazy at his 2pm bottle feeding time so Dr Wright wrote to feed him depending upon how he would be at feeding time. On Monday Dr Nading discontinued the caffeine and Dr Wright brought it back today. It is just a trial and error thing with Will and caffeine that will happen to see when he is ready to come off the caffeine. He just needed that extra boost again. He will have a blood gas in the morning as well. Dr Wright also discontinued the ibuterol and the breathing treatments because he hasn't been tolerating them well.

All in all Will has had a good day.

Nicu Day 68

I officially have a 3 pounder on my hands. Yes Will weighs 3lbs or 1370 grams!! I'm so proud of my little chuncky one!! They had to turn his flow back up to 3 from 2 yesterday because his respirations got too high. We are not sure if it is from the ibuterol or just the flow change. They did a blood gas this morning and everything looked good.

As far as orders today the doctor has not seen him because it has been crazy busy. I'll update later with more.

Nicu Day 67

Will and momma rested well and both had a good night. Will gained 40 grams and is up to 2lbs 14oz or 1310 grams. His feedings increased from 25ml to 27ml. We are also getting to bottle-feed or nurse him every other feeding instead of once a shift because he is taking it so well and loving it. He is still tolerating his breathing treatments and ibuterol medicine which is great! His head ultrasound had a good report yesterday and we will check again in a couple of weeks. His pressure flow is still on 2 and he is tolerating it very well.

As far as momma, I'm doing good. I've been up and trying to move around a little. I've been in a little pain but I've got meds for that. And of course I had to make a trip to see Will and I got to hold him too which is even more motivation for me to get better and get back to see him. Also Nurse Doug is taking really good care of me even though he complains a little but its all in making life fun!

Thanks again for all your prayers for Will and I. 

Nicu Day 66

Will had a good night. He lost 10 grams and is down to 1270 grams or 2lbs 13oz. He had a ton of poopie diapers yesterday so that is probably the reason for the weight loss. That's okay because he will gain it back.

His feedings increased to 25ml. Chest xray was good so his pressure was dropped from 3 down to 2. He started back his breathing treatments and ibuterol and he tolerated it for about 7 minutes which was better than normal.

As far as momma, I'm doing good. Got out of surgery at about 1:30 and saw Doug at about 2:30. I'm in pain but will tolerate it because I have a sweet baby to get better for. Thanks for all your prayers!!

Will's First Bath

Will had his first bath today and did so good. We did a swaddle bath with him and he loved it! He had 4 women all around him giving him his first bath. He was a very lucky boy today. Thank you Dana for coming in today on your day off to teach us how to give Will his first bath before momma goes into surgery tomorrow.

Momma setting me in my tub

In the tub and ready for a bath

Gotta get my arms clean

My paci is helping me stay calm

Getting dried off and lotioned up

Relaxed, bathed, belly full, and ready for some more good sleep

Nicu Day 65

Will had a great night. He gained 40 grams and weighs 2lbs 13oz or 1280 grams. Hes had a good day. He will have routine blood work, chest xray, and a head ultrasound in the morning. All in all its been a great day. He is getting his first bath today as well since I'm having surgery tomorrow. Yeah! I'll definitely post pictures of that soon.

Nicu Day 64

Will had a good night. They changed his nasal prongs to a bigger set and he is breathing better at around 28% but still on a pressure flow of 3. He gained weight and is up to 2lbs 12oz or 1240 grams. The doctor is taking away his corn oil because he no longer needs it. He is letting us bottle feed him or nurse him and give him 15-25ml which is an increase from 10-20ml. When he gets tube fed the other times he will get 23ml up from 22ml. So all is good in Will's life.

Nicu Day 63

Will had a great night. He weighs 2lbs 11oz or 1220 grams. His chest xray and blood gases were great this morning. He is still nursing well and momma is beginning to get the hang of it. He will have a routine head ultrasound on March 26th.

Doesn't Will look precious in his hat? 

Nicu day 62 and Happy 9 weeks

Will had a good night. He weighs 1190 grams or 2lbs 10oz. Today he is 9 weeks old and still off the ventilator and has been for a week as of 8:40am today. Yeah you go big boy!!! Momma and daddy are so proud of you!

