Ryan weighed 4 lbs. 4 oz. last night.
Today, while mom was on a swamp tour with Alec's class, dad went to the hospital to visit Ryan. He watched him being bottle fed and they showed him how we should hold him when he's eating. They also showed him how to do his leg exercies. Joey also held him for a while AND got to change his diaper several times!
Ryan is still on the low flow nasal cannula (oxygen) and is doing well in the crib. We will keep you updated on his progress and any changes made.
Please continue to keep us all in your prayers.
Lisa, Joey, Alec and Ryan
Friday, May 1, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
APRIL 29TH UPDATE
Today I spent a fantastic day with Ryan. He completely amazes me! I can't believe how far he has come since being born 7 weeks ago at 1 lb. 13 oz. He was 4 lbs. 1.7 oz. last night.
I was able to watch PT feed Ryan his bottle. He's still not doing very well with it, but he is making baby steps and doing a little better each time. He's trying to learn how to suck on the bottle, swallow and then breathe. He doesn't always do each step or in the right order, but he's sure trying.
I then got to hold Ryan for about 2 hours, change his diaper a few times, change his outfit a few times and just spend time with him. His being in the crib really makes a big difference in our contact with him. It was VERY hard for me to leave him today.
The rest of the family is doing well. I have an appointment with my OB just to make sure everything is OK. I do feel like I'm "back to normal". It doesn't feel like I had a baby 7 weeks ago. Mostly Joey and I are tired from middle of the night breast pumping, but we better get used to it because once Ryan is home it's going to be baby crying, changing diapers, etc. (but we can't wait). Joey has his architect license and certificate and is working on several projects. Alec is glad school is almost done - less than 1 month left!!! He is looking forward to having his little brother at home. He really doesn't like the hospital and I don't blame him, either do I.
Please keep Ryan in your prayers. They are working miracles for him.
Lisa
I was able to watch PT feed Ryan his bottle. He's still not doing very well with it, but he is making baby steps and doing a little better each time. He's trying to learn how to suck on the bottle, swallow and then breathe. He doesn't always do each step or in the right order, but he's sure trying.
I then got to hold Ryan for about 2 hours, change his diaper a few times, change his outfit a few times and just spend time with him. His being in the crib really makes a big difference in our contact with him. It was VERY hard for me to leave him today.
The rest of the family is doing well. I have an appointment with my OB just to make sure everything is OK. I do feel like I'm "back to normal". It doesn't feel like I had a baby 7 weeks ago. Mostly Joey and I are tired from middle of the night breast pumping, but we better get used to it because once Ryan is home it's going to be baby crying, changing diapers, etc. (but we can't wait). Joey has his architect license and certificate and is working on several projects. Alec is glad school is almost done - less than 1 month left!!! He is looking forward to having his little brother at home. He really doesn't like the hospital and I don't blame him, either do I.
Please keep Ryan in your prayers. They are working miracles for him.
Lisa
APRIL 29TH - BIG NEWS!
Well, we had a really big surprise when we went to visit Ryan last night. He was in a crib!!! We are so excited because it is just one step closer to home. They moved him because he seemed to be staying warm enough on his own and didn't need extra heat added to his environment. They do have him wrapped in a blanket and he has a hat on, but he's doing well.
Ryan is still on the low flow nasal cannula, but I expect they will try to see if he can breathe on his own soon. They took him off of the diuretic and are going to see if the doses he received worked well enough.
Ryan is still working on bottle feeding and hasn't quite got the hang of it yet. Lisa is going up to the hospital this morning to meet with the PT, watch him bottle feed and do Kangaroo Care. We will keep you updated.
Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.
Lisa, Joey, Alec and Ryan
Ryan is still on the low flow nasal cannula, but I expect they will try to see if he can breathe on his own soon. They took him off of the diuretic and are going to see if the doses he received worked well enough.
Ryan is still working on bottle feeding and hasn't quite got the hang of it yet. Lisa is going up to the hospital this morning to meet with the PT, watch him bottle feed and do Kangaroo Care. We will keep you updated.
Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.
Lisa, Joey, Alec and Ryan
Monday, April 27, 2009
APRIL 27TH
Here are Ryan's weights for the last couple of days: Saturday night 3 lbs. 15 oz.; Sunday night 3 lbs. 14.7 oz.; Monday night 4 lbs. even.
Ryan is doing well on the low flow nasal cannula. He is also still on the diuretic and we will see how he is doing by Wednesday and go from there. He is having trouble nippling (eating from the bottle), but that is expected in a preemie.
Lisa visited with Ryan for a while today and held, changed and fed him. She also met with the physical therapist who showed her how to do an exercise to help with Ryan's outward rotation of his legs.
