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Jacob was born on June 21, 2002 via emergency C-section at 3:16 PM. This blog follows him through the NICU and the graduate nursery to his home—and we'll see where it goes from there!

Friday, September 27, 2002
Wednesday is going to be a very busy day for Jacob--he has both the ultrasound and HIDA scan scheduled for that morning, and after those he goes to see the urologist. The urology exam was scheduled for Thursday, but since we were going to be in Denver anyway, Deb called and they were able to reschedule it, so that will save us another trip to Denver. He has to forego food for four hours before his 9AM appointment, so we anticipate a very cranky little guy all morning--I'm sure it's going to break our hearts! His grandparents will be here, also, so they'll get to see the hospital where he was born and had such good care taken of him.

He's doing fine, eating like a little horse. He's beginning to demand food much sooner than his normal three- or four-hour increments, so we think he might need a bump up in his caloric intake. We'll see the pediatrician on Monday and see what she has to say about it. We'll also get a new weight and length, so we're looking forward to see how much weight he's packed on! Of course we'll post it here soon as we get back from the doctor.

We haven't heard anything on Morgan--we assume that Sue has not been at work and hasn't seen or had time to answer our emails. We continue to hope for the best for both of them. We'll post here as soon as we know something, and thank you to all of you who are keeping them both in your thoughts and prayers.

There was something very interesting in the newspaper this morning, and it's indicative of the great work they do at Presbyterian/St Luke's, where Jacob was born. Check it out.
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 12:40 PM

Tuesday, September 24, 2002
We heard from the doctor today about Jacob's blood test results, and it's not the greatest of news, unfortunately. His gall bladder/liver enzymes have show a slight increase since he was discharged from the hospital, so it looks like the little guy is in for some more procedures. The doctor said it could be caused by about 9 different things, so they are going to start to work to isolate the problem.

First, he'll have an ultrasound so they can look at his gall bladder and the canals that transfer bile around. The he'll have a HIDA scan (also here) where they'll inject him with a dyed radioactive substance and watch his gall bladder and liver work. It appears the most likely problem would be some sort of obstruction. Of the nine things that could be wrong, the doctor said one of them was bad, but it's certainly treatable if it's caught early, so they're going to be aggressive and quick in figuring all of this out.

So again, keep Jacob in your thoughts and prayers, and we'll let you know when he's going to have his tests. He's doing fine otherwise, eating a lot, getting fat and sassy, and he's on a more regular feeding schedule at night now, so we're getting a little more sleep now!
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 1:36 PM

Sunday, September 22, 2002
Well, it HAS been a while since we've posted . . . but honestly, there just isn't that much to report! Jacob is still doing well. He's been eating regularly and copiously, and filling his diapers at the same rate! Still has a bad diaper rash--I don't know if the mixture of Aquaphor and Maalox is doing any good or not. I guess it looks a little better than it did.

We're still waiting to hear the results of his blood test for his bilirubin count. We were supposed to hear something Friday, but called and the doctor wasn't in. We'll hear from him Monday, so everyone keep your fingers crossed that it either went down (best case) or stayed the same (not bad!).

We're waiting to hear an update on Morgan, and are hoping that she's shown a lot of improvement. We'll let you know here as soon as we know something.

Jacob is looking forward to his grandparents coming out for a visit at the end of the month! And he'll have a pediatrician's visit on the day they arrive, so we'll post a weight/length update then. We can see him chubbing up in front of our eyes!
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 4:18 PM

Tuesday, September 17, 2002
Jacob went to Denver on Monday for his pediatric gastroenterology appointment. The doctor poked and prodded him for a bit, then sent us over to Children's Hospital to get a blood test done. When he was discharged, they felt that his direct bilirubin count was a bit high, so they're going to compare it to the reading they'll get this week on his blood test. If it's the same or lower, we'll go back in another month to have another test done just so they can keep an eye on it. I'm not even sure what it is, to tell you the truth--something to do with his liver, I think!

They weighed him while he was there--5 lbs, 8.5 oz, and he's 17 3/4 inches long! Growing like a weed. Check out the new pictures on page 37 in the table to the left.

