Monday Morning Bonus Cuteness

A little something extra to start your week in case this Monday morning is looking as dreary for you as it is for me. This is from last night before the wardrobe change... note that Douglas is now sporting nipples... a proud moment for us all. (who knew these came this late... why do boys have them again?)

Paw

6 weeks. Or 33. Or -7. You decide.

Doug's age will always be a tough one to figure, depending on how you look at it. Friday night was 6 weeks from the night he was born. Tonight he turns 33 weeks in terms of gestation period. And, of course, if he were born today he'd still be 7 weeks premature. Whether you look at him as an Aquarius (when he came) or a Taurus (when he was supposed to come), we have to keep in mind what a miracle every day he's with us represents.

This has been a hard one for us at times this past week. He just seems to be progressing so quickly... putting on the pounds (ok, ounces), getting back on the little nasal cannula, mostly regulating his own temperature, and even taking a little milk from a bottle. But, as we were told to remember from the beginning, there will be setbacks, and there have been a few this week. Nothing major, just still having apnea episodes, so we had to cut back on the bottle action and the nuzzling, and now we are holding him for less time when we visit. Every little thing he does, including interacting with us, is alot of work for him given his age, however you measure it.

So, we and his amazing doctors and nurses are just backing off a bit, trying to give the little man some space and time to make these strides at his own pace, rather than rushing him through the paces as we get excited to do.

He did have another series of scans and tests, including his eyes and lungs (both always a worrying point with extreemie preemies) among other things, and everything is looking really good. He just needs to keep growing (he's still at 3lbs 12oz as of tonight, and 14 3/4 inches, for those counting). It does look like he'll be in an open air crib sometime this week, as he's doing fine with his body temp. That will be nice for mommy when she's changing and dressing him, which can be a challenge in 'the box' with all those wires in the way.

But, as you can see below, Maw manages just fine, getting our handsome little boy all dressed as if he's about to grab his backpack and head off to school with his sisters. :)

Chunky Monkey

Just a quick post to let you folks ease into your weekend knowing that Doug has put on another two ounces on each of the last two days, which puts him at 3lbs 12oz, officially double his birth weight. He did some more bottle feeding and a little ninny nuzzlin today, and welcomed me with a poop that would make any papa proud. I got to change him (never thought I'd be saying that) and dress him and get him good and snuggly before going back to work, leaving him just as you see him here.

All is pretty good in the Austin Wilsons' household and at St.David's NICU... but believe it or not, we could use those prayers aimed at Shreveport again, where Faye Schuler, my 92 year old grandmother now occupies the very same hospital room that my brother Clint vacated the week before, apparently having suffered a minor heart attack and possibly a minor stroke. My mom, ever the dutiful daughter, is keeping constant vigil with her, as she isn't the best patient in the world. So please send all that energy that has done so much for lil Doug to Betty Wilson to keep her strong and healthy during this incredibly trying time.

We love and miss you mom, and Duggie can't wait to meet his Meemsie in easier times for both of you.

Sweet Duggie

Well, we've had a few wonderful things happen over the last 48 hours for little Doug. I woke up at 6 a.m. yesterday morning to pump and called the hospital to check in. They said he weighed in at 3 pounds 8 ounces! We thought it was probably a mistake but the nurse said she weighed him 4 times on 2 different scales. When I checked in this morning I expected a loss but NO, he was still at 3.8 and even gained 20 grams over night.
Also yesterday they put him back on the nasal cannula and he is doing very well with no apnea. It was great to see his entire face again and he seems so much more comfortable. When I arrived today I was greeted by another surprise. Today, for the first time since his birth, I was able to feed him! They took the feeding tube out of his mouth and placed it in his nose, to make taking a bottle more accessible. For his first try he did great...taking in 10 cc's of breast milk with little problem, even burping on his own. For now, I'll be able to bottle feed him once a day and slowly increase it as he grows. I can also start putting him up to my breast, nuzzling and trying to get him to breast feed. He was adorable sucking on the bottle and it felt amazing for me to hold and feed him.

