Could I Be Any Cuter?!

Solomon's glasses are in the shop due to a change in prescription.  He's wearing an eye patch every day for two hours.  He is starting to eat some baby food now and getting bigger and stronger every day.  

Check This Out

Solomon has been doing great!  He is over 15 pounds, he's been off Oxygen for a month, and he has some cool new glasses.  He will be 9 months old next week!  Enjoy the pics!

Post Op

Solomon had surgery yesterday to repair a hernia he has had since birth.  Everything went really well and he is feeling fine today.  Over the last two weeks, he has been going long stretches of time (3 days!) without oxygen! 

Here he is just waking up from surgery yesterday: 

7 Months

Solomon is 7 months old today and he weighs 13 pounds!
(Still on Oxygen, just giving those cheeks a break.)

No Place Like Home

Solomon is back home after two nights in the hospital.  He still has a pretty bad cough but his oxygen levels are much better.  Last night he was all smiles; he is definitely glad to be home!

Home Sweet Home Away From Home

Solomon was missing all his hospital buddies so decided to pay them an overnight (hopefully one) visit.  He has had a cough all week that he just couldn't shake and ended up a wee bit dehydrated.  He is getting some fluids via an IV in his hand and hopefully will be back to his ol' self soon.

Prayers for a peaceful night!  

Six Months Old

Solomon is doing great!  He's over 12 pounds now and is slowly weaning off his oxygen.  Thanks for all the kind words and support everyone!

One Month Home

Solomon has enjoyed his first month in his own home with his family.  He had a lot of follow up appointments and nurse visits and he's doing really well.  He is weighing in today at 11 lb 7 oz.

Happy Independence Day!

Homecoming!

Solomon successfully made it home yesterday.  He is doing great and weighed in today at 10 pounds exactly.

Solomon is under house arrest for the time being with a pass for lots and lots of doctor visits.  We welcome visitors (for now, until RSV/flu season) as long as you are germ free.  Please no smoking or heavy perfumes and make sure to wash your hands upon arrival.  Call or text me if you want to stop by.  (marciewashere@gmail.com for those who don't have my number)

Jared and I would like to have a dedication ceremony for our little son but it most likely won't be possible until next summer.  If you're interested in that sorta thing, shoot me an email and I'll make sure to send you an invite.

Thanks to everyone that supported our family during this time.  A special thanks to my parents and Jared's parents for taking care of Sam and Lucy.  Infinite gratitude to Akron Children's Hospital for taking such good care of us!

Now I hear a baby crying.... gotta go :)  

One More Day

Solomon is having his eye exam today and then he is getting discharged tomorrow! Wish us luck :)

Homeward Bound

Solomon is planning his escape!  He is coming home as soon as Monday next week.  We are checking off items on his to do list and packing our bags.  When I'm not holding a baby I am getting things ready at home so I won't have much time for blog updates in the next few days.  Thank you again to you, our amazing support system, for continuous love and prayers for our Solomon :)

He's a Natural

Solomon is doing great this week.  He is weaning off of some medications.  They plan to remove his breathing tube later this week.  The past few days have been busy breastfeeding.  He had no trouble figuring that one out.  He did so good that they started giving him bottles too.  He is checking off things on his list and moving right along.  Thanks for checking in on us.  I'm sorry the blog posts are getting scarce but I'm spending lots of time with a baby instead :)

Samson says, "Solomon is doing really really good."

4 Months

Solomon is 4 months old today!  He is weighing in at 9 pounds.  He is on a small amount of oxygen right now and he is working on learning how to drink milk.  He is in the homestretch now and will be given his walking papers pretty soon.

Something to Blog About

Solomon is currently off all breathing support.  He is giving it a try going all on his own.  He is doing well and we're hoping he can manage to continue without the support.  Way to go Solomon!

Night Owl

I'm up late with this night owl.  He sleeps all day and then the sun sets and he's wide awake!

He is still hanging out on 4 LPM on his VapoTherm.  He had some low heart rates and low blood oxygen levels throughout the night.  The medical team thinks these little episodes are the result of acid reflux and he's been having trouble moving his bowels.  So they made some changes to his food.

Bad Blogger

Solomon is doing well.  He is still on VapoTherm at 4 LPM so no changes to that in a while.  He is taking his good ol' time getting off the juice.  He had his eye exam yesterday and his ROP is regressing nicely.  He is just shy of 8 and a half pounds today.

