Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Update and Pictures(yes, I'm running out of post titles)...




The little guy looks different in just about every picture.




They have the lights on them to help jaundice and some other stuff(don't ask me), so they have to wear the coooool shades to protect thier eyes.


She loooooves the limelight...and the binki...and Mama...


The neon light is kind of like the big spotlight, but from underneath...I think...


I don't know what this is, but Amy said to put up a picture of it. Actually, I'm supposed to tell you what all this stuff means...riiiiiight. This is the ventilator, and that's all I know.


The left number is oxygen--anything over 21% is supplemental oxygen being provided by the machine. Last week Dawson was at 90%(bad), and now he's at 21%(good). 21% is what we all breath, so when he's at 21%, that's all him(good). The right number is Nitric-oxide(or something like that). It expands all the vessels in the lungs to promote better oxygenation. Both babies used to be on a lot of it(high number), and are now pretty low. We're shooting for 0 on this one.


This is the magical screen of colored numbers. The green one(that's the top number for all you color-blind folk out there, and I know there's a few of you) is the heart rate. 140-180 is a good range. The red number in parentheses(second down) is blood pressure. Somewhere in the 40's is good. The blue numbers(third and fourth) are the oxygen saturation levels in the blood. The dark blue(post) is the level coming out of the lungs, and the light blue(pre) is the level going into the heart. In the 90's is good, and they should both be pretty close to each other. When Mama talks to the babies, the 'post' goes up, meaning the babies are excited, and thier lungs are working good. The white number(bottom) represents respirations. This doesn't mean much while they are on the ventilator, but when they are breathing on thier own, it tells you how many respirations per minute they breath(a respiration is considered one full breath in and out). 40-60 is normal for the babies, 12 is normal for adults. When the babies respirations get much higher than 60, they worry that the they are wearing themselves out. There's no need for the babies to wear themselves out breathing on thier own when the ventilators can breath for them. This allows them to direct all thier energy towards other things, like recovery. So--there you have it. It's quite possible that I'm all wrong, but I think I got most of it pretty close. If anyone knows any different, feel free to inform me so I can get it right. When I was saying before that 'good' means that the nurses are having to do less and less to get the numbers looking good, and 'bad' means the nurses have to do more and more to get the numbers looking good---these are the numbers. They are almost always in the good range, but the babies status depends on how much stuff they have to give them or do to them to keep the numbers in the good range. Wow, that about wore me out.



Jake wanted me to take pictures of EVERYTHING. This one made the cut(just because he was in it).





So this is what Amy had to say to the Doctor today, albeit not to his face: "Okay Mr. Doom and Gloom, take your little rain cloud and go somewhere else."--laughing all the while. It's interesting to be hearing bad news from the doctors and nurses in one ear, and hearing that things will be just fine and not to worry in the other ear. We've had that experience more than once in the last 10 days(yes--it's been 10 days). The doctor told us today that Mallorys' brain scan came back showing that the grade 3 bleeds she had previously are getting a little worse. There is a little swelling in the ventricles in her head, and--like Dawson--they just have to watch it and see what happens.

They've decided that they need to do surgery on both of them to fix the Pulmonary Valve issue, and that will be later this week they think. They've said not to worry, that it's a pretty common procedure, but in the same sentence they've also prepared us for the worst. One thing that the doctor said that I thought was kinda funny: "Thier tough as nails, I'll tell you that--both of them!" He's not a real funny guy, so he was dead serious when he said it. I started laughing out loud. In my mind I was saying "You have no idea how many people are pulling for them--they'll be just fine."

We both continue to feel and 'hear in the other ear' that everything is, and will be, just fine--don't worry about it. What that means we don't know, but we don't have to know.

Mallory was a bit more calm today. Yesterday she was a little upset about everything, and she let everybody know it. Today Mama sat down and gave her binki to her, and she was in heaven. It's funny to watch her with her binki. It was so nice for Amy and I to see the babies for a few hours alone today. Amys' brother Clint, his wife Abby, and thier three cute kids are letting us stay with them during this whole thing, which has been wonderful. By the way, I think I've thrown out the word 'cute' more these last 10 days than the entire rest of my life. But I'm okay with that.

Abby took Jake today for a few hours, which was extremely nice. Sibling visiting rules are two visits a week, 15 minutes each. They haven't really been keeping track, so we figure with two babies, he gets four visits a week. Even with four visits a week though, we're up there twice a day, so I usually sit out in the waiting room with Jake while Mama visits, then we switch. It was so nice to just spend time with the kids together, with no pressure.