And as you can see below, he seems pretty darn happy about all of it too!

3.3 and E.T.

Don't call it a setback...

Ok, so it sucks that Duggie has those big tubes across his little face again, with all that tape. But on the upside, he's apparently comfortable, with very little apnea, and just as importantly he's growing. And as another silver lining benefit, as you'll see in the picture above and the video below, the tape pulls his nose and already-slanty eyes down in such away that he kinda looks a lot like a little alien love child, with depth and wisdom beyond our galaxy. Especially in his little Easter bonnet left by some local do-gooder crafts/charity folks in Austin. So there.

We had our dear friends Lightning and Syn with us this Easter weekend, which was a very welcome distraction and great company. These guys are the ones we were going to visit with in Fiji (along with a big crew of their other friends and family) before we got so suddenly and miraculously diverted. They are wonderful friends anyway, but the fact that they flew here from San Francisco to visit with us and see Douglas with their own eyes, just after they got back from a 3 week trip to Fiji and New Zealand, demonstrated again just how special they are. The further we get along in this life, the more evident it becomes that all that really matters is friends and family. But then I guess we already knew that.

Here's to that, and here's to lil DuggiE.T.

Paw

A Little Set Back

After Doug was taken off of the c-pap on Tuesday, he did very well on the nasal cannula for a few days but then began to get tired. This is something the doctors said to expect, especially since they were trying this out a week early, pushing him a bit to see if he was ready. So, on Friday he was put back on the c-pap and has done amazingly well, only one apnea episode all weekend. Attached is a picture of him right before they covered up his sweet little nose with tape again. They plan to switch him back to the nasal cannula later this week and give it another try. Also, this week, if he does make the switch successfully, they'll start to try to feed him from a bottle a bit. His weight gain has slowed some during all of this...he's up to 3lbs 2 oz. Yesterday they increased his feeds and added more supplements, hoping they can fatten him up a little quicker. He has seemed very comfortable all weekend, sleeping a lot and seeming more awake and aware when we hold him. He's really been checking us out and making eye contact.

Chillin at Three, Feelin Free

Hey, everybody... thanks again for checking in. Sorry we missed a day, I know some of you worry (because you let us know pretty quick!). Rest assured Doug is still doing well, now FREE of that C-pap and its big tubes that were held on with all that tape across his face. This was a great surprise for us yesterday morning, and sweet Whitney Hadwin was there to enjoy it with us. Douglas is now on the last and lowest of the breathing support, a nasal cannula just like any of us might wear in the hospital. It's still taped on with some round band aids that keep his little face scrunched up, making those sweet cheeks even puffier, but the important thing is we can see him! We can see his whole face, and he can see us. He's looking around a lot more when he's awake now, since before he mostly saw those giant tubes and little else.

He did lose a couple of ounces a few days back, right after that crazy jump up to 3.0, but he's now back at that weight and we expect him to start gaining steadily.

He's also doing great with the incubator heat turned down lower and lower, and we expect him to be out of the box and into an open crib next week. These might seem like little things, but once he's out of there and regulating his own temp, all that is really left is for the apnea to stop (usually that wiring that tells them to keep breathing and keep the heart going at all times starts to solidify at 32 weeks, which is next week) and for him to put on some more weight.

Now that he's wearing clothes, Melissa was able to go shopping for him and get him... oh... a DOZEN or so preemie outfits, which was wonderful for her. It really is starting to feel like he's actually going to be coming home before we know it, even though we probably have another 5-6 weeks.

As you can hear from the video below, we also got him a little sound system set up in his incubator so that when he's not listening to stories read by his sisters on cassette tape, he can listen to some classical, some Jack Johnson (prescribed by his mother), and of course some Beatles and even a little Led Zeppelin (prescribed by his father). He seems to like it, as you can see.

In other news, my brother Clint got to go home yesterday, after a month in the hospital. I can't wait to hear his "further tales from the other side" when I see him next. Way to give em hell again, big brother.

