August 7, 2009 Homecoming

Hilton is finally home! We are so excited to have our little one with us. He is such a good baby and only cries when he is hungry. Thank you everyone for all of your prayers and continue to pray for Hilton as he still has reflux and high blood pressure issues. He is truly a blessing and we are so glad to have him here.

August 3, 2009

We have had a wonderful day today with Hilton. He is now on full bottle feeds and the tube has been removed from his nose. He is weighing in at 8lbs. 3 ounces. His diaper rash has improved significantly. He's doing so well. We just pray that he doesn't have anymore setbacks and he will be home soon!

July 26, 2009

Hilton has been doing well. He is now taking 4 bottles per day thickened with rice cereal. So far he has been tolerating them well. He does have a severe diaper rash that has been causing him some discomfort and he also has an anal fissure, which is causing him to have some blood in his bowel movements. He weighed 8 pounds tonight. We just hope he will be home soon.

July 21, 2009

Hilton had his swallow study done yesterday morning and he did pass the study. However, he still will require his feeds to be thickened. The doctors have decided to use rice cereal to thicken his feeds. He took his first bottle yesterday afternoon. He wasn't able to take it all, but they say it will be a slow path for him. He will just be getting one bottle per day at this time. We are hopeful that he will start taking a full bottle, but we know it will be a slow process.

July 18, 2009

It has been a long time since I have posted so I thought I would give an update. Hilton is doing well. He is on full feeds through his tube which is 60 mls every 3 hours. He has gotten the IV line out of his head and now weighs 7 lbs 13 ounces. He will have a swallow study done on Monday morning to determine if he can take regular milk by bottle or if he will need it to be thickened. We are so hoping his swallow has improved and he can take regular feeds. He looks wonderful and has been so happy lately.

July 8, 2009

Hilton has been given food again today. He is just getting a small amount every 4 hours. We just have to pray that he will be able to tolerate food this time. The doctors believe his stomach just needed more time to heal.

July 6, 2009

Hilton was given food on Saturday, but he did not tolerate it well. He got sick so they have stopped feeds for now. They think his stomach just wasn't ready yet. They will probably attempt to feed him again on Wednesday. He is in no pain anymore. He looks great and is just very hungry.

July 1, 2009

Hilton has had a trying day in regards to pain. He is being given morphine every four hours, but he just can't seem to rest. He is constantly squirming around. It is so hard to see him in pain, but we know it will be better in a couple of days. Otherwise, all is well with him. We just have to wait for him to heal.

June 30, 2009

Hilton has made it through his surgery successfully. He had a stricture that was about an inch long removed from his small intestine. He also had his hernia repaired. It will be several days before he can begin taking food again. His only difficulty since surgery has been pain control. He was given an epidural prior to surgery which should have lasted 16 to 18 hours. However, about an hour after he returned to the NICU he began experiencing pain. They are giving him morphine for the pain which by this evening it seems to finally be giving him some relief. It is so hard to see him in such pain. Please pray that his pain will be soothed and he will heal quickly.

June 29, 2009

Hilton will have his surgery tomorrow morning at 9:30. The procedure should take a couple of hours and they will repair his hernia at the same time they remove the stricture. They are giving him some blood tonight so that his hematocrit level will be high for the surgery tomorrow. Please pray for Hilton to have a swift recovery. I will post an update tomorrow after the surgery is complete.

June 22, 2009

Hilton had his upper GI done today and they found a stricture in his small intestine, which means he will need to have surgery to have it removed. The doctors will have to wait until next Tuesday to do the surgery because it has to be 30 days from the previous surgery because they will be using the same incision. He will also have a hernia repaired while they are removing the stricture. They believe this is why he has been having problems tolerating his food. We hope and pray that this will be removed and Hilton will get to come home this time for good, but it will be a little longer than we expected.

June 17, 2009

Hilton had his stricture study today and he did not have any strictures in his large intestines, which is good news. However, he will have to have another test done Friday (Upper GIs) to determine if he has any strictures in his small intestines. Please pray that Hilton's tests go well on Friday.

June 16, 2009

Hilton has had trouble taking his feeds today and is having a stricture study done tomorrow. He could have a stricture or narrowing of the bowel as a result of the infection he had. If they find a stricture it will have to be removed surgically. We hope that he will not have a stricture, but if he does we hope his surgery will go smoothly. Please pray for Hilton.

June 15, 2009

Hilton had a little trouble with his feed this morning and they have moved him into a bed with a slight elevation and are giving him his feeds on a pump at a slower pace. He seems to do be doing well with this so far. We are keeping our fingers crossed. Otherwise, he is doing great.

June 11, 2009

Hilton is now taking 10 mls of food every three hours and is tolerating it well. Everything appears to be normal at this point. His feeds will be increased everyday as long as he continues to tolerate it well. Please pray that we won't have anymore setbacks.

June 7, 2009

Hilton is doing well today, but very hungry. He has been fussy quite a bit today because he is starving and can't eat yet. We hope they will be able to start feeding him on Wednesday, if all continues to go well.

