Look Ma, no ventilator!

Hooray for no more ventilator! At least for now, Cameron is off of that thing. He made AMAZING progress last week, thanks to some new docs and the wonder drug that is Decadron (a steroid). Here's the run down-

Monday- Cameron starts on Decadron, but has a positive culture for group B strep (a nasty infection that can cause meningitis).

Tuesday- Cameron is off the oscillator already and onto a conventional ventilator that allows him to take his own breaths. He's up to full feeds and has lots of poopies. :)

Wednesday- Daddy gets to hold Cameron for the first time! He is also doing so well with his feeds they take him off of all his IV fluids.


Thursday- They did a spinal tap to check for meningitis. It was negative! Yay! So now he just gets some extra antibiotics to kill the Strep.

Friday morning- I got to hold Cameron for a whole hour skin to skin (kangaroo care). Cameron's doc said he was doing so well, that she was ready to take him off the ventilator already! She wanted to wait though because he's going to have a minor surgery on Monday to repair a hernia.


So what does Cameron decide to do Friday night when we show up to visit? He PULLS THE TUBE OUT! Silly goose. I peek in to look at him and he's just kicking his little legs around and I see the tape sticking straight up from his mouth. So they decided just to leave the tube out and put him on a CPAP machine.


He hung out on the CPAP all day yesterday and daddy got to hold him again last night. This morning he was doing so good on the CPAP, they decided to try him on just a nasal cannula. He did pretty well on it for about an hour, but he was being pretty fussy, so they put him back on the CPAP for now. Surgery for his hernia is tomorrow morning, and they expect it to be a quick and easy procedure.

We are so happy and relieved that Cameron is doing so much better this week. All of the nurses and techs are amazed at how well he is doing now.

We'll post more pics to the Picasa web album hopefully by the end of the day Monday.

What a great week

What a great week this has been!

On Wednesday I got to hold Cameron for a whole hour! It was the first time I was able to hold him since he was born. It was so wonderful, but quite an ordeal getting set up since he's still on the oscillator. Not something we can do all the time. View lots of pics here. We had a cloth on his head to protect his eyes from the bright lights.

On Friday we switched to a new group of doctors and Cameron is already making great progress. They think they can get him off that oscillator soon. They have already made great progress with his care in just a day and a half. He's moved way up on his feedings, and they are taking some of his meds away. This is how we felt after changing doctors-

On Saturday we had our baby shower. It was so much fun! Leslie Miller went all out with the planning and decorations. It was all AMAZING. Thanks to Lesli Evans for hosting and being Martha Stewart with all the fabulous food! Thanks also to John for his photog skills and baking skills?!?! And of course, thanks to all our wonderful friends for showing up and making it such a great time. I posted all the great pics John took here. Check out the captions. Haha.

Cameron's First Halloween!

Check out our little Jedi! Cameron's buddy Parker sent him a light saber to protect him and help him feel better. So we thought that Cameron should be a Jedi for Halloween. We made him this cute little brown robe (like Obi Wan's) and hood. The light saber is about the same size as him, but he'll grow into it. The nurses loved his costume and we were joking that he'd play Jedi mind tricks on them. "This is not the baby you are looking for."

The force is with him.

We made the costume out of soft fleece, Cameron loved it and was holding onto it.

These are all the Halloween gifts Cameron received. Thanks to Aunt Lisa and family for the book, the Millers for the pumpkin pail, Grandma Hughes for the bear and the wonderful volunteers at the NICU for making the cute knit cap.

This is our first family portrait!

Happy Birthday Cameron!

Cameron is one month old today! Poor little guy is still on the ventilator, but he is stable with his oxygen and they have been slowly reducing his settings. The PDA valve seems to have finally closed for good, as it hasn't given him any trouble in about a week. He had a bit of swelling this past week, but he is looking much better today.

Cameron is becoming increasingly active every time we visit him, opening his eyes a lot and looking around. Grandma Hughes was out to visit this past weekend and Cameron was excited to meet her. Hope you enjoy these pics!

This is my favorite pic so far! We took this today. I think he's saying, "my birthday wish is to get this tube out!"

