Day 13

Today was another good day for little Walker.  He was missing his Daddy, but he decided to be on his best behavior until he returned this afternoon.  He had a great day on his NIPPV-CPAP machine and is still holding on his rate of 25 but he was able to keep his oxygen down around 30% pretty much all day.

Mommy got to hold him this morning for over an hour, and Walker did a great job maintaining his temperature, it was actually higher than what his heated bed keeps him at!  He also did great keeping his oxygen down while Mommy was holding him and didn't even have his oxygen turned up!

Overall it was a really calm day for little Walker and he did exactly what he was supposed to all day.  He did great again with his 6cc feedings and at 4:30 they increased him to 7cc which is great for such a lil guy!  The nurse said if he can maintain this level for a few days then he can possibly go off some of his other fluids that they give him daily, because he would be getting what he needed from Mommy's milk.  This would be great because it would mean they could remove the PICC line that is in Walker's arm, which would make Mommy and Daddy very happy.  So please pray that Walker can continue doing well with his feeds and get that line out!

This evening Daddy and Papa came to see lil Walker and he was very excited to see them!  He did a great job maintaining his stats and Papa even got to change his first diaper!  Walker was kind enough to leave him a special present!!  Walker finished off his good day with some much needed kangaroo time, especially for Daddy.  He settled right in on Daddy's chest and then didn't even have to turn up his oxygen when they moved him from his crib.  I think he is getting use to this kangarooing thing and really starting to enjoy it.  While he was hanging out on Daddy's chest he even worked up another "big job" and Daddy got to change his diaper after holding him!  Hopefully tomorrow will be another good day for lil man!

Walker Colt Pruett on PhotoPeach

Day 12

The morning started off well, Mommy got to talk to Walker’s doctors and get a good report on her lil fella.  He is doing very well, and still continuing to be on the NIPPV-CPAP with his rate of 25 reminders puffs every minute, and he is doing well at keeping his oxygen concentration down!  He also did great with his 5cc feedings, so this afternoon at 4:30 they upped the lil guy again to 6cc.  Hopefully we can get him fattened up!  

Although Walker was doing very well all day, it was still a little hard for Mommy because Daddy had to go back to work today.  He was able to come by first thing this morning, to tell Walker goodbye, before him and Papa headed back to Martinsville to work.  But when he isn’t here Mommy and Walker miss him terribly.  Daddy does have an excellent stand in, Granny, who has been invaluable through everything and stayed with Mommy and Daddy doing whatever she can to help.  From laundry, to driving Mommy, to hanging out in the hospital, Granny has been there through it all and there aren’t enough words to say thank you for all she has done!

Right before lunch Mommy was able to get kangaroo time with Walker for around an hour.  He did very well with maintain his temperature while he was out, but he did give Mommy one little scare.  When he is on his NIPPV sometimes if he doesn’t keep his mouth closed it can cause his oxygen to fall lower than the nurses like.  Today he was having that problem, so the nurse gave him a pacifier to help him keep his mouth closed.  He did well with it for a few minutes but then he started really enjoying the pacifier and sucking and then his oxygen and heart rate dropped.  The nurse rushed right over and took the pacifier out and his rates went right back up but not before Mommy’s heart skipped a beat.  The nurse explained this is very normal because babies as young as Walker can’t suck and breathe at the same time.  This calmed Mommy down some, however she has now outlawed pacifiers for the lil guy!!

Walker also had a visit from Mary Ann Peak who got to see Mommy kangarooing Walker and even helped watched him while Mommy and Granny went and made a sandwich in the Ronald McDonald room.  Walker really enjoyed his visit and Daddy hated that he missed seeing Mary Ann!

After the excitement this morning, Walker had a fairly calm afternoon and behaved so Mommy’s nerves could have a break!  He got to end his day on a good note with more kangaroo time.  Since Daddy was at home working and doing things around the house, it was Granny’s lucky day and she was able to finally get a chance to get her hands on lil Walker.  She could barely contain herself with tears of joy.  She was on cloud nine being able to hold her very first grandchild for the first time!  Granny was amazed at how light Walker felt when he is on your chest, and how amazing it is to feel him moving and breathing against your skin!

Overall it was another great day, and we are so thankful to God for each good day he allows Walker to have.  We also want to thank everyone for the continued prayers, we know how important they are to Walker, and we can’t say thank you enough!