Another Milestone!

Today when we entered the NICU, we received a very nice surprise. It seems that our boy is now big enough to start tapering off of his temperature controlled incubator. He was dressed for the first time in his little life. He had on a very cute preemie size onesie and was swaddled in a blanket. They are slowly turning down the heat in the incubator since he is getting big enough to start controlling his own temperature. Within a week he will hopefully be moved out of the incubator and into a crib.

I can't begin to describe to you how it felt for us to see him dressed and wrapped up in a blanket. We were both able to hold him for a very long time today, Mike transferring him from his arms to mine with no trouble at all, except for a few wires in the way.

The doctor on call today said he was doing great and they plan to take him off of the c-pap(the large tube delivering supplemental air pressure and sometimes oxygen) by next week hopefully.

Here's a quick video of some extremely cute hiccups and sneezes. Definitely turn up the sound for this one.

Doug gets two new playmates!

Wow... so I added Google analytics to Duggie's blog a couple of weeks ago, just out of curiosity , wondering just how many people were really checking in on him... we knew it was a lot, but its pretty cool to see just how many and from where.

In the last 10 days or so he's had 540 visits from 173 'absolute unique' visitors from 22 States and 7 other countries/territories (Ireland, France, U.K., Puerto Rico, Russia, Germany, and Uraguay!?). Pretty crazy stuff for a kid who's technically is 2 months away from being "0", and if all those folks are sending the good vibes, no wonder he's doing so well! Thanks so much to all of you for checking in on us and our little man for his first whole month. It's a wonderful feeling knowing you're all out there, spread out all over, but every one of you solidly in our family's corner.

It's been a great week for babies in our clan... Douglas hit 3lbs on his 1 month birthday, and we welcomed two other new baby boys into our amazingly wonderful extended family. Josh and Sasha Held, our dear friends in NYC, welcomed Maxwell Alexander Held into their family on the 13th, and Todd and Belinda Coleman from right here in Austin added Jonah Tyler Coleman to their new family unit on the 14th. Big congrats to both... we can't wait to get all these boys together to play when Duggie catches up in size a bit. :)

Above is a recent pic of our little guy.

On March 9, 2008, I finally had the pleasure of meeting Douglas Wilson in person. I met his daddy at the doors of the NICU, and he informed me that Doug was out of the incubator (his little condo) - talk about perfect timing!! I scrubbed in; Mike masked me; and we were off! I found Doug resting with his mom, lying on her chest. I immediately said hello (I thought I'd actually say a proper hello and save the ebonics talk for later). He opened his eyes as widely as possible and stared at me as if to say hello back!!! It was pretty amazing. Later, Andi Grace came in too and made a remark about his little hands and fingers. Doug promptly responded with a peace sign. It was really remarkable - as if he understood us and maybe thought he would show off a little. What a wonderful day - the first time I got to meet Doug Wilson! I can't wait to spend more time with this charming little lad!

Three Pounds!!

That's right...our little guy has grown 6 oz. in TWO days. The nurse didn't believe it either, and even weighed him twice. Thursday night he jumped from 2.10 to 2.12 and last night he went up to 3 POUNDS! He's even starting to get an extra chin. Other than the amazing growth spurt, he is doing great. He barely has any apnea and is well on his way to getting that tube out of his nose. He also turned one month old yesterday! Attached is a picture we took of him yesterday. Daddy took a turn holding him and we caught him sneaking those middle fingers in his mouth. Now, for those of you who know our daughter Deaven, this made her very proud. She began sucking her two middle fingers in the womb and, well, she's 16 and still sucks them on occasion.

Little Big Man (by Andie Grace)

I was overjoyed when Mike and Melissa decided that my family didn't need to cancel our planned visit to Austin because little Duggie arrived earlier than expected. Although I did not want to impose, and was set to wave off and wait for a later time to visit, I was eager to get down to Texas from San Francisco and see my friends with my own two eyes, and see that they were doing okay and hug them and let them know how much I am thinking of them all. Likewise, I was praying I'd get a chance to meet the new Mr. Wilson myself, and I was not to be disappointed.

