Thursday, March 29

Update: We visited with Baby Collin and his parents tonight, thankfully everyone (including the grandparents) was in a much better state of mind and feeling more comfortable with the inevitable (but unwelcome) occasional back step. Collin looked as adorable and perfect as ever, he fell deep asleep moments after our arrival. We discussed the fact that the wonderful hospital currently treating him doesn't have "transplants" as a specialty and that it might be in Collin's best interest to be moved to a hospital with those capabilities in case the need arises. We will be praying for wisdom and strength on his Mom and Dad's behalf because they will be making some enormous decisions soon. We have faith that his parents will do precisely what Collin needs and for that we are immensely grateful. We'll part this evening, leaving you with a photo of sweet Collin, sleeping in the light. (Notice the GORGEOUS blanket hanging on the edge of Collin's crib. It was handmade by Nana V's friend and colleague, Sue Lang.)

Oftentimes, in life, we take a step backwards in order to move forward. With Collin's rapid improvement this past week, it is upsetting and frustrating to have to share with you that he has taken a small step back. Last night, around 9:40 p.m., Collin was taken off his "feeds", that is, the breastmilk nutrition. He had spit up several times yesterday and for the time being needs to rely again on the TPN nutrition only. This will give his intestines a little rest and they will hopefully resume the feeds tomorrow or the next day. Thankfully Baby Collin's only discomfort is the crabbiness he feels at not having a belly full of "the good stuff".

Please keep us all in your prayers, especially his Mom and Dad. Every step forward makes our hearts leap with joy, you can imagine the heaviness we feel with a step back. Hopefully this step back is in preparation for many leaps ahead for our beloved Baby Collin.

Wednesday, March 28 Part II

Wow! Where to start...so much good news and so many cute stories to share. Oh, and the best thing, more pictures!

First big news, Collin got a cast put on his "lucky leg"! It was sort of a surprise because the pediatric orthopedist (the foot guy) had not visited with Collin's parents before. He walked in today while Collin's Mommy was rocking him and introduced himself. He described the procedure for applying the cast and just stood there. Collin's Mom finally asked, "Oh, so you want to do it right now?!" He did and he did. It is the tiniest little thing, very cute, but hopefully will do the trick. It extends from a little above his kneecap to the middle of his toes. The plan is to apply a different cast, once a week for about a month, each time turning the foot more. The interesting thing is that Collin uses that foot to express his pleasure, his dislikes and even his anger. When he is happy and content, the toes wiggle like little fingers...you could even hold his little foot almost like a hand. When he gets mad, he kicks that foot (and whatever is the cause of his displeasure!) It will definitely be interesting to watch Collin grow up and see how this early attribute affects him (or not!)

Second piece of good news, the doctors performed a hearing test on Collin, which determined he hears just fine. (We could have told them that, after all, we have seen Collin wince at Grandpa N's corny jokes!) They were also able to determine that Collin has not suffered any neurological damage, which again, any of his grandmothers could have told them. (He is definitely the brightest baby in the entire NICU, no, probably the whole hospital.) One of the doctors mentioned how quickly Collin has been improving. Mommy told him it was due to all the prayers coming in...from all of you!

He shows his amazing personality constantly, from choosing a "favorite" pacifier...I am NOT joking! to knowing exactly how he likes to be swaddled. The nurses have given him a couple different pacifiers (sometimes they get lost in his pajamas or in a blanket). Collin has decided that he only likes the "big boy" binky...the largest one! lol We wish the pictures showed it better, but the pacifier in the photos is HUGE compared to his little mouth.

Tonight Collin spit up a little bit and had to have his cute outfit changed. Watching Mommy and Daddy work in sync is marvelous to behold. As if they have been doing it forever, not just 2 1/2 weeks, they work as one. Of course, Collin expressed his displeasure by yelling and kicking his casted foot around. Too cute! Once his Mommy and Daddy had him cleaned up and dressed in a new sleeper, with his "big boy" binky firmly in his little mouth, Collin settled down and just watched everyone. When it was time to swaddle him, Mommy wrapped him tightly, sort of like a giant burrito. Collin let us all know how much he liked it with a serious of satisfied grunts which made his Daddy laugh out loud.

You can see the physical beauty of Collin's parents in pictures, it is obvious. What we also want you to know is that their beauty runs deep, it is not just superficial. The pride, devotion and pure love they have for each other and their baby boy is awesome. Collin is a very lucky little boy, indeed.

The cleanup begins!

The new cast unveiled.

Collin is decidedly unhappy about losing his warm cuddlespot!

Ahhh, clean and warm again.

Daddy's comforting hand, the favorite "big boy" binky...does life get any better than this?

