Friday AM - It seems that Adam got tired of behaving himself the last several weeks as he's pulling some more tricks out of his bags. The throat cultures finally came back with a bacterial infection which means he has pneumonia, but that didn't change anything the doctors were doing as he was already being treated for that. It did allow them to identify a specific bacteria which meant they could narrow the antibiotics to one instead of several. On Wednesday night we got a call from the neonatologist who told us Adam' heart rate was starting to become irregular and rapid, and that they would start him on a beta-blocker after calling in the cardiologists. They came yesterday and confirmed the beta-blocker was the way to go, and he's been on it since yesterday afternoon. We'll find out today if it had the desired effect. If so, Adam will stay at The Woman's Hospital until he's finished with the antibiotic treatment, then he'll be transferred to Texas Children's Hospital where the caridioligists will take over. If the beta-blocker doesn't work then he will be transferred much sooner.

Heidi and I spent most of the day with Adam yesterday. Although he's not as active as he was prior to the episode that sent him back to Level 3, he is awake for periods of time when he will look at whoever's with him and pays close attention to what they are doing or saying. He sleeps quite a bit as they are giving him morphine to keep him settled and to prevent him pulling out his tubes, which he's very accomplished at doing. His skin color actually looks better (less yellow) than we have seen for sometime.

The next few days and weeks are going to be tough for us as we move to a new hospital and start a new routine. The staff at The Woman's Hospital has done a great job getting us to this point, but now we're told that Adam needs the staff and facilities at Texas Children's. I've said this before, but not enough can be said for the neonatologists and NICU nurses at Woman's. We will miss them greatly when we leave.

As I was finishing the last paragraph, one of the neonatologists called to report that the beta-blocker is working, so Adam will remain at The Woman's Hospital for another few days.

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers...

Sunday PM - Our Christmas Eve has been somewhat subdued as Adam was transferred back to Level 3 due to an infection and aspiration of his formula. The doctors assure us this is only a temporary setback, but it is a setback nonetheless. He is currently on a ventilator but 70% of his respirations are his own. This is a good thing and they could remove the ventilator at any time. For now it's helping his overall condition. He will likely be in the Level 3 NICU for 5 to 10 days. Just this week we spoke with the chief cardiologist at the children's hospital who said that they plan to do his heart surgery within the next two weeks. We're not sure how this recent event will affect the schedule, so we are waiting to see. We also were told that a G/I specialist had been called in to check on his liver as things still aren't quite right there either. He's still tough, still a trooper, and we're still planning to have him home with his brother as soon as possible.

Speaking of his brother, Grant weighed 12 1/2 lbs and was 24 inches long last Tuesday. He is thriving more than we could have hoped. He had 4 shots on Friday that slowed him down a little but he bounced back the next day. He's still not sleeping through the night but he has reached the 4 hour mark a few times. We're looking forward to the first all-nighter.

I realize it's been 10 days since I last posted, and my excuses are: 1) The holidays; 2) Moving back home and trying to organize. I'll try to post more frequently, and as Adam's surgery date nears I'm sure I'll have more news more often. I hope I haven't lost any of you who are reading my posts, but if I have I guess you wouldn't be reading now.

From Heidi and myself, we hope that Santa is good to each and everyone. We're looking forward to 2007 and the time when everyone can meet our boys in person. We think it will be well worth the wait...

Friday AM - This is the 2nd version of a post that I just spent about 20 minutes composing, and somehow managed to lose it completely. Not surprising, but frustrating nonetheless. It was one of my better compostions .

We're trying to fix everything that the gremlins broke while we weren't here. Gremlins? What other explanation is there for:

A large tree falling in our yard as well as two of our neighbors?
Our home computer breaking?
Our wireless home network not working?
Our TV, satellite, and associated components not working?
Our vacuum not working (easy fix, belts replaced)?
Both cars needing repairs, one major?
Heidi's broken crown in the hospital? Thankfully, our dentist was a saint and made 3 hospital visits to fix the problem.
Outpatient surgery for me to remove a tumor on my face?
Our dog, Red, got sick? He's better now.
Our land line telephone, twice, had to have repairs?

With all this we are still very fortunate to have our health and our family. It's just amazing that all of this happened in a relatively short period of time.

Mind boggling. That's how it feels when we compare where both boys are today as to where they were several weeks ago. Grant looks as if he's storing nuts for the winter in his cheeks. Next week is his first doctor's appointment since last month, and we believe he weighs at least 12 lbs. He likes to lie on his stomach and can lift his head to look around. Other time he lies on a play mat that has toys hanging within his reach, as well as ball hanging near his feet that he loves to kick. He's definitely a ladies' man, as most of his smiles are reserved for his mom, his sisters, and either of his two caretakers who are here when we aren't. If I try really hard I can sometimes get him to smile for me.

Adam is still slowly but surely putting on weight as we near the time for his heart surgery. Last night he weight 6 lbs. 10 oz. He likes to be held and is very alert when he's awake, which is from 2 AM to 4 AM and 8 AM to 11 AM, as well as other shorter, unsheduled times. I hope to have a picture that the nurses took on the Yahoo site after I get it scanned and put on a CD. His nurses and doctors are becoming very attached to him, and one of his doctors even sings to him when he's upset. It doesn't look like he will have his surgery before Christmas, but that's not a certainty.

I'm not sure if this post is as good as the first but it will have to do for now. I'm going to the hospital to try to catch Adam during one of his waking periods. Thanks for reading...

Friday AM - Last Saturday we moved out of the apartment and back into our house. It's really good to be home, but it's not without some sadness that we are so far away from Adam. We get a daily report from the doctor, and we try to get to see him everyday. However this past week has been all about getting back into the groove at home, and unpacking and organizing. It's amazing how much "stuff" you accumulate when temporarily living somewhere else. George Carlin did a routine about "stuff", and it's all true. Wherever you go, you get more "stuff". Hopefully by next week we will have all our stuff together.

We have managed to find two very nice ladies to help us get settled in and prepare for Adam's homecoming (more about that in a moment). One is here in the daytime, one at night for our crazy work schedule. Without them we would likely be losing our minds.

Adam is making good progress and weighs about 6 1/2 lbs. He's managed to put together a string of days of weight gain, about an ounce per day. We still have no idea when he will have his surgery, or whether or not he will come home before he has it. He looks better every day that we see him, and is more "baby-like". He's still very small for a 3 month old. His main issues for now, other than the heart problem, are his bottle feeding and his rapid breathing. I hope to have some new pictures of him posted soon.

Grant seems to be growing and changing daily. He has his baby-fat cheeks firmly established. Small wonder since he wants to eat all the time. He smiles when he's awake and laughs when he's sleeping, probably dreaming about how he has us wrapped around his little finger. His hair is still reddish, and we're waiting for the spots that were shaved to grow back in.

That's all for now. I'm going to re-send the link to the pictures to as many people as possible by email, since the link that I post seems to expire after awhile. If you want the link sent to you, email Heidi or me. Don't put your email on this blog as I don't want spammers to get your email address. Until the next post...