Only orders are to discontinue decadron, chest X-ray in the morning along with labs in the morning.

Instead of Will having a bad Thursday, momma had one instead. I'm having my gallbladder removed on Monday. Joy joy!! So please pray for me and the people that will step into taking care of Will while I'm out recooperating.

Nicu Day 61

Will had a good night. Only gained 20 grams but still at 2lbs 9oz or 1170 grams. The only new orders are for me to nurse him once a shift instead of once a day. He is doing so good with it. It is amazing how well he is responding at such a very young gestational age given the fact that he was only 24 weeks when he was born. It is amazing how Gods creation can do this in such perfect timing. So proud of you Will for doing such a great job. Your mommy and daddy are amazed every day at your progress. You have great faith and are showing us everyday how strong you are. Keep pressing on towards the goal of being home in our arms. So proud!!

Will has his eyes checked this afternoon and the ROP is still not there but there is still prematurity of the vessels which is nothing to worry about. He will check in 2 weeks.

As far as momma, I went for an ultrasound today and I have gallstones. Ugh not fun! I will meet with Dr Dave Gilliland tomorrow to discuss the plans. Will probably have surgery. I need your prayers. As the saying goes, when it rains it pours. Yikes!!!!!

Dear Drew,

It's been 2 months since you have been gone. Your daddy and I miss and think about you every day that we wake up and when we go to sleep. Your brother, Will, is making great progress but we know that you already know that because you are up in Heaven coaching him along the way. I hope you are having a blast in Heaven with Papaw Smothers, Grandmaw Yagel, and Paw Penny and many others that are in Heaven. I hope you are enjoying the beautiful sunshine that we have had here over the last weeks. I wonder how many times Papaw Smothers has taken you to the golf course and how many times you and Grandmaw Yagel have had pizza. I can only imagine what Heaven must be like and what a joy it is to be with your Heavenly Father every single day and see the miracles he is performing here on this earth through your brother, Will.

Your mother's favorite time of the year is Spring and her favorite flower is the tulip and they always bloom in the spring. Well you know how I am with flowers, I have to have lots of them. Well last fall, we replanted about 40 tulip bulbs to see if they would regrow again. Well only one came up this week. It was a beautiful white and red tulip with a yellow center. Your dad and I believe that it was a sign from you and God to let us know that you are in good hands in Heaven. When we look at that tulip every morning as we leave to go see your brother we are reminded of the gift of salvation and what it means to us. Since the tulip is white and red with a yellow center, we are reminded of the red because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the white reminds us of the forgiveness and the purity of our hearts when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and the yellow reminds us that God has prepared a place for us in Heaven. We know that you have experienced that shed blood of Christ and that you have forgiven us for what we put you and your brother through. We do know without a shadow of a doubt that you are in Heaven enjoying the beauty and the majesty of our most Heavenly Father.

Again, there is not a day that goes by that we do not think about you and wonder what you are doing everyday. We know that you are so close with your brother, Will, right now and you are pushing him and encouraging him along the way because you want to see your mother and daddy happy all the time. Drew, we have been happy to see such a great progress Will has made over the last few days. So mommy and daddy can't thank you enough for pushing your brother to new heights. Thanks for doing that for us! We love and miss you terribly but we know we will meet again soon in Heaven and oh what a day that will be.

We love you,
Mommy and Daddy

NICU Day 60

Will had a great night. He still weighs 2lbs 9oz or 1150 grams. I got to nurse him for the first time today since I couldn't yesterday. Let me just say, he did very good for his first time. So proud of you Will. No changes today on Will. They did have to increase his flow from 2 back to 3 yesterday because he had several bradys and apnea drops. But he is doing much better on a flow of 3 today. I think he was a little gassy because he had a HUGE poopie diaper and the night nurse had to go through 4 diapers in order for it all to stop. Speaking of diapers, we finally went us in size. Yeah! We are now in the Pampers Swaddlers for Preemies size small. Yeah! He is getting so big!