All the week leading up to my visit to the NICU, I was nervous. Being that I tend toward tears at the drop of any emotion, even happiness, I was afraid I'd take one look at Doug and lose it completely... which didn't seem a very helpful thing to do in front of a Maw and Paw who above all else probably need those of us around them to remain as hopeful and strong as they have been in all of this. I watched Melissa dutifully pumping every 3 hours around the clock, and working so hard to care for her family and still try to take care of herself, and suffering through a spell of under-the-weather while keeping a sweet smile on her face and welcoming us houseguests with famous Wilson hospitality. I saw them all at their house keeping it together, trying to on with life during the waiting period, while probably screaming inside with the aching for the day they can bring the baby home.

I wanted to be strong for my friends. But I cry, dang it. I cry at everything. Hell, I will cry at a dog food commercial if it catches me off guard. Nonetheless, I wasn't going to miss out on this chance to greet Duggie, so I braced myself. I steeled my nerves for how small he'd seem (especially since I'm used to looking at my own 4 month old daughter right now, an absolute giantess by Doug standards), for how helpless he'd seem, for how scary it might be to see such a tiny person outside of his mama's womb. I braced myself for him to look uncomfortable, to be all bundled up, almost unrecognizable as a human being under wraps and tape, tubes and wires. He's really cute, I'd manage, trying not to choke on my tears, gritting my teeth at how awful it would feel. But I had to meet him for myself...so I strode across the parking lot and into the doors of St. David's.

Mike met me at the nurses' station and I scrubbed and masked up, following him down the hall to the NICU. I stepped inside the curtain, and was greeted with a wonderful sight: a relaxed-looking little baby, curled up with his eyes closed, sighing on his mama's bare chest, his little hatless head showing off a fine shock of dark hair. His fingers were grasping a bit at the cannula in his nose, and I was struck by how coordinated his tiny hands were already, despite their size. He only had one very small IV for antibiotics, and Mel told me it was set to come out later that day, and a little tube for feeding him his delicious mama's milk, which I could imagine must be the most soothing and wonderful sensation in the world for him. He breathed slowly and moved calmly and seemed, to me, actually happy and relatively comfortable, looking every bit like you'd imagine a little baby would look when snuggled up to mama, safe and warm...small, yes, but so very, well...baby.

I realized quite suddenly that I wasn't crying at all. In fact, I felt relieved to find him looking far more comfortable and relaxed than I expected. And actually, I found myself smiling behind my surgical mask from ear to ear, feeling safe in his presence, his very existence a distinct reminder that miraculous things happen in this world and it's okay to have hope and to believe that the people you care about really are special in their strength and capacity for love. He's so cute, I said, and meant it.

And the funny thing is, sure, he's very small, but somehow, once I saw him, he didn't seem so tiny after all. In fact, I felt, when you think about how much love and hope and strength he represents, he seems downright enormous.

Boring Baby Boy

Not much to say about Douglas lately really... he's doing alot of sleeping and eating (up to 200 cc's a day now) and wiggling around whenever he can, free of all IV's, with just the little red light on his foot still, which lights up the whole thing. His little head and face look alot more comfortable without the mask squeezing down over the bridge of his nose or the tight strap holding the nasal mask in place, and his ears seem to be forming cartilage now, free from wearing that snug cap all the time. (you can still flop them over and they'll stay in place, like a puppy's ears, but not for long... we'll miss that in a way).

He still has the c-pap keeping some extra pressure in his lungs (just regular room air) so he doesn't have to work so hard... we want all his calories to go to putting on weight, which is the very best thing he can do right now. This new cpap has resulted in FAR fewer apnea episodes, and he seems more comfortable than we've seen him. He's up to 2lbs 10 oz now and growing every day.

He'll turn 1 month old tomorrow (or negative 2 months, depending on how you look at it), and will get his 30 day checkup, including an MRI and an eye exam soon. Both important milestones for the little man that we look forward to getting behind us.