A special moment between Mommy and Collin.

Wednesday, March 28

Update: Holy Moly, Collin has weighed in @ 5 lbs 2 oz!! (He is definitely getting "the good stuff".) The doctors have increased his intake...again...he is now receiving 5 mL an hour. This is wonderful news...as he takes in more mother's milk he won't have to rely on the TPN as much. Only a decrease of 6.9 mL an hour of the TPN will help save his liver. Someone had asked in the comments yesterday what medical options Collin's parents are looking into...if his small intestines won't work right, or he has to rely on the TPN too much, he will need transplants. We continue to pray for his continued healing.

As was described by his proud Nana V in yesterday's comments, Collin definately has a strong personality. In addition to loving attention, being held and touched, Collin loves being talked to and sung to by his family. Grandpa N thinks that Collin is a "little stinker" just like Collin's Mommy! Sometimes, when he talks to Collin, Collin will squeeze his eyes shut then slowly open one, as if to say, "Is HE still here ?!" Often, when we have been sitting quietly for a while, Collin will slowly open his eyes (raising his tiny eyebrow first) as if to make sure he's not alone. When we respond, quietly, "Yes, we're still here, beautiful boy", he smiles. (And contrary to popular belief, it is NOT gas! lol)

Numerous nurses have commented to us that he has a "feisty" or "a fighting" personality...in Collin's case, we think this is a super quality to have. He can also be the snuggliest, cuddliest baby when swaddled nice and tight in a warm blanket. As you have seen by his pictures, Collin looks like an angel when he sleeps and we know that, like his parents, he will light up the room when he smiles or laughs.

We can't wait until the day you all can meet our Baby Collin in person...until then, please continue to carry his entire family in your prayers.

Update: Collin's breastmilk intake has increased to four mL an hour...and his TPN requirement continues to decrease. Collin's new nickname is "The Urinator" as he has displayed a real gift for spraying his nurses (and those around him) and broken some NICU "long shot" records. (This is in jest, of course.) He gets a tremendous amount of fluids, and the output demonstrates that. We expect him to continue this trend of healing.

Collin continues to do well. Not only has he moved to another "pod" (wing) in the NICU, he is now getting 3 mL of breastmilk an hour. We continue to pray for miracles as his parents look at other medical options for Collin.

Here are the most recent pictures of the little family.

Saturday, March 24

Friday, March 23

Hooray, hooray-
Collin is two weeks old &
made poo #2 today!

This morning, Collin's Mom had the distinct honor of changing her first poopy diaper! (She said it was "gross", lol) The doctors also increased his food intake to 2 mL. (We sense a "theme" here.) He was a little needy this morning and didn't want his Mom to put him down. He finally fell into a deep sleep, as newborns do.

His parents both look great and are doing so well. Parenthood really becomes them both. Grandma M and Auntie S are praying the rosary every day and enjoying spending time with Collin's Mom and Dad and Collin, too. We will have picture updates later this evening!

Thursday, March 22

Update: Today Collin gave us a little scare...he has not had a real bowel movement since he's been receiving food via the g-tube; this afternoon he threw up instead. His Mom and Dad were there at the time and had the nurse call in a doctor. The doctor (a specialist in the care of newborns) was not concerned but will bring it up with the surgeon in the morning. She indicated that they may decrease his food intake until he digests it properly. (The doctors usually do their "rounds" around 9 a.m., we should know something then.) Hopefully soon, Collin will make poo number two!

Since Collin had a busy day freaking his parents and grandparents out, we laid off the picture taking for one day. Instead, we purchased fundraising booties to benefit the March of Dimes and photographed them in a cute shape. These will hang over the entrance of the NICU.

Not much news to relate, Collin continues to get just 1 mL an hour of the feeding through his g-tube. The reason it is such a small amount is they don't want to overwhelm his tiny intestines with too much fluid. They are taking it slow and cautiously, which is a good thing, we think. The pediatric surgeon and the neonatologist meet every morning to decide the next step; maybe today they'll up his intake!

Please continue sending your prayers and healing thoughts. Not only do they help Baby Collin, but are such an encouragement to our entire family, near and far.

Wednesday, March 21

Tuesday, March 20

Today the feeding has begun! They are giving Collin small amounts of his mother's milk, which has been stored carefully this past 10 or 11 days. The nutrients in the colostrum (which is the early milk) are the best for Collin's fragile intestines. We are all praying that he absorbs everything he needs, and doesn't move it out of his system too quickly.

God bless Baby Collin and the life sustaining qualities of his mother's milk.

Monday, March 19

Wooo hooo, he made poo!

