Big sister

She sure does love him.

She is fiercely protective and always watching out for him.

And she always wants to do things for him.

She is such a good big sister.

Surviving

 My mom left yesterday afternoon. 

She was here for two weeks helping and taking care of our kids.

It was a huge blessing to have her here and we miss her.

 Today, I asked Kathryn to babysit Samuel while I took a shower.

She got some toys out and played. She even got one for Sam to play with.

Sweet girl. She has really been such a good little helper.

I locked Maxwell in the bathroom with me while I showered.

He mainly played with this styrafome cooler. What a great toy!

It's noon, and so far we've survived. I think we'll be okay.
But, I suppose that could change at any point:)

Reading

Everyone enjoying some down time. 

I love these pictures. 

Especially the last one with Grandma and Grandpa.

Home

It's good to be home.

Sam will be on oxygen for at least another month or two.

Life will be hectic for a while, but we'll get through it. 

Thank you for all the calls, messages, help, food, gifts and prayers.

We couldn't have done it without our family and friends. 

A love note

I've found myself calling Michael at least 20 times a day,

Just to check up on things. The first time he went home with the kids,

I called several times to check on his plans for dinner.

He texted me a picture later that night of the food they ate.

I guess he wanted to put my mind at ease. 

My mom took care of Max and Kat for a few days while Michael worked.

I called her to see how things were going. She turned her back on Max for too long.

He dumped an entire bottle of root beer on the table and floor. 

The next day, Michael came home and found Max with a cup of yogurt. 

Most of it was on his head and the rest of it was all over his body. 

Nothing was in his mouth. Every time I imagine these scenes, I can't help but laugh.

I got the sweetest message last night from Michael:

I love you more than you could ever know. I admire and cherish you.

I have learned more than ever in the last couple of weeks how much you do for me 

and our family.  I miss you so much. I love you. I love you. I love you.

I love you too honey. Forever and for always.

False Alarm

We had a discharge plan all in place for Monday.

At the last minute, the NICU doctor changed her mind.

He still required oxygen, but they were willing to send him home on it.

We would work with the pulmonologist and pediatrician on weening him off.

His respiration rate was still too high, so they decided to keep him longer.

He had a cardioechogram on his heart yesterday to rule out any problems.

Thankfully his heart looked fine.

It's just isn't normal that he still requires oxygen and is breathing so fast. 

His little body is working way too hard to breathe.

I guess he's not quite as textbook as we thought. 

He's proving to be more of a mystery like his older brother was. 

And we definitely don't want to be discharged one day

And life-flighted back the next day (which is what happened to Max).

Hopefully, they can figure it all out soon!

A little longer

Things always seem to get a little worse before they get better.

Yesterday, Sam was escorted to the bottom level of the hospital for a swallow study.

I had an overwhelmingly eerie feeling as I walked down the hallway.

First we passed the OR where Max had two surgeries almost two years ago.

And then we walked back to radiology, 

where Max had multiple swallow studies and feeding tube placements.

I felt like I was re-living a terrible nightmare.

A few days ago, we noticed a strange noise (stridor) when Samuel ate.

And his oxygen was still all over the place.

There seemed to be a correlation between his feedings and oxygen desats.

So the doctor ordered a swallow study.

Thankfully, the results were much more hopeful than we anticipated.

Now he is on thickened feeds for a while.

This will hopefully help with his stridor and his oxygen requirement.

The doctors and nurses keep reminding us that he was a very sick little boy

And it is going to take him time to recover and prove he is ready to leave. 

We will be here a while longer. It's hard to be patient sometimes.

Somewhat together

I hate being seperated from my family.

A few days ago, Michael went back to our home to take care of some things. 

That first night was so sad. Sam was at the hospital, I was at my sister in-laws,

And Michael and the kids were at our home a few hours away.

None of us could stand being apart, so Michael did what he needed to do at home,

And then he packed up and drove back to the hospital. 

Although we still aren't completely together, we are at least in the same town.

I'll take that for now! 

We call him Sammy D

We've made some good friends since being here.

In fact, one of the nurses called Michael the Walmart greeter of the NICU.

There's something special about being around families going through similar trials.

We are all cheering on and praying for each others babies.

We've been praying really hard for one sweet little boy since last night.

There are so many families with much harder struggles ahead of them.

Their challenges are difficult to imagine, yet they are so strong.

And like us, there are others who are just passing through. 

Being here reminds me of my many blessings in life. I am a lucky woman.

We love you Sammy D. You are awesome! 

A new hat

Sam is doing well today. 

He of course sleeps most of the time, making it difficult to get him to eat.

But he had a great feeding this morning, which left me cautiously optimistic.

He also got a new hat. And that makes him look really, really cute.

Day 7

We got some news from the doctor today.

Another five to ten days. We weren't expecting that.

It's never fun being in the hospital with a child.

All three of ours have been hospitalized for different reasons.

I guess we should be more seasoned this time around.

Of course, we want what's best for Sam. 

Sometimes, we just wish there was a way to speed up the process. 

Thank you again for all the thoughts, prayers and support.

We definitely feel so loved!

Coming along

Samuel's oxygen levels started to stabilize a little more yesterday.

Michael was able to hold him for the first time since being here in the NICU.

They decided to dress him and swaddle him to see if he could hold his temperature.

He did great, so they transferred him from a warming bed to a regular bed.

The nursing staff has been excellent here.

But this is by far Sam's favorite nurse (and our favorite too). We love her!

The last few days...

When Samuel made his early debut, I was hoping that everything would be alright.

Since he was born at 36 weeks, he was admitted to the NICU for observation.  

Unfortunately, he had respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and put on a CPAP to keep his lungs open.

And because our hospital is in between Neonatologists, they weren't allowed to keep Sam on the CPAP for longer than six hours before transporting him to another hospital.

The pediatrician on call in the NICU worked very hard to keep Sam around.  

But, his lungs proved to be more immature than 36 weeks.  He needed to be on the CPAP longer.

So Samuel and Michael were transported by life flight to another hospital.

Before the flight, he had to be intubated and given surfactant.  A second dose was given to him later.
He was on a ventilator for about a day before they pulled out his breathing tube.

We are going on day four in the NICU (five if counting the first hospital).  

And we've been told to expect a one to two week stay.

He is doing well.  He is still on the CPAP, but is coming down on his oxygen levels.

Because of the RDS, he was never able to nurse, so they put him on IV fluids.

Yesterday, they started giving him food through his OG tube for the first time.

And he improved so much today with his feeds.

I was able to hold him yesterday and today.  They encourage skin to skin contact.
I was of course very emotional when they handed him to me.
It's been hard for both me and Michael not to be able to hold our brand new baby.
He also opened his eyes for the first time today.  What a precious little boy.

He is getting stronger every day and moving in the right direction.
He needs to learn how to breathe on his own and then he needs to learn how to eat.
Which is all just a matter of time.  And of course, he is the one setting the pace.

Thank you so much to everyone for your prayers, messages, phone calls and visits.
Thank you so much to our family and friends who are taking care of the things that we can't right now.
We love you all and we appreciate you!  We will try to keep the updates coming.

P.S.  For those who have asked how to comment on our blog...just click on the time at the bottom of the post.

Welcome Baby Boy

Our baby made an early entrance into the world.

He was born at exactly 36 weeks.

Sadly, his lungs weren't quite ready to breath on their own,

Which earned him an unknown stay in the NICU.

Samuel Dale Higbee

July 29, 2013

5 pound 14 ounces, 19 inches