Caden Sheppard Lloyd Arrives (6 weeks early)

-Caden Sheppard Lloyd arrived today (6 weeks early) weighing in at 5 lbs, 6 oz and measuring 17 and 1/3 in long.
-Jenny was admitted to the hospital for 24 hour observation on Thursday due to her blood pressure and protein level being elevated at her OB appointment. Jenny woke up around this morning with a headache. She was given Tylenol which seem to slightly ease the pain from the headache. She woke up again around 6 a.m. feeling horrible, she was seeing floating shadows as well. Dr. Beyer (OB) came into her room and after hearing how she was feeling sent her to Labor and Delivery and ordered a urine test to check for protein. Her protein levels were elevated to dangerous levels. She was started on Magnesium to control her blood pressure and prevent seizures. The doctors decided that it would be best to do a c-section right away as Jenny's condition was not improving even with the Magnesium. She was prepped and taken back to the OR where Caden made his appearance without Daddy as the decision was made in such a "rush" for Jenny and Caden's safety. Daddy did not have time to arrive at the hospital before Caden's arrival, he did arrive soon after and was the first to see him in the nursery followed by Nanny and big brothers Everhett and Jarod and big cousin Mary.
-Caden is currently in the NICU and doing very well. He will be evaluated for the next several days as the doctors determine if he is "mature" enough to go home.
-Jenny will continue to be on the Magnesium for 24 hours and is required to stay in bed while on the Magnesium.
-Please pray for Jenny's quick recovery and pray that Caden has a very short, uneventful NICU stay.

Sleep Wins

-Daniel has always been a great sleeper. He takes 2 naps a day, the first one around 10 a.m. and the second around 2 p.m., he sleeps for an hour or more at each nap time and he lays down and goes to sleep with little to no fussing involved. Today was different, Daniel refused to take a nap today, no matter what was tried, he fought it. Daniel was so sleepy at supper, after supper Daddy gave Daniel and bath and put him in his exersaucer to play. Daniel fell asleep after 5 minutes of playing, sleep finally won.

Roseola

Daniel woke up last Saturday running a high fever (103). We are lucky to have a pediatrician with office hours on Saturday for sick visits. Daniel was diagnosed with double ear infections and we left with a prescription for Amoxicillian.
Daniel woke up Sunday with a fever of 104.5. We were able to manage the fever at home with Motrin and Tylenol.
Daniel woke up Monday fever free! We were relieved to see that he was feeling LOTS better but our relief would be short lived. By Monday afternoon Daniel's fever was back up to 104. We called Daniel's pediatrician and was told to bring him in right away. Daniel's blood count had dropped to 4,000 (it was 8,000 on Saturday). The doctor said that the blood count dropping is a huge indication that Daniel has a yucky viral infection. They ran a strep test which came back positive. The doctor gave us a list of symptoms to watch for and to return to the office immediately with signs of dehydration, a raised rash or fever that did not respond to Tylenol/Motrin.
Daniel woke up Wednesday with a rash. We were told this might happen. With the rash developing, Daniel's final diagnoses was Roseola. Roseola is a viral infection that mostly infects children under the age of 3, more specifically children ages 6-12 months. It is hard to diagnosis until the rash appears which can be up to 24 hours after the fever stops. The initial signs are ear infections, strep throat and colds. Since Roseola is a viral infection, it can not be treated with antibiotics, it has to "run it's course".

Rooming In

-We arrived at the hospital today around 3 p.m., we walked into the NICU with nervous anticipation knowing that it would be the last time we walked through the doors to "scrub up" and "visit Daniel". We met with the Apria Healthcare rep (Apria is the home health agency supplying Daniel's o2 tanks, apnea monitor and pulse-ox monitor). We were trained on how to use the o2 tanks and the monitors. We took Daniel off all the hospital's monitors and hooked him up to the monitors that we will use at home. We said goodbye to the day shift nurses and headed to our room for the night. The nurses said that Daniel was "all ours" but that they would be there at the "push of a button". Richard headed out to get some supper and to pick up a few things at Wal Mart. I loved having Daniel all to myself for a few minutes. We met with one of the many doctors that had cared for Daniel (Dr. Campbell. She went over all the discharge instructions and all the follow up appointments (slightly overwhelming). All the day staff nurses came to say goodbye again before heading home. We have grown so close to the NICU nurses and the OB nurses and we shed some tears as we said our goodbyes. We gave each of the nurses a "nurse angel pin" and a thank you note to show our appreciation for taking such great care of Daniel and loving Daniel in their own special way. We are looking forward to walking out of Southern Hills Medical Center with our baby boy tomorrow.

Chubby Cheeks

-Daniel has chubby baby cheeks! Daniel's current weight is 3 pounds, 13 ounces.....4 more ounces and we will have a heavy weight (4 pounder). Daniel is doing very well, just eating and growing. There is one minor complication.....he is having to be reminded to breathe when he eats. They are going to do a blood count tomorrow to see if Daniel is anemic. If he is he will get another blood transfusion to "perk him up" and hopefully help with his breathing.

Eating and Growing

-Daniel is eating and growing! His feedings are up to 32ccs every 3 hours (30ccs equals 1 ounce). He is still working on eating and breathing (suck,swallow,breathe), he gets 2 bottle feedings a day and the rest of his feeds are through a NG tube. He has started to show signs of hunger and he is not really patient and thinks he should not have to wait to eat. He seems to think that he deserves ALL the attention and will "make" his alarms ring every time his nurses start to give other babies attention.
-We have said this many times and really we can't say enough how thankful we are for all the prayers that have been said for Daniel and continue to be said for Daniel. We could not have made it this far without all the prayers and support that we have.
-All the eating is paying off.....Daniel now weighs 3.5 pounds!

7 Days

-A lot can happen in 7 days. God created the world in 7 days (actually 6, he rested on the 7th). Daniel has performed some miracles of his own in the past 7 days.-Daniel reached the 3 pound mark, he is no longer a 2 pounder! His current weight is 3 pounds, 4 ounces. He is averaging an ounce a day in weight gain which is exactly what he should be gaining.
-A healthy, full term baby is born with the ability to eat (suck, swallow and breathe). A premature baby has to develop the skills to eat (suck, swallow and breathe). Daniel has begun learning to suck, swallow and breathe. He gets one bottle a day for practice. Daniel burns calories when he drinks from a bottle, it's an aerobic exercise. Daniel's practice time will increase as his ability to suck, swallow and breathe gets stronger.-Daniel is starting to control his own body temperature and he has started wearing clothes, very small clothes.
-A lot of babies born early have anemia and will receive one (some many) blood transfusions while in the NICU. Daniel received his first transfusion this week - an ounce of blood - it really perked him up.

-Daniel had an eye test on Thursday. The test was to check for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). ROP occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow and spread throughout the retina, the tissue that lines the back of the eye. Daniel's test results were negative, meaning he does not have ROP. He will have a repeat eye test in 3 months.