If you haven't already, read the post directly below this about Morgan, Jacob's next door neighbor in the Level II nursery at St. Luke's. Leave a note of encouragement, and please keep them both in your thoughts and prayers.
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 9:15 PM

Monday, September 16, 2002
Hi Everyone,

You guys have been so wonderful to our little Jacob by keeping him in your thoughts and prayers and we really believe that it made a difference for him. One of his NICU mates, Morgan is in great need of prayers. She was born prematurely on June 15th, so she's 7 days older than Jacob and she's been in the NICU at Presbyterian/St. Luke's since her birth. Below I've pasted an e-mail we just received from Morgan's Mom, Sue updating us on how she is doing. She really needs lots of prayers :-(. If you could also keep Sue in your thoughts and prayers, she's been through so very much! I'm going to print your responses and give them to Sue so she will know how many are keeping her and Morgan in their thoughts.

Thanks Again!
Deb
_______________________________________
E-mail Message from Sue:

The bravest person I know is my daughter.

Well, just when I had some hope that things were coming together, that little flicker of hope has been snuffed out. I'd better warn you that this might be a real downer of a message.

Let's see. Where to start. After much back and forth, it was determined that Morgan needs surgery to do a G tube and Nissen Wrap. Just what you wanted...more vocabulary to learn. A G Tube goes into her tummy and I'll feed her through a tube there. It closes like a beach ball. Nissen is where they wrap a small portion of her stomach around the base of her esophagus to prevent reflux. See, what is happening is that she refluxes and aspirates the reflux into her lungs. That is a dangerous situation. They were going to do the surgery on Thursday (12th) or Friday. But now it turns out that she has RSV (a respiratory virus) and is one sick little girl. So they postponed the surgery to Tuesday. Well, she is not getting over the RSV and in fact, this morning had a temperature of 102, so they have postponed the surgery indefinitely. They don't know what is wrong with her, so they are running a bunch of blood tests and will do a chest x-ray to try to figure it out.

Since she is refluxing after she eats, they have stopped all feeds by mouth, so she just has an IV. Well, she hasn't eaten since 5:00 a.m. on THURSDAY, so she is one hungry little girl and cries inconsolably. They can't sedate her because that would lessen her ability to cough. She looks a wreck. She hasn't slept well for days (combination of being sick and hungry), has black rings around her eyes. I tell you, it is hard to go up there. The other night (Friday) I was visiting her and just as I was about to leave, they did a respiratory treatment (where they pound on her back...it looks like it would feel really good, actually). But during the suction that followed (to get all of the gunk out that she can't cough up) she cried so hard she pulled the IV out of her head. Well, I couldn't leave her then, and she was crying so hard that every IV they put in her (and they hit the vein the first time, every time) the pressure from her crying caused the vein to collapse. So for more than an hour they stuck her repeatedly trying to get the IV going again. I can tell you, that scene will haunt me. Her cries of pain as they stuck her still ring in my ears. But as her mom, how do I leave when they are doing that to her? If I had left 5 minutes earlier, I would have missed the whole thing. Anyway, they finally got the IV going and (thank God) it is still in the same place this morning.

What gets me in all of this is that SHE LOOKS LIKE A WONDERFUL HEALTHY CHILD! She weighs (or at least she did before the IV started) 8 lbs 12 oz. She has a beautiful face and wonderful expressive eyes. She has pudgy everywhere she is supposed to have pudgy. Andrew, Jacob, Halie, Bethany, Brielle, Blake, Cayden have all gone home weeks or months ago. When is it Morgan's turn? This is an experience I wouldn't wish on anyone. Not even someone I don't like very well.

Perhaps my next note to you all will be to say that we are going home. Pray for my little girl, will you?
posted by Deb Shrieves at 11:54 AM

Friday, September 13, 2002
Jacob went to his pediatrician today (well, we had to drive him over there, he doesn't drive yet) and he weighed in at a whopping 5lbs, 7oz! He's been eating like a little lumberjack, so we were gratified that he's gaining weight. As for his diaper rash, the doctor told us to take some Aquaphor and Maalox, make a paste, and use that on his rash. Guess you were right, Aunt Val! The Aquaphor is to protect the skin and the Maalox is to reduce acidity. So, we'll try that and see what happens.

