The Boys

Watching Josh and David is going to become one of our favorite hobbies. Though initially Josh was more interested in watching Boz than welcoming home his baby brother, he eventually warmed up and started inspecting this new thing in our house. In fact, Josh had a lot of fun pulling David's blanket off of him and then throwing back on him. He did this about 400 times. After doing some supervised prodding and exploring, Josh tried repeatedly to climb in the cradle with David.



This is the sweetest one...with Josh holding David's hand.

Take Me Home

"Take me home" the boy's outfit says. "Directly, my boy!" says I. Well, as directly as a hospital will allow. The nurses couldn't tell us exactly when David would be going home today. He was to have a below-the-belt procedure today performed by a surgeon, whose schedule was not set. The procedure could have been done at any time today. Because we didn't want it to become a long day, we decided to wait at home until they called us to tell us it was procedure time.

We called every hour or so this morning to see if it was yet "go time." At about 9:30a, David had received his last dose of antibiotic. His nurse called at 12:45p and told us that the procedure was already done and that he had done great. We were still cleaning the house so we shifted into gear and ate lunch, took showers, got dressed, loaded the car and took off by about 2p. By 4p, we had completed all our paperwork at the hospital and were on our way.




Here's the big boy without any tubes, wires, IVs, or leads in his "take me home" outfit. Thanks to his Great Mamaw Duty, he was looking sharp.


Here's our first family picture at home. You can see how thrilled Josh is to have his little brother home.

Today is the Day

I just talked to the nurse and David has received his last does of antibiotics! The last dose means a couple of good things: they've taken the IV out of his head AND he has just one more hurdle to jump before getting to come home. His last hurdle is the one that makes all the guys in the audience cross their legs and shed a tear for little David.

Just a few more hours, little buddy, and then we get to bring you home!

Life's Tough

David's life outside the womb has been quite a journey. Earlier this week in an attempt to diagnose the cause of his breathing troubles, they took an x-ray of his chest. The radiologist didn't find anything unusual in his lungs but noticed a hairline fracture in his left clavicle (which you can see in the x-ray below).


They tell us that this is not a big deal for a couple of reasons. First, 50% of all babies fracture their clavicle during delivery. Second, it is a fracture that heals quickly (within 4-6 weeks). Clavicle fractures are so common and heal so quickly that most parents (and doctors) don't know that a baby has sustained the injury. Anyway, we came in yesterday and found the little man wrapped up in a gauze sling.


Then there are the issues with his IV. The IV started in his right hand--then he popped it out. They moved it to his left hand--and he popped it out. Because he's so chubby, they couldn't find another place to put it his hands so they moved it to his right foot--and he kicked it out. SOOO...they moved it to his left foot and told us that it was terribly important that we not disturb this IV. To help the IV remain undisturbed, the nurses fashioned a splint.


With the IV splint and the sling, here's what the total package looks like:


I intended to stop the post with that picture. However, we came in today and (surprise, surprise) he had kicked the IV out of his other foot. Our friend, Matt Hester, brought us a yummy lunch from Chick-Fil-A. After we had eaten, Shannon and I went back into David's pod and found that they had relocated the IV to his HEAD. AGH! The first thing the nurse said was "It looks so much worse than it is." I hope so.


It looks like he'll be coming home tomorrow (Saturday) and before he comes home, he gets all the wires, tubes, slings, and splints removed. Other than some cute outfit that his mama will pick out, it will just be our plump little David riding home with us tomorrow.

BIG NEWS

We just talked to David's neonatologist. She said that all his numbers look great and that the only reason he's still here is to finish his round of antibiotics--which will be Saturday. Because of all that, she expects him to be headed home Saturday afternoon! Woohoo!

Boys' Day

It was a David + Daddy day today. Shannon seized the opportunity to rest at home today and I went down to be with David from about 11:30a to 3:30p. We had a blast--a blast which mostly involved David downing a couple of bottles, me changing a couple of his diapers, and us napping.