"One of Us" by Dave Barnes

Wow, this song describes every emotion and feeling we have about being a family of three. My brother in law just sent me this song and I literally balled my eyes out like a baby. Such a great song for our family of three. Again, I absolutely love a message from a song. If you can, google this song and listen to it because I can guarantee you, you will cry too!

"One of Us"
by: Dave Barnes

Your mom and I, we're counting down
The days until that joyful sound,
When you turn the two of us to three.
It was time I guess, and heaven knew
And decided then to give us you.
God must know some things that we can't see.

And all we are, we are
Who we'll be, we'll be
Love and hurt, doubt and trust
Welcome to being one of us.

Your mother, well, she's strong and steady
Southern drawl and good lord, she's pretty
She's better than anything I dreamed
And honestly, I'm scared to death
I'll breathe at last at your first breath.
Everything you need, I'll try to be.

And all we are, we are
And who we'll be, we'll be
Love and hurt, doubt and trust
Welcome to being one of us.

As for you, we're soon to see
A room of blue or maybe pink
Mama's black or daddy's dirty blonde
Whoever you turn out to be
You're forever part of me
You turned me to a father from a son

All we are, you are
And who we'll be, you'll be
Love and hurt, doubt and trust
Welcome to being one of us                   

Nicu Day 59

Happy 2 months sweet Will! For your birthday today, your momma landed herself a trip to the ER this morning. Therefore she won't get to spend anytime with you today or to try and nurse you today. I'm sending your daddy so enjoy that bonding time together when he gives you a bottle today.

Will is 2lbs 9oz or 1150 grams so congratulations you gained weight!! Today the only new orders are blood work in the morning and a follow-up eye exam on March 26 with Dr Brawner. No changes on pressure settings. He is moving right along.

As far as me I'm resting well at home. I woke up this morning with extreme nausea, vomiting and extreme abdomenal pain and severe back pain. I literally hurt worse than birthing two babies two months ago. We went to the ER about 5am and my flu test was negative. I had no fever and all blood work looked good. The Dr thinks I pulled a back muscle from vomiting so much and my body just hasn't healed from birthing yet. Who knows but I got a shot and feel sooooooooooo much better.

I'm missing my sweet boy today but our sweet sweet social worker has been sending me pictures and updates. Again she goes above and beyond the call of duty for us and I can't thank her enough for this and what she is doing for me today since I can't be with Will.

Special Moments with Will

We had a great week and weekend of special moments with Will from giving him that first bottle, to cuddle time with him, and to be able to introduce him to his great grandparents.

Doug's grandparents have not seen Will at all and plus they have been sick and very feeble too. His grandparents were involved in a car accident on New Years Day on the way to church and were hit by a 18 year old drunk driver. His grandfather broke his jaw and had to have surgery and his grandmother broke a few ribs which had to heal on their own. His grandfather really hasn't fully recovered from the accident. He got upset when everything went down with us because he was soooooo excited about us and the boys coming in May that when everything happened he just gave up on life. We have been praying for a good turn around and for him to be able to come to Tupelo from Arkansas to see Will and for it to be a wake up call for him to get motivated to get better. Well yesterday, he woke up and decided he wanted to come see Will. So Doug's parents loaded up and met them in Memphis and brought them to the hospital to see Will for the first time. Oh what a joyous day and occassion to watch them see their great grandchild for the first time! Such an answered prayer and a blessing for Doug and I to witness since we have been praying for this day for such a long time! We of course had to capture the special occassion and will share pictures with you!

Enjoy our special moments with Will this week.

Nannie, Paw, and Doug admiring Will

4 generations

Lou, Nanie, Paw, Doug, and Will

Daddy and Will

Last skin to skin time with Will on the ventilator!

Mommy and Will

Last skin to skin time with Will on the ventilator

Mommy and Will

First skin to skin time with Will off the ventilator

Daddy and Will

First skin to skin time with Will off the ventilator

Daddy changing Will's diaper for the FIRST time

Yes, he is so proud of his accomplishment.

I got video and pictures.

I got LOTS of documentation on this FIRST for daddy

Daddy taking Will's temperature for the FIRST time

Hmm, I'm soooooo cute! I smile a lot at my mommy too!

