We found out today that Duncan has another infection in his lungs. They have him on medicine to help clear it up. It was so sad seeing him today, he just wasn't himself. I guess that is natural because I'm not myself when I'm sick either, but it is just harder to see it on my baby. He was so weak looking and even Brooke said he wasn't himself today. He usually likes to "help" by grabbing tubes and squirming around, but he didn't do that today. She said she was suctioning a lot of mucus out of his mouth as well. Justin and his dad gave him a blessing tonight.

Please keep him in your prayers. We knew that he would have set backs, I just hope this is the extent of them. Little steps each day. He will be on antibiotics for the next 7 days and hopefully his infection will clear up. This will probably delay the removal of his tube since he needs to keep his energy to fight off the infection.

I promise I will take pictures tomorrow.

Good advice

Thank you all for the great advice on the lactation problem. I am going to try the Mother's Milk Tea. I was also told about the oatmeal and will eat that each day-I love oatmeal so it won't be a problem. I am going to pump more frequently and through the night and I am also going to call the Le Leche League. I don't think I will try the beer unless I am absolutely desperate and talk to my Bishop first :) I knew I would get good advice if I put it on here.

Quick update

I just wanted to give a quick update. Duncan did have to have the breathing tube put back in early this morning. He was just working too hard to breath and it was exhausting him. He is doing good now with the tube in and they are hopeful that they can take it out either later this week or early next week. He is 32 almost 33 weeks old. Although most babies have their tubes taken out about this time, Duncan's lungs just need a little bit more time to develop. We know he can do it, he just needs to be able to do it without working so hard. Please keep him in your prayers. He is a fighter and a very strong baby-to me he acts like he is done with the hospital, but he will be there until late August.

On another note- I am really struggling now with producing breast milk. I tried to take the herb Fenugreek, but I took it once and made me really sick so my Dr. told me not to take it. They told me to not spend so much time at the hospital this week and see if that helps-that's just really hard for me to not be there. So if anyone has any suggestions I wouldn't mind hearing them.

No more Tube

Justin called me today and said that Duncan had his breathing tube taken out. I was really shocked, they didn't think that they would be able to take it out until the end of the week. When I got to the hospital he was doing pretty good, but then he started to just have a hard time and his oxygen level just kept going up and down. His nurse Brooke, said he was just too tired from all the work it took him to breath. Before we left tonight they put a different nose tube on him. They switched him to a cpap (i think thats what it is called) which will allow more pressure for his lungs and make it so he doesn't have to work so hard. I personally think they took the tube out too soon. I asked Brooke what made them decide to take it out and she said she asked Rusty, the NP (nurse practitioner) to take it out and they did. His settings were really low and his blood gases were coming back really good and they thought he was ready. I think that they should have waited at least another few days. He is only 31 weeks old. The one good thing was that we finally got to see his whole face. This is the first time we have been able to see this much of his face. I told Justin that he has his lips, he was happy to finally have something of his be on Duncan. They may have to put the tube down this trachea again, it all depends on how hard he is having to work to breath-they want him to conserve energy, not use it up. We shall see.

A sweet day

They are letting us hold Duncan more often now. It is really exciting. His nurse today Scott (my other favorite nurse) said that he could be off this vent by the end of the week, it all depends on how he does. So far he has been doing really great. We keep praying that it will continue that way.

Moving along

If you look closely you can see Duncan sucking on his fingers and he has his finger in his ear-very cute. See his arms? No more lines in them-makes him very happy.

Trying to get him with his eyes open

Too cool-they found him a hat to wear while we hold him so he doesn't get cold too fast, it is so cute and it has a puff ball on the top.

Duncan continues to do very well. He is 31 almost 32 weeks old. He is gaining weight steadily. He is no longer on any sedation therefore he is able to move more so he is burning calories. Also they are weening him off the vent so he is having to work more to breath. This means that his weight will go up and down for a little while. They said that is normal as long as he doesn't drop too much weight. He continues to stool regularly, and that is good. He knows when it is time to eat because he gets really grouchy and moves a lot when he is hungry-wonder where he gets that from. He continues to make great progress and they are saying in the next two weeks they should be able to have him off the vent. Before we know it he will be moved to the intermediate room which is where babies go when they are getting ready to go home.

Also today my mom and dad called from Alaska. They are on train tour to Denali National Park. They said it is really beautiful and my mom was so excited. When they went out of their hotel this morning there was a family of moose in a grassy area near the parking lot. She loves moose and said they were so beautiful. They are in Denali park and will be there until Monday and then Tuesday they will be in Anchorage meeting with their cruise tour group for site seeing and then again on Wednesday and then that evening they will board the ship. I don't know why, but I have really wanted my parents to take this trip for a couple of years. I'm really glad they went. I know my mom was very apprehensive about going, but my sister and I ensured her that they needed to go, and besides it's just a plane ride away if they need to get back.

Speaking of Alaska, tonight Justin and I went to see The Proposal and it was great!! I highly recommend it. I love a movie that makes me laugh and I laughed a lot at this one.

Chunky Monkey

3lbs. 1oz.-That is how much Duncan weighs now!!! We are so excited. It is so great that he is gaining weight because that means that his body and organs will grow and develop. Other good news is that his pic line was taken out today because he is tolerating his full feeds and doesn't need the line anymore (if you look at his arm at the top of the picture, that is the pic line- it was giving him his lipids). He is just doing really great. His Dr. is back and she was so thrilled with how he is doing. She told me she almost fainted when she saw him, she said he looks like a totally different baby. When she read his vision test results she smiled and gave me a thumbs up and said,"This is so good." So now the only lines he has in him are his feeding tube and his breathing tube. They are in the weening process on the vent. It will be a couple of weeks more on this vent and then hopefully onto a nasal vent. It will be so weird and exciting to hear his voice. They are going to give him caffeine to help stimulate the part of the brain that registers that he needs to breath on his own. When babies are extreme preemies they don't have this ability and they have to get this to help so he doesn't get apnea. He is watched very carefully and I have been really happy with most of his nurses. It is really nice when his has the same nurse several days at a time. I really like his day nurse Brooke and his night nurse Lara. They are really great and they both asked for him as their primary-and it is really nice to have that consistency.

I got to hold him again today for about 5 minutes. I was changing him today and he had a poopy diaper, as I was changing him I lifted his legs and as I did he pooped more! Luckily it didn't get on my hand because it was stinky. So he did get it on his blanket that you see in the picture and she had to change that blanket out. As she changed it out she let me hold him and it was really nice. I can't wait to hold him without the breathing tubes, it kind of limits how long and how well you can hold him.

Also, if you look at the picture of my dad and then at Duncan they have the same chin. I think he looks like his Papa. Justin is so surprised at how much Duncan DOESN'T look like him. I am a little too, because I really thought he was going to look just like him. He is total opposite-he looks like me. When Duncan gets the tape off his face we will take a picture and put a baby picture of both me and Justin on here and see what everyone else thinks.