Hey everybody! I'm just a few grams away from 3 pounds! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

7 weeks old

Collin is now 7 weeks old and weighs 2lb. 10.8oz! He is now off of the nasal cannula and is doing great. He has been moved to intermediate level of care in the NICU. He is getting better at bottle feeding, so they will gradually increase his feedings by bottle as he can handle them and give him the rest by NG tube. He looks like a little elf in his Christmas hat! We are so thankful that he continues to grow with no major problems. He amazes us every day!

Daddy's Boy!

Daddy finally got to hold his little man since returning to Florence. He is now 2lb. 7oz! He's getting little chubby cheeks and look at the sweet smile we caught on camera! No other changes right now, just growing a little every day.

Six weeks old!

Collin is now six weeks old and is still doing great. He is only on 1/2 liter of room air through his nasal cannula so he is almost off of it! He is doing better with his bottle feeding (when he is awake enough). Today he took half an ounce, which is almost a whole feeding for him, but it really wears him out so this will also be a slow process to go through. He has stayed at 2lb. 3oz. for a few days now so he is going to be given more supplements. You can see he is still tiny with Jeffery's ring over his arm in the pic on the bottom left. Keep praying that he'll continue to grow, grow, grow!

Collin is finally off of the CPAP machine and he is a much happier baby! He has been doing well on the nasal cannula and is now also being weaned off if it. Hopefully in the next few days he will be all on his own with his breathing! He is now 2lb. 3oz. and has started very small bottle feedings, which he is still figuring out, but will get the hang of it soon. We are also able to hold him now every day so maybe he will really start growing now!

Back Home!

On Friday Collin was tranferred to McLeod NICU! We are so glad to be back in Florence! He is doing well, even though he had a rough ride here. He is still on the CPAP machine, and still getting his feedings thru his OG tube. But he is growing and is just under 2 lbs. now! The nurse taking care of him took his tubing off long enough to get this adorable picture of him. Can you tell he is an Allen now? We haven't been able to hold him yet. The rule here is that he has to be off of the CPAP machine first, hopefully they will be trying him on a nasal cannula soon. He is still feisty and giving the nurse's a fit. Thanks so much for all of your continued prayers. We still have a long way to go, but at least our family can be together now!

Hey everybody! Collin came off of the CPAP on Saturday for most of the day, but got tired and had to go back on it. They'll try again in a day or two, gotta get those lungs stronger! He's doing great on his feedings and they're increasing them every day so hopefully his IV nutrition can be D/C'd soon. He can start trying a bottle once he gets off of the CPAP (hopefully also very soon). Mama held him today and he was so sweet, just slept the whole time. Then got this cute pic after I put him back in his bed. We spent the weekend home with the boys and they were so excited to see Mama and Daddy. We went to see Madagascar 2 and it was "crack-a-lackin'!" Caleb keeps asking, "did Collin grow yet?" Yes, but just a little bit! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Weekend Update

Still improving day by day! Here is Collin wide awake with his pacifier, which he is starting to like! He will be taken off of the CPAP this weekend and just have oxygen thru nasal cannula! I'm sure this will make him happy, he hates the CPAP tubing! They are increasing his feeds a little each day so hopefully he'll really start putting on some weight. He now weighs 1lb. 12oz. He is becoming a very feisty little thing, so this is good because he is acting his age, not his size! Thanks for all the continued prayers!

Proud Papa

Jeffery got to have a turn tonight holding Collin and of course now thinks he's gonna be a Daddy's boy! Collin discovered his finger tonight and was sucking on it! So cute! Maybe this means he won't have any trouble with a bottle! Here's a pic of Mama changing his diaper. Can you imagine changing such a tiny little hiney? We had a great night!

Monday

It's Monday and we are still doing great. Collin continues to do well on the CPAP machine, building up his lungs. He has finally started with small feedings of milk by tube that will be gradually increased over time to make sure his tummy can tolerate it. He is starting to perk up and open his eyes more now. Today was the first time I saw him with both eyes open wide so I actually caught it in a picture. (I think he looks like another little Jeffery!) How about those tiny little feet! He is now 1lb. 11oz. so he is growing! Getting stronger every day!

Wednesday: One Week Old!