Sweet kisses from my momma!

Will's First Bottle Feeding

Saturday, March 17th Will had his FIRST bottle feeding. We are only allowed to bottle feed him once a shift (day and night shift) and we get to pick the time and his other feedings he will get fed by his feeding tube. So yesterday I walked in his room to be with him and begin our skin to skin time and was immediately told by his nurse "well the doctor wrote the order to begin bottle feeding once a shift. Would you like to do that instead of skin to skin?" Well I think you know what my answer was after I caught my breathe and picked my jaw up off the floor. So I immediately texted Doug (who was outside doing yard work and mowing the grass) and told him that I was going to bottle feed Will at 2pm and to see if he wanted to join us for that FIRST feeding. Doug immediately said yes (it was 1pm when I texted him) and within 45 minutes Doug arrived at the hospital for that first feeding. Given that we live about 20 minutes from the hospital, I've never seen Doug move that fast for anything. But I guess when it comes to your son, you will immediately drop everything you are doing and will do anything to be there for those FIRST moments.

So Will took his first bottle like a champ. They warned us at the beginnning that most babies only take less than 5mls the first try. Well not our son, Will. He took 15mls the FIRST time and got mad because he wanted some more. The problem is he gets mad, raises his heartrate, wants more milk, and then falls asleep as we try to give him more. So later that night we gave him another bottle at 8pm and he took 18mls that time. He is LOVING his bottle. He gets really fussy about 15 minutes before his feedings and then gets so relaxed when the bottle hits his mouth. I have a feeling I might have an eater on my hands.

So we are definately enjoyed giving Will his first bottle. I will begin nursing him tomorrow at my scheduled feeding time and Doug will give him a bottle tomorrow. I'm excited about the bonding time I will be able to spend with Will tomorrow and hopefully he will nurse well.

Now for an overload of pictures. We took almost 200 pictures and no I am not going to post them all. Just a snippet of such a special moment with Will yesterday when he had his first bottle. Enjoy!

Taking the bottle for the first time and loving it

Taking the bottle sure makes him sleepy

Momma bottle feeding Will for the first time

Daddy got to bottle feed Will and they had a great bonding time

Daddy give me my bottle back. I'm hungry!

Too much milk makes me slobber

Full belly

And he's out like a light! Full belly = sleepy baby!

NICU Day 59

Wow, a lot has happened over the weekend in Will's sweet life. He still weighs 1100 grams or 2lbs 7oz. We began bottle feeding him yesterday but only is taking it once a shift (day and night) and the other times he is getting his feeding through his tube. They are slowing introducing that to him. Yes, we were able to bottle feed him and he took it well. I'll share that in another post with LOTS of pictures!

Will's air flow has been turned down to 2 today from 2.5 yesterday. I got the go ahead to nurse him tomorrow during one of his feedings so I am soooooooooooooooooooooo excited about that!! I'm looking forward to such a great bonding time with Will tomorrow. **DISCLAIMER: Doug doesn't like the word "breastfeeding" so we will refer to it now as nursing**

I'm just in awe by Will's progress so far. This is exactly what we have been praying for and God has been so gracious to answer our prayers and has granted us what we have asked of him. Dr Nading said we are not out of the woods yet but for us and our friends to keep praying because it is working. We were at church today and I heard this song and immediately thought of how I feel about how amazing our God has been to us and how in awe we have been of his great power over of our son, Will. I love the message a song has and how it can touch you in the right ways.

I Stand in Awe of You

You are beautiful beyond description
Too marvelous for words
Too wonderful of comprehension
Like nothing ever seen or heard
Who can grasp you infinite wisdom
Who can fathom the depth of your love
You are beautiful beyond description
Majesty enthroned above

And I stand, I stand in awe of you
I stand, I stand in awe of you
Holy God to whom all praise is due
I stand in awe of you.

Ncu Day 58

First of all, THANK YOU all so much for your prayers. As of 48 hours Will is still OFF the ventilator and has been breathing on about 25-30% oxygen which we breathe room air at 21%. We talked to some respiratory therapists yesterday and they said "in their opinion" and according to his progress then Will is on the right track to going home in about 6-8 weeks. Can you believe that in 6-8 weeks we might possibly have Will home?????? OMG!!!! Pinch me because its a dream come true to hear that. Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! But we have got to stay completely off the ventilator too so please keep praying.