Pops (my dad) brought me some lunch and then stayed to hang out with his son and grandson. Just three Ott men enjoying David's penthouse suite.

The neonatologist was wrapping up some stuff when I arrived. It gave me a chance to ask some questions. She indicated that, while there is a possibility that the Strep B could return, the chances of recurrence are lower because of the antibiotic treatment he's currently taking. All his numbers either continue to be strong or are getting better. He's still on pace to be home early next week.

Coming home a little earlier gave me the chance to hang out with Josh for a while. Last Friday was the last time that he and I were able to play together for more than just a few minutes. It was so good for both of us to spend some time wrestling and playing.


In other news...Gigi finished painting the mural on all four walls of Josh's big boy room today and Josh slept in there for the first time tonight! We were all excited. We'll post some pictures of his new room in the next couple of days.

When Negative is Positive: Redux

Huge props to Aunt Whitney for this one...

A Beautiful Picture For The End Of The Day

The Road Ahead, Revisited

It has been a hard evening as we ponder the possibility that David could have to go back to the hospital for another week at camp if the Strep B returns in 3-4 weeks. While the staff and facilities at Northside are great, it is emotionally and physically exhausting to be there all day. Please join us in thanking God for the negative cultures we heard about today and praying that God will prevent a recurrence of Strep B in 3-4 weeks (and beyond).

Where is David?

David is in a NICU pod on the penthouse level (7th Floor) of Northside Hospital. That's his room behind the curtain to the left. Up and to the right is the skylight just outside his room.


If you look up through the skylight, you can see the flag...


...which is the same flag on the roof of the hospital.


It hit me today when we were driving down 400 to the hospital that our little man is right there under that flag--that if he were in the hallway looking up, he'd see it. If you happen to drive by Northside and notice the flag on top, remember little David and maybe say a prayer that he'll get better soon.

The Road Ahead

The neonatologist just stopped by. She confirmed that David's blood culture is negative and that he should be good to go home next Monday or Tuesday. She said that Strep B hits early and late. Translation: David could possibly experience a recurrence of a Strep B infection in 3-4 weeks that would require repeat hospitalization. That's not fun to hear, but it's nice to know what to be on look out for.

In other news...David and I took a nap in a recliner in his NICU nursery. It was awesome. He laid on my chest and we slept for about 45 minutes. We'll be making a habit of that. :)

When Negative is Positive

David continues to do well. His second blood test came back negative!

Gigi, Pops (my parents), and Whitney (my sister) went to the hospital last night to hang out with him and give him his 9p feeding. Gigi & Pops came back this morning to love on him and do the 6a & 9a feedings. I know he loved that. Shannon and I slept in our own bed last night and it was dreamy. Nana (Shannon's mom) will be taking those shifts tonight and tomorrow morning. There's nothing like cuddles to help a big boy get better.

We're here with him at the hospital now (and have been since about 11a). He resumed nursing today and does so with prodigious skill. David and his mom are quite a team. As I type this, David is asleep in Shannon's arms...that makes me smile.

Pictures

In case you've missed the links in the previous posts...

CLICK HERE FOR A SLIDESHOW OF PICTURES

CLICK HERE FOR A GALLERY OF PICTURES

David's first week at camp

We just heard from David's neonatalogist that he is going to be here for the next 7 days to receive the full round of antibiotics for the treatment of strep b. So...his first week away from home at camp will be in a penthouse, being waited on hand and foot. We're thankful that insurance will be subsidizing his first camp experience.

Shannon's doctor just stopped by. She's been given discharge orders which means that we're headed home tonight. Though we're sad to be leaving the little man here, we know that he couldn't be in a better place.

Our room here has been very comfortable. To make our room at home as comfortable, we're going to see if insurance will pay for a 40" LCD TV. :)

Grandma Walker

We learned that Shannon's great-grandmother, Florence Walker, passed away yesterday. She was a sweet, wonderful lady who lived to be 100 years old. Up until very recently, she was still mowing the lawn and shooting the vermin under her house with a shotgun. She always seemed to have the same sparkle that Shannon has. We sure will miss her. The picture above is from a visit we had with her in 2003. The picture below is of a sign that hangs on the wall in her kitchen.

