Day by Day

Ayden Gray is due to come home Tuesday March 31st… His original due date. Kyle and I have moved into the NICU to room in for these last 3 days. We had a stressful first day, waiting and watching the monitors praying for no Brady’s.  We are trying to live out this article by Joyce Meyers (http://www.joycemeyer.org/articles/ea.aspx?article=when_gods_timing_is_taking_too_long). “God causes things to happen at exactly the right time! Your job is not to figure out when, but to make up your mind that you won’t give up until you cross the finish line and are living in the radical, outrageous blessings of God! The more you trust Jesus and keep your eyes focused on Him, the more life you’ll have. Trusting God brings life. Believing brings rest. So stop trying to figure everything out, and let God be God in your life.” -Joyce Meyers

So we are just waiting out Gods timing, enjoying these extra 8 weeks we have been blessed with to love on Ayden.

God has truly revealed himself to us these last 8 weeks:

The minute we heard he was coming at 32 weeks we began to pray that he would make it. God answered that prayer!

Next we all prayed for poop and no surgery…… God answered that prayer with poop!

Then we prayed that he would eat….. God answered that prayer and he is eating perfectly.

Then we got God in our corner and didn’t  back down to the insurance company….. We Prayed that baby back to Hattiesburg!

Now we are praying Ayden home. We know that God will answer this prayer too and that he will do it and he is perfect timing!

These 8 weeks have been the most challenging, exhausting and terrifying days of our lives. Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging words. We can’t wait for Ayden to meet all of you. So say an extra prayer for us tonight and let’s get this baby home!

Welcome to Hattiesburg!!!

We have been in Hattiesburg for over a week now, and loving it! We had to battle the insurance company for about a week to get back to Forrest General. They don’t believe in transferring to a “lower level of care”. FGH is a level 3 nicu and UMC is a level 4. He wasn’t receiving level 4 care anymore but they still didn’t want to transfer. After Kyle and I called and pleaded with everyone we could and everybody’s prayers back home we got the green light for transfer. Which is a total God thing, we heard from several people “this never happens”. They said they could tell how family centered we were and wanted to get us closer to home and closer to our support system, sounded good to us!

 

So ayden got to turn 5 weeks old here in Hattiesburg and we are hitting milestones like crazy; 5lbs and gaining steadily, maintaining his own body temp, and all bottles-with no tube feeds! We are tube free!!! The only thing keeping us in the hospital is bradycardia. Long story short, he stops breathing a little and his heart rate drops! Scary to say the least. Every time  he has a Brady episode -not the show from the 70’s, our 7 day count down starts over. As of today (March 9)the last episode was Sunday morning. So we are looking at going home next week sometime, hopefully!

 

Thank you all for praying our baby back to health and to Hattiesburg, now we need to pray this baby to our new home-yes we moved during all of this, when it rains it pours! We know God answers prayers, Ayden is proof of that. So we are asking all of you to continue to pray for us to get his heart healthy and continued progress on bottle feedings, so we can get this baby home!

 

Love you all,

The Caminitas.

Hurry up…Wait…

Yesterday Ayden tested positive for MRSA. They say lots of people have it. It is a type of staph mostly in hospitals, and it’s just in his nose. He had to be moved to the “touch isolation” section so we’ve got to now wear gloves to touch our baby. The Docs are not concerned, they just don’t want other babies getting it. The Docs also have started to hear a murmur, but then they explained that in the womb (where our little man is still “supposed” to be) the lungs are bypassed because they’re not used for oxygen absorption until after he’s born.  Once more they’ve assured us that this is normal for a preemie and not to worry (yea right).  They tell us that it will heal itself over time.  It’s not affecting his breathing or oxygen levels, and he doesn’t even know it’s going on.  I’m starting to wish they wouldn’t tell us this stuff so that we don’t worry.  Mr. A is on full bottle feeds and is now 4lbs 4oz, he’s up 1lb2oz in just 3 weeks!

Now for a bit of a vent.  Our doctors here have told us we are out of the woods as far as surgery is concerned, which is amazing news! They also told us that they would love to get him back to the Forrest General NICU.  This would be such a blessing for Lindsay and I.  As much as we have loved the progress Ayden has made under their care here at UMC, they tell us that “tier 4” care is no longer necessary.  So the next step is involving insurance to take care of the transport and care back to Forrest General.  Apparently Blue Cross / Blue Shield doesn’t like “downgrading” from a Tier 4 to a Tier 3 hospital.  Our doctors assure us that Ayden no longer requires Tier 4 care and that FG is more than capable of handling the next part of our journey.

Lindsay and I ask that you all continue to pray for Ayden’s health and progress.  We also ask you to pray for this transition back to FG and that the people who are in control of the decision have compassion on the situation.  Thank all of you for your thoughts, prayers, and support through all of this.  It’s quite a ride we are on, and you guys make it a little easier.  It has, and will be a long road but we have faith that God is in control and all our prayers will be answered.

Thanks,

Lindsay, Kyle, and Ayden

Breathing, Bottles, and Poop…

Oddly, that’s a list of Lindsay and my favorite things these days.  They are also things that our little champion has started this week.

Breathing
Progress!!! Several days ago the Docs decided that Ayden was ready to be weaned off of his oxygen! So he is now breathing on his own and there is one less tube keeping our man from coming home.  He has been oxygen free for 3-4 days and he’s doing great.

Poop
Who in the world ever thought poop would be so exciting?  The main issue Ayden had, and the reason we were transferred from FGH to UMC was digestion.  Ayden was having problems processing things between tummy and diaper.  Let’s just say that for now, this is no longer an issue, and Mom and I couldn’t be happier!!!

