ParkLand Log (formerly the Lando-Log)

Landon continues to thrive in his new condo. He did lose 10 grams from yesterday, but we think that’s because he felt he needed to try and fill up the new diaper. The night doctor also went ahead and turned his cannula down to a pressure of 1 (a little scary after the last attempt at such low numbers). While the day doctor said he probably would have waited, since the orders were given, the pressure went down. And… good ol’ Landon seems to be holding his own. He should remain at a pressure of 1 now for a few days and then they may switch him to his very last kind of cannula. On the last cannula, they have the ability to lower pressure to levels below 1 (like .8, .6 and so forth) until he no longer needs breathing help. Once he is on that cannula, he will be more easily transported so that Jay, Landon and I can sit in more private areas away from the other babies and commotion.

By the way, because Landon’s name has no easy nick names….people have been creating all kinds of things…like Lanny, Lan, buddy, little guy, and so forth. Though you can feel ftree to call him what you like, I kind of like the one Omi just came up with….Landy. What do you think Daddy…does Landy sound good to you? It’s original.

Real-estate is a hot commodity in the Santa Clara NICU right now. Since it is a sellers market, Landon has decided to cell his Giraffe Mansion and trade it in for a Portable Condo…yes that’s right…Landon is moving to a new isolet (the kind for more stable babies).

We got the word a few days ago that Landon would soon be moving into a new isolet. This isolet is the next step towards his journey home. The new isolet is a place for babies who are doing well and who don’t need all the fancy equipment attached to the giraffe’s. So, not only will Landon be making a move, but he will have one less cord attached to him too! Landon could have spent a few more days in the giraffe, but apparently they need a giraffe for incoming patients, and Landon has been doing so well he was the next baby to move. We are so proud of our little guy! He is now that much closer to coming home. As long as the mortgage goes through (he remains stable throughout the next few hours), Landon will be in his new condo when we visit him tonight =).

In other news, Landon also gained 50 grams today (guess he was tired of losing weight the last few days). This could be because they increased his calories to 28 per feeding. So far, he seems to be liking the new calories. They also lowered his cannula pressure to 1 1/2 last night. Guess he didn’t stay at 2 for long. He seems to be doing very well at 1 1/2. When he makes it down to a 1, they will change out his nasal cannula for a new kind which he will keep for awhile. But, once he is on the new kind he will get to try bottle feeding. The new nasal cannula usually comes with the Condo’s, so we will see tonight if he stays with the old cannula or gets the new one. Either way, it looks like bottle feeding is in our future.

There is just so much good stuff happening right now…we like it when the roller coaster is smooth.

I cannot believe it is March 1st. Time seems to move so slow at times, but in retrospect, it is amazing to me that it is already March. We are expecting/hoping for Landon to come home in 5-6 weeks which would put us in the month of April. I really can’t wait for April. Landon continues to do very well. Today has, so far, been a repeat of yesterday. Landon is down 5 grams again and his cannula pressure remains at level 2. He is just doing so darn well, we are so proud of him. The weight loss is no biggie and we are relieved they are keeping his pressure at 2 (last time they dropped him too fast, his lungs partially collapsed). However, things change in the NICU so quick that by the time we see him tonight his pressure may be down to 1 1/2. Whatever the pressure, we know Landon will do well because his desats are so few (if he gets them at all). Landon continues to give signals that he wants a bottle. Besides still trying to dislodge his feeding tube, he is beginning to suck very well on a preemie pacifier that his Aunt Kelly gave him. It is so cute to watch him try so hard to get food out of the pacifier that is almost as large has his whole face. Just keep growing Landon; someday you won’t believe how small you really were.

Today is Landon’s official 1 month birthday. I think he may go in the record books as one of the smallest 1 monthers ever. Today he weighed in at 930 grams… just under 2 pounds 1 ounce; every gram counts. The transfusion is continuing to prove its worth. They dropped Landon’s cannula pressure to 2.5 and he is holding his own very well. When the doctors said they were ready to ween him off the cannula, they were not kidding. In 2 days he has gone down two levels. Hopefully this time, with the help of the new red blood cells, his lungs will stay open and strong. For his one month birthday Landon is set to have a head ultrasound checkup. We will let you know the results when we get them…I know it will not be until much later tonight. All preemie babies get the one month follow up, so we are not anticipating any changes. Still, we can all keep our fingers crossed. He was also scheduled for his first Hep. B vaccine. Apparently the size of the baby does not matter to recieve the vaccine, but because he is so small and there really arn’t many studies, Jay and I asked the doctor to hold off on the vaccine until month 2. Luckily, the doctor agreed. Since Landon will be in the NICU for his 2 month b-day, he doesn’t need to worry about Hep B. And, if he is released sooner, they can give it to him as he is discharged. So…Happy Birthday Little Guy, we saved you from a shot.