Many of you have asked when Ryan might go home. We still don't know when, but we do know there are certain things he must be able to do before he can leave the hospital. Some of these things are that he must be able to maintain his body temperature (he's not yet, but getting close). He must be able to take 3 bottles a day without problems (he's still working on 1 bottle). He must go 5 days without an apnea or bradycardia episode (so far he's still having 1-3 per day). There are many more, but those are among the most important. It is possible he could come home on some kind of monitor, but we don't know that either.
Basically, we take 1 day at a time, pray, and visit Ryan whenever possible. Lisa goes every single day and Joey and Alec make it about 5 days per week.
For those who have sent Ryan preemie clothes (thank you so much), be on the lookout for pictures with him wearing them. Because he does not have as many monitors and sensors hooked to him (and he's big enough) he can wear his preemie clothes now.
Please continue to keep our darling little miracle Ryan in your thoughts and prayers. He's such a blessing to our family. Also, please keep Lisa, Joey and Alec in those prayers too.
The Fontenot's (Lisa, Joey, Alec and Ryan)
Ryan is doing well on the low flow nasal cannula. He is also still on the diuretic and we will see how he is doing by Wednesday and go from there. He is having trouble nippling (eating from the bottle), but that is expected in a preemie.
Lisa visited with Ryan for a while today and held, changed and fed him. She also met with the physical therapist who showed her how to do an exercise to help with Ryan's outward rotation of his legs.
Many of you have asked when Ryan might go home. We still don't know when, but we do know there are certain things he must be able to do before he can leave the hospital. Some of these things are that he must be able to maintain his body temperature (he's not yet, but getting close). He must be able to take 3 bottles a day without problems (he's still working on 1 bottle). He must go 5 days without an apnea or bradycardia episode (so far he's still having 1-3 per day). There are many more, but those are among the most important. It is possible he could come home on some kind of monitor, but we don't know that either.
Basically, we take 1 day at a time, pray, and visit Ryan whenever possible. Lisa goes every single day and Joey and Alec make it about 5 days per week.
For those who have sent Ryan preemie clothes (thank you so much), be on the lookout for pictures with him wearing them. Because he does not have as many monitors and sensors hooked to him (and he's big enough) he can wear his preemie clothes now.
Please continue to keep our darling little miracle Ryan in your thoughts and prayers. He's such a blessing to our family. Also, please keep Lisa, Joey and Alec in those prayers too.
The Fontenot's (Lisa, Joey, Alec and Ryan)
Sunday, April 26, 2009
APRIL 26TH
We wanted to update you on Ryan's breathing and fluid issue. This morning the doctor said they are going to put him on a diuretic for 3 days to see if they can reduce the fluid. If that doesn't work they will try another medicine for a longer length of time. We aren't getting too worried yet about Ryan having Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia because they wouldn't diagnose it in his case unless he was 36 weeks gestational and he still wasn't breathing on his own.
Otherwise, Ryan is still doing well. His breathing is good and they changed him from a high flow nasal cannula to a low flow nasal cannula yesterday. Lisa did Kangaroo Care with him last night and he did very well! He is still gaining weight and eating well. He is having some trouble with eating from the bottle, but that is not unusual for his gestational age (34 weeks).
He is going to have a physical therapist look at him on Monday. He has an external rotation of his legs. It looks like "frog legs". We have noticed that Ryan does hold his legs in this position most of the time. It is very common for preemie's and there are exercises that can be done to fix it.
Please continue to pray for Ryan and our family. This experience has been and continues to be very difficult emotionally, mentally and physically and is starting to take its toll. There are so many ups and downs in just one day with Ryan, that some days it just drains us.
Thank you to everyone for your continued support.
Lisa, Joey and Alec
Otherwise, Ryan is still doing well. His breathing is good and they changed him from a high flow nasal cannula to a low flow nasal cannula yesterday. Lisa did Kangaroo Care with him last night and he did very well! He is still gaining weight and eating well. He is having some trouble with eating from the bottle, but that is not unusual for his gestational age (34 weeks).
He is going to have a physical therapist look at him on Monday. He has an external rotation of his legs. It looks like "frog legs". We have noticed that Ryan does hold his legs in this position most of the time. It is very common for preemie's and there are exercises that can be done to fix it.
Please continue to pray for Ryan and our family. This experience has been and continues to be very difficult emotionally, mentally and physically and is starting to take its toll. There are so many ups and downs in just one day with Ryan, that some days it just drains us.
Thank you to everyone for your continued support.
Lisa, Joey and Alec
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