June 6, 2009

Hilton is doing great. He is off of the oxygen and has only 5 more days until feedings will be started back. He is very hungry though and fusses quite often. He has done better than we could have ever hoped for. We hope he will be home in a couple of weeks.

June 2,2009

Hilton has done well today. He was just moved back into the main unit of the NICU this afternoon,which means he has stabilized. His ventilator settings have been reduced and he is tolerating it well. They hope to wean him off of the ventilator sometime tomorrow. All of his vital signs and blood gasses have been good. He actually woke up today for about 45 minutes and moved his arms and legs around and just looked at me and listened to me talk to him. He looked so sweet. His incision looks good and he doesn't seem to be in any pain. We are so thankful for a good day and pray for an even better one tomorrow.

June 1,2009

For those of you who did not know, Hilton was readmitted to Children's Hospital on this past Friday. It appears that he had a sudden twist in his bowels which caused a bacterial infection to occur in his intestines. He had exploratory surgery of his bowel done on Friday. The surgeons left his bowel out to allow the swelling to subside in his abdomen. He had surgery this morning in the hopes of putting all of the bowel back in and also that parts of the bowel would not have to be removed due to death of the tissue due to the infection. Hilton came through the surgery very well. None of the bowel was dead and had to be removed and they were able to close his abdomen. He is back in the NICU and all of his initial lab tests and blood gasses look good. Please everyone pray for Hilton and our family. This has been a really rough road for us and we are all praying that Hilton will do well and we can return home as soon as possible. Hilton is such a strong little boy and we are so proud to call him our son.

May 27, 2009

We are going to the hospital at 5:00 this evening to begin our overnight stay with Hilton. He passed his car seat test last night so he is ready to go home! We should all be home together tomorrow night. We can't wait!

May 26, 2009

We found out today that we will be staying the night at the hospital tomorrow night with Hilton. He should be coming home sometime on Thursday. He never had an infection and he has been taken off of antibiotics today. He now weighs 4lbs 14ozs. We are so proud of him and so excited that he will finally be coming home!

May 24, 2009 Update

Hilton is showing no signs of an infection at this point. The cultures still have two more days to grow, but he is looking good. He has gotten all of his blood and he is no longer getting IV fluids. He is back to eating again and he is doing great without oxygen. The doctor told me tonight that he still thinks Hilton is on target for going home by Friday. Everyone just pray no infection shows up in the cultures.

May 24, 2009

Hilton has had a small setback last night. He began having a low temperature yesterday afternoon and he was not warming back up. The doctors did lab work and found out he was anemic and needed blood. They also decided to put him back on a warmer to regulate his body temperature. In babies, a low temperature could be an initial sign of infection, so they took a blood, urine and spinal fluid sample to be tested for infection. These samples will be looked at over the next three days for the growth of any cultures. At 12 hours, there is no infection noted which is a very good sign. He has been given blood and is being given antibiotics as a precaution. He has perked up considerably after the blood was started. Everyone please pray that they will find no infection and the blood is all he needed. In other news, he was able to get off of his oxygen successfully and all of his vitals are perfect.

May 21, 2009

Hilton got his feeding tube removed today. He is taking all of his feeds by bottle. He has also gone to the lowest oxygen setting. We are still hoping he will get off of oxygen before he goes home next week. Everything is going well.

May 19, 2009

Hilton now weighs 4 lbs. 6 ounces. He is getting to be a big boy. He is taking six bottles a day now. I just fed him at 2:00 and he took his bottle in five minutes. I also spoke to the doctor today and he told me Hilton should be coming home in the next 5-7 days. However, he may have to come home on oxygen which is something we don't want to happen. Please pray that Hilton can be weaned off of his oxygen successfully in the next few days. Otherwise, everything is going great.

May 17, 2009

Hilton has gone up to four bottles per day. He is doing so well with his feeds. He weighs 4lbs 3 ounces. All progress!

May 15, 2009

Hilton is continuing to do well. He is taking both of his bottles without any problems. He now weighs 4lbs 2 ounces and is getting bigger everyday. He has moved into a bassinet and is much more alert and fun to play with. He is progressing closer to coming home everyday.

May 12, 2009

Hilton is having a good day today. He took all of his bottle at 11:00 and had no drops in oxygenation or heart rate. We will feed again at 8:00 tonight. He is staying steady with his weight today. Everything else is going great.

May 11, 2009

Hilton had his swallow study this morning. After the study, the doctors determined that Hilton is aspirating his milk and will require it to be thickened. We did his first thickened bottle at 2:00 today and he did very well with it. He just has to get the hang of it and start taking in his entire bottle. He will begin taking two bottles a day and see how he does. Otherwise, everything else is going well.

May 10, 2009

Hilton is having some trouble with taking his feedings by bottle and breast. The doctors have decided to do a swallow study tomorrow which will tell us whether he needs to have his milk thickened before he can take it. He is still receiving his feedings by tube and now weighs 3 lbs 13 ounces. I got to give him his first real bath last night and he loved it!