Day 11

Daddy and Papa watched Baby Walker today as Mommy had to go to doctors appointment, get Walker added to insurance, and go to Collinsville Primary for her baby shower.  Mommy got a good report from her doctor and was able to get all her errands done with time enough to see her students, which really brightened her day!  She had a wonderful shower at CP with all her coworkers and got some great gifts for baby Walker, it was so great to see everyone for the first time in two weeks and feel their support and concern for Walker.

Back at the hospital, baby Walker had another fantastic day! He's now eating every drop of 5cc of Mommy's milk every three hours, starting at 4:30 today!  Every 24 hours that he tolerates his feeding amount they will go up by 1cc. His breathing on his NIPPV at 40% oxygen with a  rate of 25 still.  They tried to drop his rate down to 20 last night, but Walker wasn't very happy with that so they bumped him back up to 25.  The nurses are saying he is doing very well for a 26 week old baby. We know without the prayers of our family and friends and the help of God, Walker wouldn't be doing so well. 

Because he has been doing so well, we can now do 2 kangaroo sessions a day.  So Daddy got to start his day off with a great kangaroo session, his stats dropped down and were great the whole time and he did well with maintaining his temperature!  Throughout the rest of the day he did well with keeping his stats down and just having a calm day, he was waiting on Mommy to get back and behaving so she would have a chance to hold him!

Mommy got to hold him for over and hour and he did wonderful the whole time.  His temperature said stable and his oxygen stayed low, Daddy even got to adjust the machine which he loved!  Daddy also read him a story, and Granny and Papa talked to him and gave him kisses!  After his kangaroo time, he got a diaper change and Mommy wiped his mouth clean and the nurse tucked him in tight for the night!

What a great day for Walker!  We pray that God will keep giving us day after day like this, so we can watch our little boy growing stronger and bigger!

Day 10

Our Sunday started off great at church surrounded by our new friends at Ardmore Baptist Church. They have been so kind to us over the past week while we have been here at the NICU.   We have had visits from Betty Wright an old family friend and the Transition Minister with Youth, Paul Mullen the Associate Minister of Congregational Care, and Ellen Price one of the members at Admore.  They have been so friendly and welcoming to us, and we truly appreciate having a church where we feel at home, so far away from home; what a blessing from God!

After church, we went to check in on Walker and see how he was doing on his NIPPV-CPAP overnight and today.  The nurse said he was doing well and they even turned the rate of his reminder breaths from 30 down to 25 per minute.  They also decided he was doing so well with his 3cc feedings that at his 4:30 feeding they were going to up him to 4cc, what a hungry lil fella!  He was able to decrease his oxygen concentration throughout the day down to 42% and stay pretty steady with that number.  He also ate all 4cc at 4:30 and they were able to continue giving him that amount at his 7:30 feeding, Mommy's milk must be hitting the spot!

Walker also had visits from grand parents and great grandparents today, and also his great aunt Laurie, and his cousin Tiffany and her children.  It was great for Walker to get to see everyone and he kept his rates good throughout all the visits, showing off for his visitors, who were amazed at how little and perfect Walker was, of course Mommy and Daddy agree!

Overall, it was a pretty good day for the lil guy and it ended well with Mommy getting some always needed kangaroo time with Walker!  He was snuggled in on Mommy's chest for a little over and hour, and did pretty well with maintaining his temperature with the help of Mommy and some heated blankets.  It is so great to enjoy the kangaroo time with Walker on the NIPPV-CPAP machine because you can hear, and even better, feel him breathing all on his own!  Also, because he doesn't have the breathing tube anymore, he can make sounds again and Mommy and Daddy love to listen to his tiny cooing sounds and even his lil cries when he gets mad at the nurses!  Check out the video that Daddy took as they were putting him back in his bed, and listen closely for his tiny cries, we can't get over how precious that little sound is!

Thanks again to everyone who reads Walker's blog and is praying for him and us daily it means more to us than you know!  Also thanks to everyone for the messages, texts, and calls we are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, support, and prayers for our lil Walker, and give all the glory to God for everything his is during through our tiny son!

Walker Crying

Day 9

Today, Walker had a great day. He got to go back on the NIPPV, CPAP machine which means no breathing tube. The doctor said that he was fighting the breathing tube and it was better to let him breathe on his own. He has done so well. This was great news for Mommy as this was her hardest day yet: the first day she left her little boy. Daddy said it would be good for Mommy's sanity to get out of the hospital for a little while, but she didn't want to leave her little man behind.

After more than a little coaxing, Mommy finally left for her shower and Daddy and Papa stayed with Walker. At the shower, Mommy got lots of wonderful gifts for Baby Walker and got to show off his pictures and brag about how great he was doing! Such a proud Mama.