He had to get yet another blood test today--he definitely is not fond of those heel sticks! I think he knows they're coming when someone takes his socks off. They wanted to test his hematocrit level and make sure everything is okay there. Guess we'll hear something if there's a problem. Overall, the doctor said he was doing well and looking good. He goes back in two weeks for another weight check, then for his four-month checkup in mid-October. In November, he'll start getting Synagis to protect him from RSV. Can't have the little guy and his little lungs getting sick--it could really be serious. So, we have to be very careful and keep him away from lots of people and make sure we wash our hands often and that no one else touches him without washing their hands.

The folks I work with had a wonderful surprise when I went back to work on Monday--they had a nice big cake with Pooh and "Welcome Home Jacob" on it. They had a balloon with "It's a boy" written on it attached to a cute little teddy bear, and a card signed by all my coworkers and a very generous gift card for Target! What a bunch of great folks--since Jacob came so early, we never had a baby shower or anything like that, and the folks at netLibrary and MetaText (where I work) were thoughtful enough to wait until we brought him home to help us celebrate! Thanks again, guys!

I'll try and post some new pictures tomorrow--it's getting late here and I'm tired! TGIF!
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 8:51 PM

Wednesday, September 11, 2002
Jacob is doing great! We've really been enjoying him. Hard to believe that he's been home a week as of last evening.

He's continuing to eat well and is still surpassing his minimum daily formula requirement.

Unfortunately, he has quite a bad case of diaper rash :-(. We noticed it the day after he came home from the hospital, so it must have started there and they just didn't notice it. His pediatrician says that the type of formula he is on tends to cause pretty loose stools which can cause bad diaper rash, especially on delicate skin like Jacob's. It's so bad that he has little bloody marks on his little butt, so we've been rinsing him off with warm water and the bulb syringe at every diaper change and then patting him dry and applying creamy Desitin. We're hoping this will help to clear it up. We have a follow-up appointment with the pediatrician on Friday anyway to check his weight and growth, so we'll talk to her about it again on Friday if it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Little Jacob has quite the appointment book so far. I had discharge instructions to call several doctors for follow up appointments. So far, he has the follow up appointment with the pediatrician this Friday and then next Friday he goes to a GI doctor to have his liver function checked since he had elevated levels on his last blood panel at the hospital. Then on October 4th, he goes to see a Urologist for a follow up on his hypospadius. I still have to make a follow up appointment for his ROP and schedule a consult with Tiny Tim, a developmental therapy group. These appointments will be his only time out of the house, as we have strict orders from his pediatrician not to take him out around people until he is at least 11 to 12 pounds as a simple cold or other virus could kill him.

We've been snapping some pictures and will post them soon!

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and prayers!
posted by Deb Shrieves at 12:48 PM

Sunday, September 08, 2002
New pictures of the little guy! Check out page 36 in the table to the left there. These are all at home. Sure is nice having him here! Those little marks you see on his face in some of the pictures are due to his sharp little fingernails . . . gotta watch out for those and keep 'em trimmed!
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 9:08 PM

Jacob is continuing to do well. Needless to say, we are really enjoying having him at home with us! He's absolutely precious and such a joy to be around :-). He is taking his feeds well, so we're very happy about that. He was on a 3 hour schedule at the hospital but they changed his formula from a 24 calorie mix to a 22 calorie mix when they sent him home and that seems to make him want to eat more frequently. Currently, he's eating every one to two hours and usually takes 45 to 60 cc's each time so he's more than meeting his minimum formula requirement each day. He's also sleeping well (when he's not hungry or in need of a diaper change)!

All of the animals in the house have met Jacob and have adjusted to his presence very well. I have a feeling this little guy will be quite an animal lover when he gets a little older!

Well, that's about it for now, nothing much to report other than that we are REALLY enjoying our little boy! It's hard to believe that his due date hasn't even arrived yet, he is due tomorrow (Monday, September 9th)!

We have some pictures to upload, so we'll do that soon.
posted by Deb Shrieves at 3:29 PM

Friday, September 06, 2002
Well, here we are on day three of having Jacob home with us! It's been absolutely wonderful having him here with us and not having to drive 40 miles each way to see our boy! Not to mention not having to snap on rubber gloves and a sweatbox plastic smock to touch him! He's been very good--eating very well, sleeping a lot, only fussing when he needs a diaper change or a bottle refill. We took him to his first pediatrician visit yesterday, and his doctor said he looked very well and was in good shape for being such a little guy. After his pediatrician, he had to go see his eye doctor for a follow-up ROP test. Fortunately, there was a doctor in Boulder who could do it and is part of the same practice the guy in Denver belongs to, so we didn't have to drive to Denver. His ROP is actually regressing, which is a good thing! His eyes are developing as they should, thank God. So, that's a couple of good check-outs, although he has lots more doctors appointments and many more milestones to look forward to.

