10 Weeks!!



Gibson is 10 weeks old!!  Time has gone so fast and we can’t believe how much our little man has gone through!  We are so proud of him! We apologize for not updating for a few weeks but we had some computer malfunctions.  All is well here and Gibson has made some serious improvement from last time.  We couldn’t be more grateful for all the thoughts and prayers that have helped us and Gibson make it this far.  Thank you to everyone!!  Here’s a brief summary on how things are going and what improvements he has made.

Feeding: Gibson in now at full feeds through a Nasal Gastric tube (NG).  They are mixing mom’s milk with some fortifier to help with weight gain and to assure that Gibson is getting the calories needed to grow.  He weighs about 10 pounds right now and they like babies to gain an ounce a day. He’s starting to gain weight consistently now with the fortified milk’s help. Mom has started to try to nurse once a shift to help with Gibson’s oral aversion.  He’s still not too sure about having to work for his food, but he is slowly learning and trying very hard to eat without a tube.  As we get Gibson off some meds and his High Flow Nasal Canula we will be able to try oral feeding more aggressively.  The whole suck, swallow, breathe thing is a lot of work.

Bowels:  Gibson’s bowels are working perfectly now!!  He is having regular bowel movements and is trying really hard to have blow outs for mom and dad.  So far nothing too serious on the code browns but we know it is coming. He did have one for his favorite nurse, Meghan though.

Medication:  The weaning of medication is one of the longest and most frustrating parts of the whole NICU process.  Gibson’s body from day one has had to rely on meds like Morphine and Versed to help him through this traumatic time.  Now that we are taking that away from him, his body is withdrawing from those medications.  The weaning of versed has gone smoother and we are completely off that and are on a drug called Ativan.  It and Versed are sedatives to help with Gibson’s anxiety.  Ativan is a longer lasting drug than Versed so the doses are smaller and will help with the withdrawls.  Morphine takes longer to come off of, but we are making progress and Gibson is handling it well.  All meds now are given orally through the NG tube.  Sometimes kids react differently to oral meds but Gibson has been doing so well!  Having oral meds now means no more Picc Line or IVs!! YAY!  We officially have no more med lines running all over the place.  Just his nasal canula and NG tube!  Gibson is still on Nitric Oxide which just blows into his nose with the oxygen.  This is for his Pulmonary Hypertension (high blood pressure) and helps with reconstruction of the lungs and the pulmonary blood vessels.  We will be off NO here in the next week or so then we’ll be able to see how Gibson does with just oxygen and not the added pressures of air blowing in his nose.

Lungs:  Gibson’s right lung (good lung) is doing most of the work and is doing a great job at it.  His right lung has expanded width wise in order to compensate for the lack of lung on the left side.  Normally a lung will just fill up its side of the chest cavity from the sternum to that side of the rib cage.  Gibson’s right lung however, is expanded so much that is goes from the left side of the sternum all the way to the ride side of the rib cage.  Much larger than a normal size lung but it’s what Gibson needs.  His left lung is bigger but it’s still a small sliver of a lung.  It is helping out with the oxygenating and will continue to grow and develop some but will never be a full sized lung.  On the respiratory side of things Gibson is doing very well and can’t wait for the day he can breathe fresh air. 

I love my sponge bath!



Showing off my new socks. Thanks Kostner!

Laughing at George the Giraffe.



Still love the Disco Ball.




Had 2 month shots :(



So tough during my first shots!

Ready for summer.



Not too sure about the PT chair therapy.



LOVE THE BOPPY

Look I can hold my own binki!



Super Baby



Check out my socks!

Missed my mouth trying to put my chapstick on.



Big George the Giraffe is scary!



I'm so POGI (tagalog for handsome).



Laughing at my dad




So funny



Bedtime stories.



Will someone pick me up?? P Pl Ple Please




This is the face that has made him so spoiled and believe us he knows how to use it!




How could you not just pick him up to cuddle?



I'm starting to hold my head up some on my own.

Tummy Time!