David, Gloria, Brice and Suzanne Ashby came down to meet Walker after the shower and Walker really enjoyed their visit!

Throughout the day, Walker did great on the NIPPV machine. He was a little frustrated with the velcro-attached elephant trunk and he kept trying to pull it off, so the doctors gave him a dose of fentanyl to help calm him down so he could focus on his breathing and growing. The nurses checked his blood-gas concentrations and said they were ideal! After that, he settled in did well with his feedings which went up to 3CCs of food starting at 5pm. By the time his 11pm feeding came around, it was completely gone! He was a hungry little man.

Daddy and Walker got to Kangaroo again tonight. Its pretty awesome to watch his vitals settle out when he lays on your chest. His heart rate and blood pressure goes down and oxygen saturation goes up. When he drifts off too sleep in your arms, there is nothing better in this world.

We would really like the thank Michelle Dove Robinson who walked in honor of Walker at the March of Dimes walk today!

Michelle Dove Robinson walking for Walker at the March of Dimes

Day 8

Today was a day of highs and lows for both Baby Walker's stats and Mommy and Daddy's feelings! Baby Walker has continued to do alright on his ventilator, but he was noticeably agitated all day long. His vital signs were not what they had been over the past week and he was fussy. Every time the nurses re-positioned him or had to touch the little man, his monitor would start beeping and he would make sad little crying faces. He had not processed his milk that he had been doing so well with all week. This had Mommy and Daddy upset for the little guy.

Finally, around 7 PM this afternoon, relief finally came for this little guy, in the form of a "Big Job" (actually 3 big jobs), but he immediately had relief and his vitals went back to normal! Walker settled down and was a happy baby once more. He did so well that Mommy and Walker got to Kangaroo again tonight! Walker laid down on Mommy's chest, was covered by heated blankets, and bonded with Mommy!

After getting back in his crib, Walker weighed in at 1lb. 7ozs! He has grown 4ozs. this week. Mommy and Daddy also had a 1 week celebration by my crib at exactly 12:15.

Day 8 was a roller coaster, but the visits by Betty Wright, Gary and Susan Collins, Pastor Don Reynolds, Dwayne and Patti Jordan, Pastor Payton, Paige and kids, Ellen Price, and Bart and Mimi have made the day go by much faster. We have been truly blessed by God for the people he has placed in our lives. We are humbled by all of the prayers, gifts, donations, hospitality, and love shown to our family. Thank you all for the continued prayers!

Jeremiah 29:11-14
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.14 And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

Day 7

This morning we were anxious to check on Walker's progress with the CPAP machine overnight.  After talking with his nurses and doctors it seemed as it as though he had done alright, but not the best as they had to turn his oxygen up higher than they wanted to around 50%.  They had also done an x-ray to check his lungs and stomach.  On the x-ray his stomach looked good, but his lungs looked as though they weren't getting fully inflated with him on just the CPAP.  They decided to monitor him throughout the day and then decide early afternoon what his best option was going forward.

Even though he was struggling slightly and working hard to breathe on his own, he still had lots of visitors that wanted to see him!  He got a visit from his neighbors down the road Jimmy and Laura Ashby.  Also his great grandma Sarah Terry and his great aunt and uncle Scott and Suzanne and his cousin Britney who brought hims some camo burp cloths!  Tim and Sandy Wood stopped by on their way to the beach! He was also visited by Mommy and Daddy's friends April and Mark Peters and his future buddy lil Ralei Ann!  What a very loved little boy!

This afternoon the nurses decided that his umbilical line needed to come out, since he was 7 days old!  They would have to put in a PICC line in his arm to help him get the medicine that he needed.  They were able to get his PICC line in after 2 attempts and get him all tapped up.  The respiratory therapist also decided to put him back on the ventilator to give his body some more time to get ready for the CPAP.  It was VERY hard for Mommy this afternoon watching her lil guy have all this done, but Walker is tough and he will bounce back quickly.  Because of all the activity today, Walker needed his rest, and so there was no kangaroo time today for Mommy.  

Hopefully tomorrow Walker will have a better day where he can get more rest and focus on his feedings and getting some fat rolls!  He is such a strong little boy and we know this is nothing he can't handle!

Also, Mommy and Daddy would like to say a huge THANK YOU to every for all the donations, and gifts, and thoughtful gestures.  We are beyond overwhelmed and touched so much by everyone's kindness!  We feel so blessed to be able to be Walker's parents, and to see what God is doing daily through him!  It is amazing how a hand as tiny as Walker's is able to touch so many lives!

Holding Mommy's Finger