I've been slacking when it comes to blog updates so please accept this adorable video as compensation for a few missing posts.  Enjoy!

Butter Ball

Solomon weighs 8 pounds!  He's already getting too big for his newborn clothes.  He passed his hearing screening and his ROP is looking better. 

Change of Scenery

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Solomon is doing well.  He weighs 7 lb 15 oz today.  He is still on VapoTherm and is still getting all his feeds through his feeding tube.  Solomon changed rooms today moving to the less intensive wing of the NICU.  He is a night owl!

Sleeping Soundly

Solomon is doing well.

A Good Day for Snuggles

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Solomon is doing well.  He enjoyed lots of cuddles today.  VapoTherm settings were turned down a little bit more.  And oh yeah, Solomon weighs 7 lbs 4 oz.

Lookin' Good in Yellow

Solomon is doing well.  The doctor is continuing to lower his VapoTherm settings.  Routine bloodwork all came back normal.  He enjoyed lots of love and attention today.    

Captain Adorable

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Solomon had a great day.  The doctor lowered his VapoTherm settings.  I got a visit today from the discharge nurse because it's time to start thinking about all the things that need done between now and the day Solomon is ready to bust out of this joint.

Solomon's First 100 Days

Solomon is 100 days old!!

99 Bottles of Milk on the Wall

Solomon's view.

Solomon will be 100 (days old) tomorrow!  He's been on quite a marathon.  He has been on CPAP with 21% oxygen (room air) for a while now since he's recovered from his surgery.  The cannula hadn't been fitting too well and he spent most of last night and this morning with the nasal prongs only in the general vicinity of his nostrils and doing just fine.  The doctor decided it was time to move him onto VapoTherm which is very much like CPAP with a better-fitting cannulla and oxygenated and hydrated air.  He's on a rate of 9 liters per day.  Once he's weaned off of VapoTherm, then he'll be breathing on his own.  Then he can start learning to drink milk and he'll be on his way.  Of course, still taking it one day at a time and have no idea of a timeline for him to cross all the aforementioned thresholds. I am grateful to all of you in Solomon's support network for the sustaining support!

Sleep Sack

Solomon is enjoying his "sleep sack"..... He's been sleeping all day!  The doctor lowered his CPAP setting this morning and he's been doing well today.

Can't Come Up with a Title

Solomon is doing well.  He's been in room air all day, still on CPAP.  The doctor didn't make any changes to his settings today. 

New Digs

Solomon is doing great! He spent the whole day in room air.  Mom talked the doctor into getting him a big boy bed.  Now he gets to wear cute little baby clothes. 

Cry Baby

Solomon is doing well today.  The doctor decided to try turning off his pressure control settings today.  He is on just CPAP now.  He did pretty well throughout the day only occasionally forgetting to breathe.

Solomon has started to cry like an actual baby this week.  It is pretty adorable.  So far I've been able to sleep through all sorts of sounds in the NICU but my crying baby is not one of them!  He had me up until 4 am last night.  He is a night owl just like his mom.

Captain Kangaroo

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Solomon was doing great today.  He was wide awake at times throughout the day and spent lots of time in room air.  He seemed glad to be done with his breathing tube and IV.  He's on his nasal cannula with really low pressure control settings.

The ophthalmologist checked his eyes for signs of infection this morning.  No infection indicated and the Avastin appeared to be working.  He gets a follow up on Monday.

Solomon enjoyed some visitors today, two of which were hopping around the room.

Rockin' Recovery on the Summit

Solomon is resting and recovering.

He has been sleeping all day.  He had a chest x-ray and an echo and both showed that the plug is in the right position, fits well and is doing its job.

Solomon kept trying to open his eyes today but he is pretty puffy and could only muster up some squinting before he'd fall back asleep.  The ophthalmologist will be back tomorrow to examine his eyes.

Solomon is back on his full feeds tonight after a day of half feeds.  Over night they plan to give him some steroids to get him ready to be extubated early tomorrow morning.  I'm sure he will be glad to get the cannula back instead of having this tube in his mouth.... so he can get back to enjoying his purple pacifier!

Pluggus Ductus

Solomon is out of surgery and back in his room.  He had a busy day.  He had his eyes checked this morning and both were at the point to need treated.  He got a shot of Avastin in both eye balls.  Hopefully this treatment will work and he won't need anything else.

He had his surgery to plug his PDA this afternoon.  The procedure went very well with no complications.  He is sound asleep for now and will be for a while.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words and prayers.