It's so cute watching him falling asleep, but trying so hard to keep his eyes open.

Cute little bear hat for the little bear. As you can probably tell, Cameron had quite a bit of swelling last week, but it's better now.

Cameron loves sleeping on his tummy just like mommy.

His diaper is so big it goes almost halfway up his back.

Goodnight....So cute!

That's my boy!

All of our prayers must have worked. Cameron decided he didn't need to have surgery after all. The docs did one last Echo this morning to make sure the PDA was still there, which is standard practice before a surgery. They wouldn't want to go in and try to close something that closed on it's own, after all.

So despite it being a 'moderate' size on Wednesday, as of this morning, it was closed! We are very thankful that he does not have to undergo surgery, at least for now. There is a small chance that the valve could re-open and surgery would be necessary down the road, but for now he doesn't need it.

He is doing really good today, and we're hopeful they will be able to start coming down on his ventilator settings soon. Thanks for all your positive thoughts!

Life in the NICU- Surgery Tomorrow

It's hard to believe that Cameron is already 19 days old today. I have to say, everything we have heard about life in the NICU is right on. Every day is a challenge and it's like being on a roller coaster. He will be doing awesome when we are there in the morning, and when we go back later in the day, he will be having some issues. Or not so great in the morning, but awesome at night.

Mike and I have been spending as much time as possible by his bedside, but he needs a LOT of quiet time and rest, so we try not to bother him too much. They do his 'cares' every 4 hours, and they let us change his diaper, check his temp, etc, while they do any needed blood draws, suction his lungs, etc. We are there at least twice a day for several hours, and he really responds to our voices when we talk to him. He especially seems to respond to Mike and still loves gripping daddy's finger.

Overall, Cameron is doing as well as any other premie his age. He still relies heavily on his ventilator and needs oxygen adjustments frequently. He also has what is called a "PDA" or Patent Ductus Arteriosus. That basically means that a valve in his heart that should have closed at birth is still open. They were hoping it would close on it's own, and at first it seemed like it was going to. It went from small to tiny to possibly closed. Unfortunately, it seemed to re-open to a moderate size on Sunday, and despite treating it with medication to help it close, it still appears to be open. One of the side effects of this PDA, is that it can make his breathing worse. So the big news today is that they are going to do surgery tomorrow to try and clamp the valve closed. The hope is that by correcting the PDA, his breathing will improve and his ventilator needs will go down. Despite this being a fairly 'routine' surgery for premies, we are still nervous about it. PLEASE SAY SOME PRAYERS FOR CAMERON!

On a positive note, he is gaining weight and was able to start getting milk through a feeding tube, although they have temporarily stopped his feedings because of his PDA. He is up to 4 pounds, 2 ounces already!

Hope you enjoy these pics!

One week old. He is still in the 'tiny' diapers.

2 weeks old. Already graduated to the next diaper size!

Grandpa Hughes was in town over the weekend and helped us celebrate Cameron's 2 week birthday.

18 days old. He loves to have his hands up by his face. It's a self-comforting measure.

Next to daddy he looks so tiny!

Welcome Cameron!

Introducing Cameron Michael Hughes. Christmas definitely came early this year, and we feel very blessed. After 10 days of trying to keep Cameron in, he just couldn't wait any longer and decided it was time to meet the world. Born on September 28th, at 27 weeks and 3 days, little Cameron weighed in at 3 pounds, 3 ounces, and measured 15 inches. He's been feisty right from the start, opening his eyes wide and gripping daddy's finger right after birth. He still has a lot of growing to do and will probably be in the NICU until close to his due date, but he is doing great so far. We will try to update this blog on a weekly basis, so we can keep everyone updated on his progress.

Please keep him in your prayers and enjoy the pics below. Also, for those of you that have asked, we are registered at Target and Babies R Us, the links to the registry are on the right hand side of the page.

Love,
Janie, Mike and Cameron

1 day old, he has a grip on mommy's finger and likes to kick daddy.

Minutes after birth, gripping daddy's finger so hard his little finger tips are white.

They gave mommy a chance to hold him, although only for a minute before taking him to the NICU.