Collin is one week old today! He was taken off of the vent today and is doing very well just on the CPAP. His belly is looking better and he is still on antibiotics so hopefully in a few days he'll finish that and can start on feedings. I finally got to hold him and he did really well getting out of the bed, and fell right asleep as soon as he was put against me! He seemed to love being held and of course Mama loved it too! Hopefully if he continues like he is we'll be able to hold him every day. They say it is good for them to be held and hear Mama's heartbeat so we're thankful that we can finally hold him. You can also see how tiny he is, especially with Jeffery's ring over his arm. We had a very good night so far and hopefully he will be able to hold his own all night off of the vent. We praise God every day for each small little step!

Peek a Boo!

Collin had a great day today! We finally got to see him peek his eyes open. (He looks just like Kaden in this pic.) He is done with the bili lights and now we can really see his little face. He was very active today, squirming around and opening his eyes! He is on a very low setting on the vent so if his gases stay good tonight he will probably be taken off the vent again! Pray that he is ready to breathe on his own and it will not stress him too much. They are still watching him closely for infection in his belly, so far everything looks good. They want to wait to make sure his belly is ready to take milk before they start to give it.

Nana and Papa came to visit today! We hated to see the boys leave, but they have to get back to life as usual. We have had so many encouraging calls, cards, and emails from all over the country! We even have a missionary couple in Poland sending out prayers for him! It is amazing how God brings his people together when something like this happens and we are so thankful for the prayers. It is hard being away from home, but we feel like everybody is just a call away. Good night everybody!

Monday

No major changes today. He is doing about the same on the vent and still receiving treatments for the vessel in his heart and hope to finish that by tonight. One setback to the medicine is that it decreases blood flow to the belly area and it looks like he is getting an infection around his umbilical cord. He will need antibiotics for a week now so this will set him back on getting his feedings started another week. Hopefully this infection will be knocked out and he can start getting fed soon. We knew that there would be bumps in the road along the way, so keep up the prayers! Caleb and Kaden are having fun here at the Ronald McDonald house. They will be going home with Nana and Papa tomorrow! Look out Florence, the boys will be back in town!

We made it! First weekend:

We made it through the first night, though it was a little rough. Collin's Dr. came in around 5:00 am and told us that he had a bleed in his lungs and that his blood was not clotting like it should. The vent was too rough on his lungs so he was put on a jet vent that would be a little less traumatic for him. Over the next two days he was given transfusions of plasma to help with the clotting and amazingly his lungs did eventually clear out. By Friday he was off the jet vent and was even extubated to the CPAP machine (which allowed him to breathe on his own) for most of the day! He is so tough, we just can't believe how well he is doing! Only God!

Saturday morning he was put back on the regular vent. I'm sure his little lungs were exhausted! But daily x-rays are showing clear lungs. He's now holding on at only 30% oxygen on the vent so he is doing a lot of the work on his own! They plan to try to try him off the vent again in a few days.

Sunday we found out that he has a vessel in his heart that did not close up, and this is typical for preemies. It can be treated with IV medication so he will get this for the next two days. After he finishes this treatment, he can begin to have tube feedings of milk! I can't wait to see him start putting on some weight! He willl also be under the bili light for a few weeks so in most of the pics he will be wearing his tanning goggles! Keep praying! We have Caleb and Kaden with us and they are so excited about their tiny baby brother!

Day One

On October 28, I went in for an office visit and ultrasound, where I was found to have NO amniotic fluid. I was also told that even though I was 30 weeks, he was measuring 24 weeks, which would make him only a little over a pound! We were so scared and the Dr. decided that we would have a better chance at MUSC. So we were tranferred that night. It was the longest night, watching that monitor of his heart rate go up and down, knowing that at any minute it could drop too much and he would have to be delivered!

He mangaed to hang on through the night so did get some steroid injections for his lungs. We had a special ultrasound the next day that told us that everything looked normal, but he couldn't survive much longer with no fluid, and would not survive a vaginal delivery. So at 4:00 pm on October 29, he was delivered by C-Section. The surgery went well, and Jeffery even heard a little cry out of him shortly after he was born! When he was finally brought to us to look at the nurse said, "We were prepared for a 24 weeker, but this little one is determined to let us know that he is 30 weeks!" So we knew right then he was going to be a fighter! Even though he only weighed 1lb 3oz and was 13.5 in long, he scored a 6 and 9 on his Apgar tests so that really gave us hope that this little one was not giving up!