After that, it's a couple more weeks probably til he's off the breathing assistance and moved to the quieter, developmental bay hopefully, where we can hold him more often since he's not connected to all the monitors and c-pap.

My amazing wife is holding up beautifully (quite literally), religiously pumping milk for her little miracle boy and we're still heading to the hospital every day at the same time to deliver the fresh milk, have a visit, pump some more fresh milk, hold him during 'kangaroo care' time, and then rush home to pump again. We are so very lucky to both be able to keep visiting him daily... it's apparent that this is a luxury most of the NICU parents do not have... most have 'real jobs' or kids too young to leave at home and so have to visit less often. We can't imagine how hard that must be. We also still have delicious homecooked food being delivered to us every weekday, thanks to our incredible friends here in Austin, and the Millers (the most incredible of all) for organizing the care calendar. They also have Halen out at the ranch with them for Spring Break this week, which has been a huge help and a great treat for her... she loves her some Millers and some Circle Dug Ranch time.

Good news about my brother Clint as well! He's doing much much better, fully off all breathing assistance, and I'd guess getting ready to go home. His MRI showed a "normal" (for a Wilson) brain and his sense of humor seems to be toying with those around him and enjoying the whole thing more than anything else. He recently demanded his son's sunglasses and wore them in the hospital bed all afternoon, and explained to my mother that he'd caught a 14lb bass in his fishing trip the night before. Ah, ICU dreams.

OK... ending this marathon post now so we can head in. Here's a pic of them measuring his little head the other day, and another video of Halen's tape recording, because it's just about the sweetest thing I've ever heard in my life.

Thanks for reading,

Paw

The Pig in a Wig

No, not baby Duggie. The Pig in a Wig is a book that big sis Halen read to her new baby brother. As most of you know by now, no one under 18 is allowed to enter the NICU. Doug's big sisters only got to see him for a very brief moment right before he was taken to St. David's. We try to take lots of pictures and contraband video for them, so they can see that he's o.k., and watch him grow.
We were told that we are allowed to bring in music or a tape recorder to put in his incubator so he can hear his sister's voices. Halen decided to read one of her favorite books to her brother and here is a little glimpse of him snoozing away, sucking occasionally and listening to the story of the perfect pig.

Duggie Has Had A Big Week

Baby D was born 3 weeks ago on Friday! We are at day 22 in the NICU and yesterday he completed his 21 day round of antibiotics. This is great news, because he finally was able to get the very large iv out of his tiny hand. The doctors say that one less tube is one less potential cause for infection. He now just has the little tube in his mouth that he's getting his 21 cc's of breast milk every 3 hours and any other meds he might need. He's currently weighing in at 2.7 lbs...(and 10 grams) this morning.
He still has had a lot of apnea and we got a call in the middle of the night last night from the doctor. Of course, the phone ringing at 1 a.m., is pretty damn scary but the doc wanted us to know that they have switched his nose tube to one that has longer prongs going down his nose, so he can more efficiently get his room air level of oxygen. I checked in this morning, and he has done very well on it so far. This is also good news because the mask he was wearing every 6 hours was making a little indention in his nose.
Attached is a great picture of me holding him on Thursday. They keep him all bundled up in his bed, so as soon as he got on my chest, he completely stretched out and wrapped his legs around my waist like a little spider monkey.

Tough Guys Wear Pink!

Tough Guys Wear Pink!

That's right...Baby D was given a new pink hat yesterday. Now, normally we'd have something to say about that, but the next size up in hats just happens to have a pink trim on it. So this is very good news that Douglas graduated to the bigger hat. He's also up to 2.6 lbs. as of last night! Those apnea episodes have happened a little less over the last 48 hours, which is great. They stress mom and dad out way more than they do him or the nurses and docs. I also was able to hold him again yesterday for the first time in 2 days because his apnea was less frequent. He laid on his side and was perfectly content....so was I.