May 7, 2009

Hilton is having a little trouble with reflux today. He has been spitting up quite often which causes his pulse oxygenation to drop. He has been started on medication for the reflux this morning. This is a common problem in preemies. He is doing well otherwise. Please pray that his reflux medication will work and his oxygenation will get back to normal. He did gain another ounce today which we are very proud of.

May 5, 2009

We got to give Hilton his first bottle this morning at 5 am. He wasn't too interested in it. He just wanted to sleep. He has moved to a NICU step down unit for babies who are preparing for going home. We still don't know exactly when that will be, but he is improving everyday.

May 4, 2009

Hilton now weighs in at 3 lbs 9 ounces. He is growing everyday. He will be getting his first bottle feeding tonight. He also got another increase in the amount of feedings he is getting a day to 30 ml per feeding. He is progressing well. His Mammaw and Martha Sue came to visit him today.

May 3, 2009

Hilton had visitors today. Uncle Michael, Aunt Christy, his cousin Jenna and her boyfried Josh. Michael and Christy held him today. He has increased his feedings again to 26 mls and is now 3 lbs. 7 ozs. I got to put his first outfit on him last night. He looks so cute. Another good day! We will be trying feeding again tonight at 8:00. He also got his final line out of his foot last night!

May 2, 2009

Hilton is continuing to do well with breastfeeding. We are only doing it once a day, but we will hopefully up that to twice soon. He is getting extra calories added to the breastmilk he is being fed through his feeding tube to help him gain more weight quickly. His feeding tube has been moved from his mouth to his nose to help him with feedings. He will probably get his IV line out of his foot, which is our last line out in the next couple of days. Continue to pray for his progress.

April 29, 2009

We got to try breastfeeding today for the first time and he is a little pro! They were so surprised at how quick he caught on at his age. We are going to try again tonight. I am so happy. He is having another wonderful day today with only progress. My grandfather was released from the hospital yesterday and will have his surgery on May 21st at Baptist Medical Center.

April 29, 2009

Hilton is having another good day. I talked to the doctor today who told me that he is doing extremely well, much better than they would expect for his age. We are going to try breastfeeding on Friday and see how he does. He is still on a small amount of oxygen. We are so proud of his progress. My grandfather also got released from the hospital today and will probably have his surgery in the next week or two.

April 28, 2009

Hilton increased his feeds again today. He now weighs 3 lbs. 5 ounces! We are so proud. They are working on slowly weaning him off of his oxygen over the next week. He has had another good day. We could not be happier with his progress. My grandfather is also improving. He should be out of the hospital in the next couple of days. He will not be able to have his surgery at this time because of his pancreatitis. Please continue to pray for our family. God has been good to us!

April 27, 2009

Today, Hilton is taking in 19 mls of milk 8 times a day. He has been removed from IV fluids. Last night, I got to do kangaroo care with him, which is where he gets to lay skin to skin on my chest. He was so happy. Tony said he kept smiling while I was holding him. It is so exciting how well he is progressing. We are so happy! My grandfather is still in the Heart Hospital and has pancreatitis. He is not going to be able to have his surgery on Tuesday. If he can't have the surgery by this Friday. He will not be able to get it done in Arkansas. The surgeon is leaving Little Rock on Friday. Please continue to pray for us.

April 25, 2009

Hilton is having another good day. His jaundice light is being removed today and he has been moved to an isolette bed. He is increasing his feeding intake to 13 ml from 10 ml yesterday and they are decreasing his IV fluids. His oxygen level is also being decreased from 1.5ml to 1.0 ml today.We got to spend some time with him last night with his eyes open. He just kept looking at our faces and listening to us talk to him. It was so sweet! He is making such huge improvements everyday. We did have a rough night on another front, though. My grandfather was life flighted from Magnolia hospital last night for a suspected heart attack. It does appear that he did not have a heart attack, but likely has a pulmonary embolism. He is at the Heart Hospital and they are doing tests on him this morning to make a definitive diagnosis. He is scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday at Baptist for an aneurysm in his brain. Please keep him in your prayers as well. We are so thankful for Hilton's progress and to all of you for all of your prayers. Without them, he may not being doing as well as he is.

April 24, 2009

Hilton got off of the ventilator this morning at 10:00. He is done exceptionally well since then. He has taken all of his feedings well and is doing great on just oxygen. I got to change his diaper, weigh him, take his temperature and most importantly hold him for the first time since he was born two weeks ago! He is the sweetest little baby. He just looked into my eyes like he knew exactly who I was. We have had such a wonderful day today and just pray for more good days to come!

April 23, 2009

Hilton had a very good day yesterday. He is taking feedings every three hours and has tolerated all of them. His blood gas looks good, as well as his chest x-ray this morning. His billirubin is down, which means he should get out from under the phototherapy light sometime today. We are also hopeful that the doctors will decide to try to remove him from the ventilator today. They progressively lowered his settings yesterday and he has tolerated this extremely well. The doctors will make rounds between 10 and 2 to decide whether to remove him today. Please pray that he will successfully make it off the vent today and continue to improve!