Anyway, that's the skinny for now.

Thanks all,
Ryan & Co.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello,

I have talked to mom frequently and she has informed me of how things are going. I have hesitated to call because I'm sure at the end of the day you are totally exhausted.

I want you to know that you two are the most amazing people I think I have ever meet. Your example in faithfulness has taught me more than you will ever know.

I believe that Dawson and Mallory choose to be great instruments in the Lord's work before coming to earth. They are giving us all a little lesson in faith, humility, and prayer. I know I am not the only one that is becoming stronger spiritually because of thier experiance. I am so grateful for those sweet babies, they are already making the world a better place because they are in it.

Despite how difficult this time is for them and all of us, they are strong and have the Lord with them. They will make it through this. I know they will.

I Love you guys so much and I will continue to pray for you and the babes.

Love Lisa

Unknown said...

They look fabulous! Something about Dawson totally reminds me of Jake. Yeah, that doctor sounds funny too. :) Here's some good titles for your posts:
"Toni Tony Tone has done it again"
"P-diddy-- now just Diddy"
"A new... day... ahhhh-ah"
"Double your pleasure, double your fun"
"You can't stop me! I'm too strong, I'm too motivated!"
"Let's take a 15 minute meditaion break"
"I'm trying to be a big boy, but I miss my mommy!"
"Elizabeth, we have been commanded to multiply and replenish the earth"

Well, let me know if you need any more ideas :) I know, you're shaking you're head and saying "Courtney's an idiot" right now, but you are slightly chuckling, which makes it worth it!

We hope everything goes great for them today!

Courtney

Anonymous said...

cOURTNEY YOU ARE OUT OF CONTROL!!!
Thanks for the laugh though! Ryan and I were quite entertained. You are the best friend ever!
Love- Amy

Anonymous said...

Thanks all of you for all of your support! I am so glad that Ryan has done so well at keeping up this site it is fun for us to brag about their progress! They are so cute and we are more than completely happy to be their parents!
Lisa thanks so much for all of your love and prayers. I love you so much and I am glad that you are my sister! Thanks for all of you faith. It is working!!
Love- Amy

Amy Lindstrom ~ YourLifeUncommon.com said...

I've just come up with a good idea for the next post title..."Courtney's an idiot".


If anyone has any other suggestions for the site--aside from post titles--let me know. I'd love to get your input.

Thanks for everything,
Ryan

Amy Lindstrom ~ YourLifeUncommon.com said...

Wow, that picture of Dawson sure doesn't look very good! He really does look a lot better than that--I promise! We got both of their eyes open last night, but we didn't have the camera(grrrr). Oh well, there will be plenty of opportunities for more pictures.

Anonymous said...

We just got this website today, so we are excited for the photos and news on the babies. What a great way to keep everyone posted!

We think of you daily and can't wait to see your whole family back up here! Tell Jake we miss him at the pool. And Amy...you are much stronger than most could be. The next few months will fly by (I'm counting on that for my sake too!) and Mallory and Dawson will be ready for the world. By the way..what adorable names.

Ryan...thanks for posting this. I'm sure it's appreciated by all.

You're in our prayers!!

Ashlee Burnham
Erin Crawford

Anonymous said...

Okay...question for you.

You've made several comments about the babies losing weight. Some with exclamation points. So....is this a good thing? I thought they were supposed to gain weight?

Explain this to the blondes at Rivercrest, please....

thanks a bunch!

Ashlee and Erin

Anonymous said...

Ashlee & Erin-

Hey you guys! I was so glad tto hear from you! I have been meaning to call you a million times to tell you and also to let you know that we will kind of be gone for a while! Ryan will be back up on Saturday or Sunday and will stay until Thursday night, then him and Jake will come back down on the weekends. Just so you know!

As for losing weight: when the babies were born they had an infection in their hearts (which is gone now) and because of it they started to retain a lot of fluid. They got quite swollen for awhile there. They want them to lose all of that fluid because it means that there bodies are working right. Now that they have lost all of that they will start gaining weight and it will be what they call "good weight". We are so excited to see how cute they are when they are all chubbed up!!

Hope all is well at Rivercrest and with both of you! How are you feeling Ashlee? And how is your husband Erin?

Thanks for all of your love and support!

Love- Amy

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