Video Contraband Test

So we're not really allowed to shoot video in the NICU for whatever reason... but a sneaky dad and a good lil digital cam can't be stopped for long. Now to see if it'll actually work on this blogger thing...

This clip was taken a few days ago during one of his breaks where they change out the nose prongs for the mask or vice versa, and offer a rare glimpse of life without the hat and breathing support tubes. Douglas is breathing fine here fully on his own power, looking around, and, to my eye, loving it.

The apparent bruises on the little man's face are not actually bruises but just some dark something on the tape on his sweet little mug. Turn up the volume to hear puppy noises and his world famous hiccups. Enjoy.

Bumps in the Road, Part One

Well, no sooner than we tell you that Douglas is doing great, he hits his first real speedbumps ... nothing unusual (for extreemie preemies at least) but scary and stressful nonetheless. Basically with babies this young, all the wiring isn't quite solid for their brains to remind their bodies to breathe, or keep a regular heartbeat, etc. Doug had almost no problem with this during his first 2 weeks, but the last couple of days he's had more than a few episodes.

When this happens, his little alarms go off, and the nurses come over, first just to watch him and see if he recovers on his own (nine times out of ten), and then if his blood oxygen which is monitored constantly goes too low for too long they start to prod him a bit... usually a little stimulus is all it takes... but if that doesn't work they turn up his O2 levels and put a tiny bag over his mouth to give him some breaths if needed.

Now this was going on ALL the time with all the other babies around our little miracle child, but he had been completely solid on the breathing and nearly alarm free, save for the times he'd squirm out of his sensors. But apparently this is also common... they call it the 'honeymoon period' that sometimes happens. And now they say he is starting to 'show his age' a bit more.

The good news is that he's still very much within 'we're not worried' limits and he's surrounded by great docs and nurses all the time. He had just gotten us spoiled with his flawless performance during the Really Scary Time. It's as if he knew maybe we wouldn't be able to handle any additional drama then, but maybe we can deal with it now since we're NICU veterans.

Unfortunately my brother Clint is still on a respirator as well, with a blood clot in his lung in addition to apparent pneumonia, which is of course, in addition to chronic asthma and the flu he had when he came in. He is heavily sedated (thankfully, I'm sure) to avoid fighting the ventilator while they try to resolve the clot and the rest, but when awake is still responsive to nurses' questions by blinking. My poor saint of a mother sends me updates nearly every day, and I'm hoping for a better one tomorrow.

Thanks once again to our amazing friends and family for pouring on the love and support during this difficult time. Its been a blessing that I, nor all the amazing girls and women in my clan going through this with me, will not forget.

Lastly, sorry to all of you who were permanently scarred by that completely unauthorized, inappropriate, and probably dangerous posting of the "strangely red baby on disgustingly white and hairy beer belly" photo yesterday. I hope the shot above is more to your liking and good health. Its of Duggie doing his usual stretches after being turned back over from belly to back.

Dad

Grow Baby Grow

Baby Doug is doing great. He's up to 2.4 lbs. and the doctor said he would gain about 1 oz. a day, on average. They did decide to keep him on the antibiotics for one more week, so he'll have that iv in for a little longer.
We are able to hold him everyday and today Mike took a turn again. They keep him bundled up when he is in his bed but when we hold him, he loves to stretch out and wiggle around a bit. If he looks a little red in this picture, it is for a couple of reasons...daddy's tummy is very white ;) and they gave Doug blood yesterday, so they said his skin would look red for a few days.
He hasn't had many of those set backs they keep telling us about, except for a little sleep apnea, which is to be expected.
I wanted to say a special thank you to Amy Miller for gathering our friends who wanted to pitch in and organizing a months worth of dinners for us. Thank you to everyone who is taking the time this month to prepare meals and bring them to us.
Dr. Su, one of the several doctors that has been caring for Duggie, said expect things to get good and boring from here on out. Mostly just lots of sleeping and eating on Doug's part and daily visits to the hospital to watch him eat and sleep, on our part. Like we told the doc, after the two weeks we have had, a little boring will be nice for a while.