Well Landon has been hearing all about the Winter Olympics and has decided to join the Austrian Team. Apparently their athletes have good access to the transfusion equipment he needs!

He really was doing great today. Very few apnea spells and the few we saw he self recovered (which mean they don’t really count). He looks a little bit like a bright red turnip though, but it seems like the transfusion really did the trick. Anyway he’s now upt to 925 grams and still eating like a champ. Keep growing buddy!

Today Landon is 4 weeks old! He now weighs 890 grams (17 shy of the two pound mark). We keep whispering in his ear that his Uncle Greg is coming to see him tomorrow and that 2 pounds would be a great size to show off. But, Landon is playing with us by having only gained 10 grams since yesterday. We’ll have to see if he makes it or not. Everything else is the same. His cannula is still at the pressure of 4 and he continues to have his apnea spells. Yesterday he had quite a few. Today he seems to be doing better, but it is so hard to tell. He still looks around a lot when we are there and he has even begun to wink at the nurses =). He is becoming quite the young man already.

Landon the Pirate!

“Arghhh Matie!!!”

“Dad with Landon”

“Close up of Landon”

Landon continues to kick up his heels and sail through his time in the NICU. Today he lost 5 grams of weight so he is now 800 grams…must of had a lot in his diaper this morning. They checked him for infection and all his results came back negative. They wanted to make sure his drop in oxygen (desats) that he gets sometimes were not from bacteria or a virus. It appears he is just desating like normal preemies do.

Holding him last night was fantastic. His eyes were open for a long 10 minutes or so, during which he focused on mom’s and dad’s faces. He is also learning to track movement with his eyes which you can see by moving a finger in front of his face very slowly. More and more frequently he has been sucking on his feeding tube and has even begun lapping his tongue around like a small kitten. All of this indicates that he wants to feed, which is good news in a 29 weaker. He won’t have the chance to eat on his own until the nose cannula is turned lower, but we know he will be interested once given the chance. He also picked up his head and completely flipped it over to the other side all by himself. He is truly getting stronger each day. The nurses have even commented that he has begun to make noises and sometimes wail when things are not going his way. Sometimes he is so loud they look at the bigger babies and then realize it is Landon. All of these things are positive steps as he develops into a bigger infant and show us just how strong he is.

Today Landon weighed in at 775 grams (1lb 11oz) gaining 25 grams from yesterday. The docs also upped his caloric intake by 2 calories (total of 26 calories per ounce of milk). They add a yummy fatty oil to the milk on top of the formula supplement. He is really enjoying life CPAP free, so much so that they continue to lower the amount of air flow. He’s also starting to suckle on a pacifier, although he really can only fit the tip of it in his mouth. He’ll be ready for breast/bottle feeding in no time!

Landon seems to really enjoy his new nose cannula and we enjoy it too. We can see his face, move him around without it popping out, and basically have a more enjoyable time with him. Here are some pics to show off his new digs.

 

 

“Dad (and that hairy chest) and Landon”
  

 

 

“Landon in Bunting”
  

 

 

“Landon with Nose Cannula”
  

By the way Sean Connery and I are trying to bring back “chest-appeal”.

Today Landon demonstrated for us his hiccups (this was the first we’d seen or heard of this). He sounded much like a mouse – breathe..squeak – breathe..squeak – breathe..squeak. His feeding tube was back in (it’s very easy to put them in/take them out) although when I held him the cap on the tube popped off and I got a shirt full of chunky-regurgetated breast milk…ewwwww. So let’s see, I’ve been pee’d on and breast milked on, I think we all know what comes next! Otherwise he’s doing very well.