Bottles
Feedings have progressed nicely!!! They started him on just a tiny little bit of food in a syringe that was dropped right into his tummy.  They did this for a few days and decided that little dude wanted more food, so they jumped him up to a bottle, then two in a day.  I just got off of the phone with Dr. K (who is amazing), and she said she hopes to have him on full feeds within 7 days!!!

Lindsay and I would like to thank all of you again for all of your prayers, kind words, food, visits, etc.  It really is great to have such an amazing support base.  We love all of you, and can’t wait til you can meet our favorite little guy.  Keep the prayers coming, and i’ll update again in a few days!

The Difference a Week Makes!

A week ago at this time I was watching my little 5 day old baby get transported to UMC in Jackson. Following that ambulance was the most surreal experience ever. The longest wait in the not so plush state hospital, just waiting to hear anything! Only to be met by an information overload, not the best day of our little journey. So, fast forward a week… We love our doctor, the nurses have been great and we are getting more comfortable in our new little world.

Ayden is doing so good! He is improving everyday. Today, we got his results back from his dye enema, nothing unusual showed up!!! It got him “moving” enough for them to start trying him on some little feedings tomorrow. They are taking him down on his oxygen a little bit everyday, hopefully that will come out soon. Thank you all so much for your prayers… We can’t wait for everyone to meet him.

Slowly but Surely

Here’s an update that mom typed up earlier today:

Ayden is stable. His lung function is great and is on minimal oxygen. His heart rate and blood pressure are exactly where they should be. His white blood count is perfect  which means there is no infection. Our problem area is gastro. He has a “hang up” somewhere in his intestines. They aren’t sure at this time if it is a twist, blockage, slow moving and just needs stimulating. The doctors are going to do a dye enema tomorrow to see things more clearly. We are confident in our doctors and extremely happy with the care and attention he is getting. Thank you all for your prayers we definitely feel them and they are working. 

 

 

From Water Balloons to Little Sausages

Just got off of the phone with our night Nurse and boy were we happy with the report.  It appears the antibiotics are working as they should and Ayden’s intestines are allowing things to flow through them!!  And instead of them looking like over filled water balloons, they look like little sausages! The nurse sounded so positive which was very reaffirming.

Isn’t that great news!! Please keep on praying for Ayden’s continued positive progress.  Who knows, maybe our little man could start taking food in his stomach instead of IV??

No News is Good News

Yesterday was quite a day for everyone and we are grateful for a day of no hurdles thus far.  Lindsay and Aunt Carley just met with all of the Dr.s for rounds this morning and were told that all of Ayden’s levels are good, and his breathing is slowing down and becoming more regular.  His tummy is still gassy, the said maybe it’s gone down a little, but that we still need more time for his antibiotics to do their thing.  The surgeons don’t see any need for their services (thankfully) so today is a waiting game.  Mom is going to go back to Aunt and Uncle Spiers house and rest up.  This will be good for her, as she’s been running wild since she could get out of bed.  Please pray for continued little improvements, and for Lindsay to continue to heal up and get some rest.

Welcome Ayden Gray Caminita!

First off we are all so very grateful for all of your prayers and kind words.  Now let me start from the beginning.  On February 2, 2015 our painfully boring (to this point) pregnancy decided stop being so boring.  After a checkup on 1/26 where mom had just a touch of high BP so Dr B ordered some tests.  She apologized and thought she was being a bit too sensitive but said she felt a little voice telling her to push the tests.

Zoom forward to Monday 2/2/2015 @ 8:00AM.  Lindsay and I head out of the door heading to our 32 week ultrasound.  Lindsay lays down for the ultrasound, blood pressure is taken, etc etc and we’re told that our little man isn’t growing as quickly as he should and Mom’s BP was high again.  We had to go through another ultrasound with a specialist who confirmed that Ayden wasn’t getting the nutrition he needed and that Preeclampsia had made its way into our wonderfully boring pregnancy thus far.  We were told that Lindsay should be admitted to the hospital right away and that we should plan on having a baby by the end of the week….WOW

So we get in touch with our parents and let them know our situation.  Put a call in to Mike, our friend and minister, who drops what he’s doing and heads on over.  As we are filling out paperwork a doc pokes his head in and lets us know that we are having a baby today(2/2/15).    The Doc tells us that Mom and Ayden are both okay, but that it will be better for both of them if labor happens sooner than later.  at 11:30 our perfect little man joined us on the outside world.  I may be biased but boy is he a good looking baby!  Lindsay was strong and calm throughout the whole process knowing that our Father and Docs had all of the technicalities under control.  Ayden started breathing on his own right away, and that was the sweetest cry i’ve ever heard in the delivery room that Monday.

So now we have a beautiful 3lb 2oz son, Ayden Gray.  Tuesday and Wednesday are spent listening to doctors and nurses, praying, pumping, crying, reassuring, not sleeping, praying praying praying.  Today, Ayden was transferred to the NICU at UMC in Jackson as they have some specialists that he may require.  There appears to be some sort of blockage in his digestive tract that couldn’t be determined in Hattiesburg and UMC has the tools and people needed to find and fix whatever is backing up our little man.  Mom is healing up nicely.

Sadly I picked up the Flu Wednesday and have not been able to be there to support my wonder wife or just stare at our perfect little man.

Lindsay, Ayden, and I greatly appreciate all of your prayers and request that you keep sending them.  I will continue to update this blog as it’s easier to keep the multitudes of our prayer warriors up to date with our daily situation.  Once more, thank you everyone for everything!

The Caminita’s