We are just in complete shock of Will 's progress off the ventilator so far. We are literally waiting on something to cause a set back and take us down from this emotional high. Yes I know we need not set our selves up like that but that is just part of it and I don't know why. We know for sure that HE is in control but we are just so amazed by Will's progress and that we should NEVER doubt HIS plan.

Will had a great night. He did loose about 10 grams so he is 1100 grams or 2lbs 7oz still. But that is okay! We will take it. As far as today goes his feedings have been increased to 22ml from 20ml. They turned his pressures down to 2.5 liters of flow from 3 liters of flow yesterday. This is a GREAT thing because .5 liters of flow is the lowest they can go. So we are making progress and pinching ourselves everyday to make sure this is not a dream!!

Psalms 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

NICU Day 57

Will has survived 24 hours from being off the ventilator. YIPEE! He has been doing GREAT that we couldn't be more happier than we are right now. Dr Nading is sooooooo optimistic and even suggested me trying to bottle feed or breast feed him in the next week or so. Oh my gosh, I about fainted when he said that! Someone, pinch us because we are definately in a dream! I'm just in pure shock at how great he is doing. I called about every 2 hours last night checking on him and everytime his nurse Lisa said he was on about 24-28% oxygen I about fainted.

So you wanna know how great Will is doing? Well he had a great night last night and GAINED weight! He is back up to 1110 grams or 2lbs 7oz . He stayed on about 24-28% oxygen last night. His flow has been decreased from 4 liters of flow to 3 liters of flow and he is on about 24% oxygen and keeping his oxygen saturation levels between 89-95 AND holding has been resumed! He is resting peacefully!

Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, Rejoice!

Will's Photo Shoot

Of course we had to have a photo shoot of our precious Will off the ventilator. He has had an incredible day. I think Thursdays are turning around for us! He has been able to maintain his oxygen level at about 34-37%. He has been resting well and sleeping soundly. We were able to hold him better while he has been off the ventilator but he didn't tolerate it very much after we put him back. He had a couple of apnea spells so we decided to not hold him until he gets more comfortable with us while he is off the ventilator. He went into a DEEP sleep and we do not want that to happen again where he decides not to breathe. Our plan is to see where we stand on Monday and then go from there.

Today the Lord has heard our prayers and has blessed us with an incredible day. We were praying over Will tonight like we always do, and the monitors started dinging 100% and we believe it was the Lord's way of telling us "I got this." Isn't it amazing how the Lord can speak to you in different ways?

Anyways, enjoy a few pictures of the little photo session we had with Will this afternoon. Many thanks to his FABULOUS nurse Jessica and our WONDERFUL social worker Christy for helping us get some of the cutest pictures. Enjoy!

Mommy and Will time.

Unfortunately, daddy didn't get his time tonight.

Hello guys!

Am I cute or what?

I decided to give my momma a funny face since they were taking so many pictures of me

He can never get enough kisses from his mommy

I cannot think of a more fitting verse than Mark 11:24 to close out this great day.

Mark 11:24

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

Nicu Day 56 & Happy 8 weeks old

My baby is 8 weeks old? Are you kidding me? We've been in the Nicu for 8 weeks. Wow!!!! Time has just flown by and I cannot believe it. Happy 8 weeks old big boy!!

Will had a not so good night with weight. Lets just say we lost a few grams, like 50 grams to be exact. Yes Will is back down to 2lbs 6oz or 1070 grams. He has had a TON of peepee and poopie diapers so the nurses guess that he has been retaining fluids but they can't really explain his "blowouts" as they call them. As in "blowouts" lets just say that they have had to change his entire bed when that happens. Well at least we know Will's bowel movements are functioning well. Haha!!

Will came off the ventilator at 8:40am and Dr. Nading is very optimistic about this being the last time. We are trying to stay on a normal level and not get too excited about this time. We know its all in God's hands.

I think we have the cutest baby in the world! We may be a little biased though!