We uploaded some new pictures, mostly of his last days in the hospital. We'll get some good pics of him here at home and load them to the site soon.
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 3:53 PM

Wednesday, September 04, 2002
Jacob's home--we got him home around 7:30 last night. The discharge process went very smoothly, and we got all sorts of goodies from P/SL. Unfortunately we missed some folks we wanted to say goodbye to personally--Morgan's mom, Nurse Katie, Nurse Christa, Nurse Megan, Nurse Patty, and lot's of other RN's who took such great care of our boy, but we'll be back to see them at some point. Jacob still has some doctor's appointments there, so we'll be going back. We did see Nurse Angela on our way out, which was great! She had Jacob in her room for a lot of his stay in the Level II nursery. We left the address of this web page with them, so maybe they can keep up with his progress that way!

We had a fairly good night with him last night. At least I did--apparently, I sleep more soundly than Debbie, so she was up more than I was with Jacob. But he took his feeds well and it was just great to have him home with us. All the animals were curious about the new arrival, but once they got their sniffs in, they seemed to accept him.

Jacob has his first visit with his pediatrician tomorrow--and that's here in Longmont, less than four miles away! That'll be a welcome change. He still has to have another ROP test, and has several doctors he needs to see over the next couple of months.

We have pictures, of course, and we'll post them soon. Sorry about the comments feature not working so well--this is the second comment hosting company I've tried, but I guess you get what you pay for (they're free). Hopefully it will be back up soon; I hate to keep changing it, as we lose the comments when we do, and we want to keep them all!
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 11:09 AM

Tuesday, September 03, 2002

Jacob comes home TONIGHT!!

Monday, September 02, 2002

Well, we're back home again! It went pretty well last night, although trying to catch a few winks on that medievel torture device they call a Hide-a-Bed was quite a challenge. Jacob woke up about 30 minutes early for every feeding, so that was 10:30, 1:30 AM, and 4:30 AM. Of course after the 4:30 feeding, there really wasn't much sense in trying to go back to sleep, so we just got our stuff ready and hung out with the boy for a while. We had fun being with him, but it's going to be MUCH more comfortable in our own home. Jacob did pretty well with his feeds--he took a couple kind of slowly, but he got it all into him, which is what matters! And of course he was adorable while he did it.

We may have Jacob home as early as tomorrow night! They're doing the car seat test today--that's where the plop the little tyke in the car seat, hook a pulse oximeter to him and make sure his oxygen saturations stay high for half an hour or so. They'll do the VCUG tomorrow, and we'll see what they say tomorrow night, but they seem to think he's going to be home with us sooner rather than later. So, we're REAL excited about that--although this is moving more quickly every time we talk to them. We need to make a run to the store and get some formula and some Huggies for the little guy--fortunately, everything else seems to be ready for him!

We came home this morning and slept another three hours or so--so we feel a bit more rested now! We're going to continue the blog after he comes home--after all, this is the best way for his extended family and friends to keep up with him!
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 4:05 PM

Sunday, September 01, 2002

Weight:2250--fast approaching the 5 pound mark!
Length: 42 centimeters.
Head circumference: 33 centimeters.

We're at Presbyterian/St. Lukes now, in the parenting room. It's pretty comfortable, actually. We came in, changed Jacob's diaper, and put our stuff in the parenting room. Unfortunately, the light bulb fairy had been there and there wasn't a lightbulb or light in the entire room. So we were put into the other room, which is actually a bit larger. We fed Jacob (he took 43 cc's, and Nurse Sally says he's been "snacking" all day--taking full feeds and then waking up an hour later and acting hungry, so she's been feeding him when he wants it). He projectile vomited on Dad, forcing an early T-shirt change. Guess that's what I get for not burping him soon enough!

We're having a great time so far, it's nice to have a baby with no leads hooked up to him, all to ourselves! We'll post more later. . . .
posted by Geoff Shrieves at 9:20 PM