Happy Mother's Day!

Solomon had a great day.

Tomorrow he is having a surgery to close his PDA.  It will be minimally invasive using a catheter inserted through his upper thigh.  He will have to undergo anesthesia.  His surgery is scheduled for tomorrow (monday) at 1 pm.

Tomorrow morning he will have his weekly eye exam.  If his ROP has progressed to the point of needing treatment, they will do this at the same time as his surgery since he will already be sedated and intubated.

Thank you to everyone for keeping Solomon in your thoughts and prayers.  

3 Months

Solomon is three months old today!!  

A Day of Rest

Solomon had a nice easy day today and he spent most of his time sleeping.  The cardiologists recommended to go ahead with the surgery to close his PDA.  He'll be on the schedule for early next week. 

Cardiologist

Solomon had a visit today from the cardiologist.  He said that he would be reviewing the ultrasound and will discuss with the cardiology team tomorrow to decide the best course of action regarding his PDA.  If they do recommend going forward with the procedure, it will be done in the cath lab and Solomon will need to be anesthetized.

Too Big for his Britches

Solomon is 6 pounds today!!  He is too big for the preemie diapers and on to size 1... it's hard to believe.

He had another ultrasound of his heart today to check on his PDA.  It is still moderately large.  He is big enough now that they could treat it by catheterization.  We will be discussing this with the doctor tomorrow and go from there.

Massage Therapy

Solomon had a busy day.  Another Monday, another eye exam.  His ROP is still in stage 2.  No intervention at this point so they'll check again next week. 

The occupational therapist came today and taught mom how to give a relaxing baby massage.  Solomon was happy to oblige.  2660 g. 

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Solomon is doing well.  He's 5 lb 11 oz today. 

Brotherly Love

Sammy teaching Solomon how to swear in Italian.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Solomon had a nice day.  He started out by getting back on his pressure control.  He had a good run and will try again soon after he builds up a bit more stamina.  He is getting a burst of air at a rate of 20/min and a volume of 10 units which is where he was at before they turned it off.  The plan is to wean him down a little further (farther?) over the next couple of days and then turn it off again.

Solomon had a bit of a tummy ache this evening.  Big brother Samson came by and gave him a cuddle.  Solomon was feeling much better after such a sweet visit.

Pressure Control

Solomon is doing well.  Up until this morning, the ventilator was delivering a steady stream of oxygenated air (CPAP) as well as short bursts of oxygenated air (pressure control).  All week long he had been getting weaned off the pressure control, alternately lowering the rate and volume of the artificial breaths.  So today they turned off the pressure control altogether.  He has been on just the CPAP all day and seems to be handling the change just fine.  He is a bit tachypneic (breathing rapidly) but this is not entirely out of the ordinary for him so they are keeping him off the pressure control for the night.  This is another step forward and much like the breathing tube, it might take a few tries.

Many people are asking if he needs to hit a certain weight to go home.  There is no weight requirement to be discharged.  Basically, he needs to get off the CPAP and then he needs to learn to drink milk without the feeding tube.  There's really no telling when he'll be at that point but he is heading in the right direction.  2490 g.  

New Neighbors

Solomon had another good day.  They continued to lower his vent settings and also sped up his meals.  There's a new baby next door and he looks tiny.  2440 g.

5 Pounds

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Chubby Cheeks is 5 pounds today.  Thanks everyone for your continued support!!

Eat, Sleep, Poop, Repeat

Solomon had another good day.  They lowered his vent settings again today and he did just fine. Keep up the good work, lil buddy!  2240 g.

Guy Smiley

Solomon was all smiles today.  He was asleep most of the day and must have been having some really good dreams.

His eye exam showed that the ROP has not progressed out of stage 2.  He will have another exam next Monday.

The team lowered some more of his settings on the vent today and the changes didn't really have much effect on him.  He is doing well.

No Changes

Solomon is still doing well.  He was requiring more oxygen over night so the doctor didn't change any off his settings today.  By the end of the day he was back down on his oxygen so they may continue to lower his support tomorrow.  He gets his eyes checked tomorrow to see if his ROP is progressing.  2200 g.

 

April 29

Solomon was in room air (21%  oxygen) for a good part of last night and today.  He seems like he's working harder now this evening and he's in about 28%.  He really doesn't like his head gear.  Solomon does push ups in his spare time.  2130 g (4 pound 11 oz).