We can honestly say that we have never before celebrated a baby making a poo, and we don't feel any embarassment about wanting to shout this from the rooftops! We were told that it could take a few weeks after surgery for this to occur, so that it has happened in less than a week and a half is wonderful. Please, continue your prayers. God is great and He answers them!

Tomorrow (hopefully) they will begin to give him the feeding bag via what they call a gastrostomy tube or "g-tube". This is an important step in Collin's recovery. We need his intestine to be able to absorb more nutrition through the g-tube rather than the TPN and the sooner the better. We'll keep you posted!

Update: Collin made the teeniest, tiniest little poo tonight, and boy, does he work hard at it! Collin's Grandma and Grandpa V left early this morning, we're sure they left their hearts here with our gorgeous grandbaby. Grandma M and Great Auntie S (Dad's Mom and her sister) came in today. We're sure that Grandma M and Auntie S are as impressed with him as are the rest of us! For your viewing pleasure, a few snapshots from Baby Collin's Big Day of First Poo!

Sunday, March 18

Thank you to everyone for all of your prayers for Collin and interest in his well being. We can use all the hope that we can get our hands on. Collin is the best thing to ever happen to Erin and I. His strength is making us better people and more caring and thankful parents. He is truly an inspiration (and how beautiful).

With Love and Thanks,

Matt and Erin (Mom and Dad)

Saturday, March 17 St. Patrick's Day

An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Hooray! Hooray! Collin is a week old today!

Great news! Today the doctors removed the nasal cannula, the peripheral arterial line (which you will see in pictures as a pink, cast looking thing on his left arm) and the morphine. The peripheral arterial line (or PAL) is used when the medical team needs to draw blood often. The PAL is a catheter which allows them to draw the blood out without disturbing our beautiful little patient. Apparently Collin's blood pressure is good, his lungs are strong and the pain isn't so severe now. All good signs!

In addition, Mom and Dad got to hold Baby Collin again.

We again thank you all for your prayers. Every time we get a piece of good news, we thank God for His Blessings and for all of you and your prayers.

Update: We saw Collin tonight, he has a new pad!
(We would have used "crib" but that is too obvious a pun!) Instead of the five sided plexi-glass box, he is now in an official, hospital bassinette! He looks beautiful and so healthy. We wondered if the nurses could hear us chanting under our breaths, "Show us the poopoo!"

If you look close, you can see his little fist waving!

Thursday, March 15

Collin's Mom and Dad got to hold him today! We can't imagine how thrilled they were, and how wonderful for them. He sneezed a couple of times, which greatly upset His Highness and he erupted in wails that were quieted by a pacifier. He has great sucking reflex and seems to enjoy the "binky". He also passed merconium yesterday which needs to happen before he can make a normal bowel movement. It might seem odd that we're obsessed with Baby Collin making a "poo", but that will be the sign for us that his intestines are working properly. This is one of the things we're praying for!

Watching the nurses interact with Baby Collin is heartwarming. Their gentle touches and thoughtful gestures show how attentive they are to his comfort. Tonight, after his nurse, Beth, changed his diaper and weighed him, she tucked him in just like Grandpa N used to tuck Collin's Mom and her siblings in bed. She also carefully replaced his special prayer teddy that had been removed while they weighed him. Collin got the prayer teddy from Mom and Dad's special friends the Stanches; when you squeeze it, it plays a child's voice reciting "Now I lay me down to sleep". Grandma and Grandpa V placed a stuffed firefighter and a beautiful stuffed cross (that has the words "God" and "Hope" on it) in the teddy's arms. Collin's aunt Alexa sent a magnet of the Blessed Virgin Mary which she received at her First Holy Communion. All of these little mementos tucked in with him are our attempts at leaving a bit of us with him every moment, as if their presence can protect him.

Thank you for reading, looking at the photos and leaving us your prayers and comments. Your love, support and encouragement hold us all up. Thank you for leaving a little bit of yourselves with us.
Love, Collin's Family

Wednesday, March 14

This morning while Mom and Dad were visiting Collin, the doctor had him weighed. Collin weighs a whopping four pounds, 12 ounces. (He is getting so many fluids that a lot of that is "water weight". His Grandma N sympathizes!) Dad got to lift Collin and help the doctor move him; they change his head position for comfort and proper development. Dad gave him his pacifier and they thought it was so cute to watch him suck on it. He opened his big beautiful eyes and stared at them, you know he was trying to focus on them to see his beautiful Mom and hairy Dad more clearly! Mom and Dad got a new video camera yesterday and got it all on film. Also, the bandage that covered the site where they initially put the broviac catheter was removed, he is healing just fine. Every day there is a piece of good news and it just buoys our spirits. Your prayers and words of encouragement help...thank you all so much.