Tonight went much better for Landon. He was nice and settled when we arrived in the NICU tonight, so daddy got to hold him. We had just placed Landon on daddy’s chest and gotten his wires settles when Landon decided things were going way to easily… so he peed on daddy’s stomach and shirt. Jason has gotten the first official “blessing” by Landon. After a quick clean up and a fresh diaper (yes, daddy was still holding him) Landon was all set to settle into a peaceful slumber. At one point he did move around a bit and wailed so loud, the nurse turned around and asked, “Is that Landon?” He must be practicing his crying for when he comes home. After the wailing (yes, it breaks your heart), he settled in nicely, even pulling out a few more of Jay’s hairs. Who needs professional hair removal when you’ve got Landon.

On another note – Landon has a belly button! His cord has fallen off and his cute little belly has a nice new belly button. Right now, it looks like an upside down, stretched-out smiley. It is so darn cute. We will have to get pictures of it later. And, as his hair is growing, it is beginning to grow fuzzy so that it sticks out on the sides. Right now, the color is that Lanugo White/Blonde, but it seems to be getting darker as time progresses. You can almost see it in the “Loungin’ Landon” picture.

Hope all of the updates today have made up for yesterday.

Wish I new how to post the pictures, but i’ll have to leave that up to daddy.

This morning we visted Landon around 11:00. He was very squirmy and not a happy camper when I held him, so we had to cut the visit short. His vitals are good, he just could not get comfortable for some reason. We know there will be days when we can’t hold him, but it is still hard for us. Hopefully tonight he will be more settled, so he can bury his head in daddy’s chest. As far as his health goes, Landon gained another 10 grams. We could not be happier as we thought his weight would have dropped today. He is now 740 grams! They also stopped giving him caffeine because his heart rate is still high. It is better than before, but still high. The doctor’s and nurses keep telling us not to worry, that sometimes premies have no cause for high heart rates. Do they know that they are dealing with neurotics here??? They also turned the pressure down on his Cpap so he is now getting a pressure at level 5, and still on room oxygen. The nurse informed us that he had a great night too! Yeah, Little Guy.

Auntie J – We put the hippo Landon got for Xmas in his incubator. We want to remind him to become a hippo, and so far it seems to be working. Everyone keeps asking if I made it; if only I had the talent.

Besides a little hernia (which preemies often get) Landon’s doing good. He actually had the hernia the other day and we just found out today. It was so minor that they didn’t want to worry us (they just push it back in)!!! As long as it pops back in it’s nothing to worry about.

Other than that his nose cpap setting came down from 7 to 6 (less pressure) and he is still getting no added oxygen. Hopefully they’ll be able to slowly ween him off it. He’s getting extra calorie packets added to his milk and soon they might add even more with this fatty/crisco stuff (yum). He was back up to 700 grams today!

Landon’s brain scan came back with no change from last week. They keep increasing his feeding and he seems to be tolerating it, although he lost 10 grams today (690 grams). It’s normal for it to go up and down a little, we just like it when it goes up!

For his weekly birthday the nurse took out his last IV so now he only has a feeding tube, the nose cpap, and a few sensors. He also reached his original birthweight today (700 grams) which for his size usually takes about 4 weeks! Good job buddy.

Today is also Grandma’s birthday too! Happy birthdays all around.

Wanted to give you all a quick update so that no one has to wait for too long. Today we visited around 11:00 and Landon was holding up. His oxygen levels were increased slightly for short periods of time because his lungs were getting tired. Landon is a shallow breather and sometimes he likes to “take breaks”. It scares us, but it seems to be very common in premies of his size. The nurses don’t seem worried at all, but I can’t wait to go back tonight to see how he is holding up. Landon has gained another 10 grams so he is now 690. Still a small guy…but he is almost back to birth weight which is great because they told us it could have taken 30 days. It looks like he will reach birth weight for his 2nd week birthday. They continue to increase his feedings so that around 5:00 tonight he should only be on oral feedings. If all goes well, he should be rid of his IV in a couple of days. He got one IV out of his hand today too, so soon he will be IV free. Landon will love it because he loves to use his hands to pull out all of his tubes. It keeps the nurses on their toes, but he is so much happier with the freedom. Our next goals are for Landon to be rid of his feeding tube (might take up to 2 weeks) and then his nose ventalator (we have no guesstimate of time for this because all babies are different and his poor lungs have a lot of growing to do). We look forward to the day when he is wire free because holding him will be even better.

Love to all!

Some have asked if there is a charity to donate to in Alissa’s name. We have set up a fund through the March of Dimes Banding Together Program. The money donated will go to the fight against premature birth.

