I am sitting with Kellen watching him sleep...I didn't realize someone could be so cute while sleeping! ;) Probably all the parents out there already knew, but gee wheez, this kid is cute all the time. Kellen and I are hanging out here while Daddy and Mommy go visit Carson and go to Liz's 6-week appt. Kellen is doing great. His 1-week appt. is tomorrow so we will get to see how much he weighs tomorrow. I think he has gained weight, because his cheeks just keep getting cuter all the time.

Liz had a fantastic 6-week appt and Dr. Vlastos told her she is doing wonderful. I must agree, she has recovered much better than I ever expected. She just needs to follow up in about 6-9 months to do a study on her internal incision to make sure it has healed completely. 

Carson had another uneventful day. He is still the same weight at 6 lbs 6 oz. The doctor's say we just need to get him to gain his Christmas weight like everyone else and we will be doing well. Preston has mentioned drizzling a little chocolate over his feeding and seeing if that will help. :) There won't be any changes that we know of to his ventilator until we can get him trending up on his weight gain. Tomorrow, we believe there will be an ultrasound of his liver to follow-up on the abnormality from last Wednesday. 

Other than that, a lovely day in rainy St. Louis! Doesn't look like it is going to be a White Christmas, but we are just so thankful to God for the gift of his Son, our savior, and our precious little Christmas miracles. Thank you, Jesus! Have fun counting down until Christmas.

I included two pictures, one is of Carson making an OOOO with his mouth...one of our favorite expressions both boys make! It is funny because they have similar expressions. The second is of Kellen...he was sitting after a feeding and just smiling away for at least 5 minutes. What a happy baby!

Posted by Sarah

Short update today...

Carson is doing well. He is up to 6 lbs 6 oz so...definitely progress. The physicians feel it is true weight and not just fluid. We are very happy. Also, he has been started on hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic, in addition to his lasix. The HCTZ is supposed to help more with decreasing the calcium in his urine, and the lasix is better at keeping fluid off his lungs. 

Kellen is doing fantastic and continuing to eat, sleep, and grow! 

Thank you for all your prayers. We will see what this next week brings.

Posted by Sarah

update #2 for today

First, Meme (Grandma) Clark is holding Carson today! :) What a joy to get to hold something so precious and infinitely beautiful! We were so excited she got to be here today and hold Carson.

Essentially, after rounds today, everything is the same. Our number one priority is to get him to gain weight. His weight was up one ounce last night to 6 lbs 3 oz. That is the goal and so we are trying to help him have the least amount of work possible so he can gain some chub! Ventilation is the same. Once they figure out the situation with his liver, a possibility is to add olive oil to help fatten him up. :) I love it:eating olive oil! They are considering another diuretic that will help with the calcium in his urine and continuing lasix (his other diuretic). The neonatologist would rather have him on the dry side due to his lungs, but they are watching that closely. Other than that, Carson gets to eat, eat, eat, and rest and that is all he has to worry about.

Kellen is doing great. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

pictures!

Little man Carson

Little man Kellen

update #1 for today

Yesterday, Carson had an echocardiogram. GREAT NEWS...it was normal. :) His heart had some hypertrophy or thickening of the muscle in past echocardiograms, but now his heart is normal. YEAH!!! In addition, there were no signs of any pulmonary hypertension. We were very happy to hear this. 

He is still higher on his ventilator settings, but at this point, they just want him to grow more and we will work with the ventilator later. We are still waiting to hear more about developments with his liver and calcium in his urine. Nephrology is consulting for his kidneys and will be getting additional labs over the next few days/weeks to monitor his urine. They believe it is not a serious problem, but needs to be watched. We are just waiting on his liver to get the next ultrasound on Tuesday. They don't believe it is active clotting because his labs don't indicate that, but we are just going to watch and wait. 

Yesterday, after I got off work, I drove up to the hospital to see Carson. It just made my heart sing to see Liz holding Carson and he looked so amazing. His color is better and the swelling in his face is better. He just looked so handsome and content. I was very thankful. We will post pictures in a little bit. 

Last night, I was going to try to help Preston and Liz with Kellen's night time feedings. What can I say, they are so efficient and such great parents, they didn't even need my help. I certainly was impressed. :)

Posted by Sarah

update on special prayer request

Yesterday, the doctors worked with Carson's ventilator on the settings to try to help him breathe easier and get better ventilation. At the end of the day, his blood gases were better. After getting blood yesterday, they were able to turn down his oxygen on his ventilator quite a bit. So far, none of his cultures from his trach, urine, or blood have grown anything. This is certainly a positive thing as we do not want any infections on top of everything else. They have increased his feedings to try to help him gain some more weight. His weight was up to 6 lbs 2 oz, but we believe a lot of that is from the blood more than anything. We will all be cheering when he makes it over 6 lbs to stay. 

After reviewing the studies of his liver, they cannot determine exactly what it means... they do not believe it is a clot in a major artery to the liver so believe they can just watch it. Carson will have additional studies of his liver in a few days. They also are watching his kidneys because a couple of those labs came back abnormal. 

All in all, another day on the roller coaster that is the NICU, but we continue to be thankful for the joy Carson is giving us each day and the gift of his life. We continue to pray for healing and will wait patiently and take it one day at a time. 

Kellen, Preston, and Elizabeth continue to fabulous.

urgent prayer request for Carson

Hello family and friends.

Sarah just called with an urgent prayer request. They've had a bit of a challenging day in the NICU with a new nurse and some disappointing news. Carson has what they believe to be a clot in his liver. We are not sure if this has been there or is new but we are asking for prayers as this is investigated further for guidance for the doctors, for grace and peace for Elizabeth and Preston and for the nurses that care for precious little Carson every day - to guide their hands, their actions and their overall care of our baby boy!!

Posted by Alice (Francie's sister)