Tuesday, March 13

We're on pins and needles as we wait to hear from the nicu nurse...Collin is scheduled to have his ventilator tube removed today! YAY!! They have been weaning him off it slowly, sometimes it looks like he's breathing all on his own already. Saturday he was blowing little bubbles out the side of his mouth, it was adorable. Sunday we took pictures of his tiny, precious little tongue as he slept (like his Dad) with his mouth open. It looked like he might be snoring!

Somehow, having this place where we can look at his pictures (and magnify them to obsess over every little detail of his perfect little body) and read your comments is almost as comforting as being there with him. Of course we want to be there every second, but Collin needs his rest so he can continue to grow and heal. Thank you all for reading and commenting and praying for our beautiful boy!

We'll let you know as soon as we know anything...

Update: Collin's Mom just called with the news that his ventilator tube was removed at 10:00 a.m. The nurse reports that he did great, no fussing! Hooray!!! He will be so much more comfortable now, and we'll be able to hear him cry. We'll take some photos of Collin post-ventilator to share later this evening.

Post Update: We're back...with more pictures! All four of Mom's parents agree...this is one B E A U T I F U L baby! (As an expert on these matters, I concur!)

Baby Collin has a strong set of lungs, strong legs (as Mom will attest) and a fiery temper. It's great to see him without that huge, fat tube in his mouth. Now he has a tiny little oxygen tube in his nose. His cry is beautiful to hear; not only for it's strength (which is reassuring) but also because it brings normalcy to a scary situation. (Mom would probably disagree!)

If you are a person who listens to their "gut" or intuition or whatever...you will understand. Collin's Mom and Dad are wonderful parents for him in so many ways. Not only because they adore him and will do anything they need to FOR him; they love each other immensely and will model for him a healthy, strong and loving relationship. We felt they were perfect for each other when we first saw them together...we knew that Erin would be a devoted wife & mother who would make her husband proud and Matt would be an attentive husband & father who would protect her and hold her up. Our gut feeling was right, as we see this unfold before us. We would never have wished a difficult road for this little family; but the silver lining is that the strongest bond is being built, and adversity has brought out the strongest and best qualities in all of us.

Collin's first photographed smile


Baby cries are good!

First pictures with Collin's Grandma and Grandpa V!




Attentive, ecstatic and loving parents




The cutest family...ever!

Happy baby who is loved by a large and interesting family...and knows it!

Monday, March 12

Collin had a big day today! Not only did he see his Grandma V on her birthday; he has recovered so well from his surgery on Friday that his surgeon was able to place a broviac catheter on his right chest. This will be the site of the intravenous feed for him. Eventually he will receive nutrition through both the broviac catheter and a tube in his stomach. The goal is for him to reach a point where ALL of his nutrition is coming in through the food tube, not the broviac catheter. (He has been receiving the TPN through a temporary i.v. since Saturday.)

He sleeps alot, as all premature babies do, and he reacts alot, too. Today, while he was being changed, he started to fuss. You can't hear it because he has a ventilator tube in his throat, but he makes the facial expressions that ensure you know exactly how he feels. His mom "held him" (which is, she cupped her left hand over the top of his head and the right hand down around his feet) and he stopped fussing right away! As a preemie, his skin is extremely sensitive to touch, so we don't rub him or tickle him in anyway. To nourish his skin, which is tight right now because of all the fluids he is receiving through his i.v.s, Mom dabs an all natural lotion on his legs. Every little thing we can do to keep our Collin comfortable is a comfort to us.

His parents and grandparents read to him softly; they don't want to wake him, but they do want him to hear the lulling hum of loving voices over the din of crying babies and whirring machines. Tonight Grandpa N took a picture of Grandma N with our beautiful boy...you won't be able to see it, but tiny Collin is squeezing her finger.

Saturday, March 10 and Sunday, March 11

Following are some other pictures of Collin's first few days. Collin began to get some nutrition through TPN (total parenteral nutrition) on Saturday evening; he even got a change of bedding and bandages! The nursing crew at the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) are beyond awesome. Their care and nurturing of the babies (and parents) in their unit is amazing and wonderful. Special nurses have included Gene, Henry and Elma. Sunday evening, Mom's mom (Grandma V) and s.dad (Grandpa V) came into town and Mom was released from the hospital.

March 9, 2007

Mom was a little nervous...Dad was as cool as a cucumber.























Mom delivered Collin naturally (what a trooper!) with the help of an epidural. Dad was thrilled to hear his son's first cries. Collin was wrapped up tight and cleaned up a bit to meet his mom. (He looks so serious!)

Mom and Dad got a few minutes with Collin before he went in for surgery. The tubes help him breathe and keep him monitored.