Alissa’s March of Dimes Memorial Charity

It is with great sorrow we mourn the loss of Alissa Jean. She was brave and fought hard, but this morning she passed away. I wrote her this short letter to say goodbye.

A Letter to Lissy

Dear Alissa,

Although you were only with us for a short time I want to thank you for everything. I want to thank you for the courage you had to fight for your life. I know the doctors didn?t think you had much of a chance to even survive your birth, but you did prove them wrong. I want to thank you for touching the lives of your family, friends, nurses, and doctors. You have touched the hearts of many people and I am so proud to call you my daughter. Thank you for being so beautiful. I know you were the talk of the nursery. I want to thank you for at least giving me some time to get to know you and love you. You will be in my heart forever. And finally I’d like to thank you for waiting for me to be with you to say good bye. I will always love you my sweet little Lissy.

Love,

Your Father

Here’s the pic. By the way mom wanted me to tell everyone that both Lissy and Landon are opening their eyes (of course Lissy was first to do this too)!!

“Mom holding Landon” 

Word out on the street is that all you bloggers are anxiously awaiting your daily update. Normally I’m not one for much suspense, however, just for fun I think I will drag this blog out a bit before getting to today’s update. Okay I think that was enough!

Both babies are doing well. We had to wait until tonight to get the results of the tests mentioned in an earlier blog. The test was a head ultrasound scan to check for Intraventricular Hemorrhage (IVH) or brain bleeds. Grades 1 and 2 are very common for early preemies. We already knew Lissy had a grade 3 on one side, however, we were waiting for today’s test because they were also testing Landon and usually they won’t get bleeds after this. So Landon has a grade 1 on both sides which is great news because that is very minor, the doctor equated it to a “bruise” and “nothing to worry about”. Lissy’s grade 3 was very concerning because they thought it might get worse, however since it’s stable and only on one side it looks like it will be alright. There still is the potential for other complications, but not as bad as if it progressed to a grade 4.

Lissy also had to have a very minor and very common surgery to implant an IV. This was done to give them better access for nutrition. Barring any rare infections, this IV will last for her entire stay, unlike the typical IVs which are replaced weekly. The surgery went off without a hitch. Other than that she is still hanging in there.

Landon is continuing to amaze us as well. His umbilical IV was removed (although he does still have a second line in his leg). He is mostly breathing on his own with minimal help. He’s been having milk and seems to like it, although we’re still waiting for that first all important poop from him (what a scrapbook trinket that will be)! We are hoping to hold him for the first time tomorrow.

Today the rollercoaster went really fast but straight up!

Landon continues to excel. He has been enjoying milk overnight and will continue to get a little bit every few hours for now. He’s been doing great on the nose ventilator. His weight has been going up and down (currently at 620 grams). His low was 610 grams and yesterday he was at 640 grams. They expect the trend to be mostly on the rise from here on out.

Alissa again has been stable and they are slowly trying to ween her off the ventilator. Her blood pressure has been stable overnight and she hasn’t required any more meds for that. She’s had quite a bit more of a struggle than her big brother, but she’s definitely a fighter. I can see her now punching Landon in a few years while yelling, “And that’s for taking all the food while we were inside mom!”

First off I just wanted to thank everyone for the overwhelming support. We really appreciate it and it gives us strength and encouragement.

I also wanted to let everyone know about something I was thinking about. Sarah has been part of a message board for twin parents since we found out we were having twins. On the board there are groups of women who post together who have similar due dates. In particular their was two other women who have just given birth prematurely as well. One at 28 weeks the other at 26 (the same as us). It just hit me that there are lots of premmies everywhere fighting for their lives. So I’d just like everyone, while you’re thinking about Lissy and Landon, to also think about all the other babies out there that are struggling too.

Due to Sarah’s condition she spent most of the past day and a half in intesive care. This morning she was allowed to go meet them for the twins for the first time.

The twins are still doing well. We sre meeting with the doctors this afternoon to find out more about what to expect over the coming weeks and months.

Landon is doing excellent this morning. They are slowly turning down the ventalator assitance because he is partially breathing on his own. Alissa still needs the help of the ventalator, but she has been stable overnight.

Here is Landon’s picture. He’s still being a little camera shy, you know how famous kids these days are with the Paparrazi!

“Lan the Man”
By the way, there is a big size difference between the two but the two pictures on the blog make it look worse. I was zoomed in on Landon so he looks quite a bit bigger. I think they are pretty close in length, but I’m waiting for the official numbers.