Fun Fact: cc

All my life I have heard people use the term "cc" and I never knew what was. Today, that has changed.

In case you're like me and you didn't know, a "cc" is cubic centimeter.
1 cc = 1 milileter (ml)
1 cc = 1 gram
30 cc = 1 ounce

"David has been consuming between 40 and 60 ccs of formula at each feeding."

Look at me, I even used it in a sentence.

Things I like about the hospital

I know that's strange title. I don't think most people like the hospital. I'm not saying that I'd prefer being here to being at home on the couch with my family, but there are some aspects that I like.

- Highly competent personnel
- Excellent customer service
- Well-designed facilities
- Everyone has the tools and supplies he/she needs to do his/her job
- Super clean
- Sweet gadgets everywhere
- Smart details (the floor and the baseboard are one piece and curved in the corner to make it easier to clean)
- The ice and water machine in the kitchen
- Well-thought out installation of all the different systems
- Everything is labeled and organized (the way I would do it if I were wired up like that)

Just like the Jeffersons...

David is movin' on up from the NICU on the 2nd floor to the penthouse NICU on the 7th floor. Most importantly, babies get to move to the 7th floor when they're doing well. The 7th floor NICU is brand new (just opened in May) and it is NICE (it's got skylights and everything). Here are some pics:

Afternoon update

I just gave the little man his lunch bottle. Dude can munch. After his lunch, I changed his diaper and caught him just as he tried to hose down his NICU pod.

It looks like he is going to be in NICU for at least another 48 hours and maybe another 5-7 days. The doctor hasn't seen him yet today. The doctor may decide to keep him another 5-7 days to let the antibiotic run it's full course and totally knock out the strep b.

Shannon's sleeping right now (yeah, rest!). We're doing well knowing that our boy is in great hands.

Test results

His spinal tap came back negative! His blood test from the 18th is positive, which we already knew. We just learned that the mystery infection is actually Group B Strep. They've had him on general antibiotics for the past 24+ hours. His doctor may change up his antibiotic to more specifically combat the strep. Shannon's feeding him right now. After she finishes, his nurse is going to take another blood sample for them to see how he's coming along today. We won't know those results for 24-48 hours.

Again, overall he's doing well. Now we'll pray that he is healed of Group B Strep.

The Morning News

David's doing great this morning. He had a good, uneventful night. Shannon got to feed him last night before we went to bed and he did very well. Not surprisingly, his chubbiness has to be supplemented with formula at this point. He can drain a 2oz bottle of formula like Kobayashi eats hot dogs. Thank you for your prayers. He is doing so well.

We still don't have a word on discharge date/time. Maybe we'll hear something after his doctor comes to see him. We're taking a CPR class today at 12:30p. More info to come.

No more CPAP!

He's free from the CPAP and doing great! What a precious face. He's been off for a little while now and his breathing numbers continue to look like they should. Woohoo! We still don't know exactly what we're dealing with infection-wise, but we'll get there...

Even more pics...

We went down to NICU to hang out with David for a bit. He took the spinal tap like a champ. I'm glad I didn't have to watch...I would much prefer that they'd give me 50 spinal taps so that he wouldn't have to have ONE. He's breathing very well and his vitals continue to look strong. We've added to the slideshow.

A little infection

We just talked to the neonatologist. The preliminary results from the blood test indicate that David has some type of infection in his blood. They're going to start giving him some general antibiotics via IV. To make sure we're not dealing with anything hefty (meningitis), they're going to do a spinal tap in about 15 minutes. Those preliminary results should be back within 24 hours. We've been told that if he does have meningitis, they'll continue to give him antibiotics but just for a few more days than if it's another type of infection. Thanks to the CPAP, his breathing is MUCH better. His vitals continue to look GREAT, too. Moreover, he continues to be the celebrity baby. Everyone keeps talking about this "huge, beautiful boy." I don't know from where he gets the "huge," but I know EXACTLY from where he gets the "beautiful."

Boy, I don't like to hear talk of a "spinal tap," but I am so thankful that God has blessed us with such a talented, caring, available, perceptive medical staff.

NICU

NICU - Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. That's not quite where we envisioned David would be at birth +12 hours. Transitions can't keep a baby longer than 6 hours. Either they get better (transition) or they have to go to NICU. His breathing still isn't better. After drawing some blood, doing a chest x-ray, and being checked out by a neonatologist , it seems that David has a mild case of Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS). (Grandmoms, I've given that link for informational purposes only. Remember, he has a MILD case. When this article describes "severe" cases, that does not apply to David...he's not a severe case.) :)

The good news is that all of his major vitals still look great and the x-ray didn't show anything more than a little bit of amniotic fluid in his lungs. To help him improve, they've put him on CPAP (Continuous Positive Air Pressure). That's what you see running to his nose in the picture above. All the medical staff we've talked to seem to think that this is a very mild case of a very common condition (it's so mild that the CPAP isn't even providing supplemental oxygen--just oxygen at a constant pressure).

We should get the preliminary blood tests results in the morning. Once again, though we'd love him to be near us, if David needs this kind of treatment, we're deeply grateful to be in one of the best baby hospitals in the country. These folks are wonderful!

Transitions

They've watched him in the nursery for the last hour and his breathing isn't getting better. Now they want to send him to a special nursery called "Transitions." It's where they send babies who need a little bit more attention as they "transition" from womb to world. All his important vitals look great, they say (pulse, oxygenation, blood sugar level, etc.). While we'd like him to be in our room with us, if transitions is where he needs to be, we're thankful he can be there.

Hmmm...

Well, little David is having a bit of a breathing problem. The nurse thinks that it's probably due to the fact that he was delivered after only about 10 minutes of pushing and because he's such a big dude. They're going to watch him in the nursery for a bit.

More pics of our boy

David is the hit of the hospital. Looking at this picture, it's not hard to see why. At 11 lbs, one nurse thought we should have named him Goliath. There's nothing like Bible humor. For a slideshow of the big boy, go here. (To see the original pictures, click on the "X" on the far right of the control bar in the slideshow.)

HE'S HERE!!!

James David Ott (We'll call him David)
August 18, 2007
10:06a
ELEVEN pounds, three ounces (!)
22.5 Inches

He's a huge, beautiful boy! Everybody's healthy and happy!

At the Hospital

Shannon tussled my hair this morning at 3a and told me that she thought she was having labor contractions but wasn't sure. Two hours, a bath, and a shower later she said "Call your dad." That's the code phrase for "GO!" By 5:20a, mom and dad were at the house. From 5:00a-5:20, I loaded the car, put some clothes on, and brushed my teeth (not in that order). By 5:25a, we were in the car and on the road.

One of our prayers during this pregnancy has been that this little guy would come at just the right time. Leaving the house at 5:25a on a Saturday morning is the perfect time to drive the 30 miles from Cumming to Northside Hospital. (There is a satellite of Northside in Cumming only 5 miles away. It's worth the 30 mile drive because the Northside in Atlanta delivers more than 18,000 babies per year, more than any other hospital in the country. And because my brother, Mark, was born there.)

On the way to the hospital, Shannon's contractions were as frequent as 3 minutes apart. Time to put the hammer down. I switched on the hazard lights and hit the gas. We made it from our house to the hospital in less than 30 minutes.

By 6:30a, we were admitted. By 7:10, Shannon was given an epidural. Our first nurse, Karen, has been a labor and delivery nurse for 35 years...not bad hands to be in. Everyone seems to think that this won't be a very long labor. We'll see. Can't wait to meet our little dude!