Getting Adjusted to being at HOME!

Chase has been home a little over a Month now and we are still getting adjusted. He had his days and night mixed up for a long time, but he's doing much better now. When he left the hospital, he was 7lbs. We had a slight problem getting him to gain weight due to a combination of things. His formula did not agree with his stomach and he has reflux, so he was spitting up most of his bottles. He lost weight at first, so his pediatrician put him on medication for the reflux, which he should outgrow, and changed his formula. He is keeping his milk down, so he is gaining weight now. He is up to 7lbs, 10oz. His pediatrician also said we could start adding a little cereal to a couple of his bottles as well as giving him a little water a day- Chase loves them both! Chase is so funny for several reasons...I will Never forget the day we brought him home. We pulled into the garage and as soon as we put the car in park, it sounded like something EXPLODED in his diaper. I guess that was his way of saying, "Mom and Dad, I'm HOME". Honestly, it was the biggest bowel movement I have ever seen from such a small creature, but we laughed about it. He began screaming, so Ryan laid him on the bed and held his paci in his mouth, while I changed his diaper-Teamwork! We knew he loved his paci while he was in the hospital, but we had no idea how serious he was about it. Chase and his paci are two peas in a pod! If his paci falls out of his mouth, Chase screams like his world has ended and then all is well again once they are reunited. Chase dislikes when I sneeze, diaper changes, changing clothes and taking baths. He does not like sleeping in his crib or bassinet, so depending on what Chase wants-the swing, bouncie chair, our bed or my chest is where he sleeps. Chase loves being held, someone patting his bottom and being sung to. He is becoming more alert every day and is doing a great job holding his head up. We are so excited about Chase being home! We thank God everyday.

Chase is HOME!!!

After 118 days in the NICU, our Miracle baby is home! We brought him home yesterday at 2:30. We know we still have a long road ahead of us. There will be several Dr visits and more surgeries to revise the shunt, when needed, but God has carried us this far, so will continue to trust in Him. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support through the beginning of our journey. I will continue to provide updates as Chase continues to grow.

Update: April 29

Chase had his 6th surgery on Friday April 26th. The surgery went well,no issues. He had a rough weekend, but is doing better now. We are praying for a swift recovery and no other unexpected issues. We thank God for giving us such a strong baby.

Pictures of our Big Boy!

Update: April 18

Chase continues to do very well! He is now up to 50cc's on his feeds and he is loving it! He weighs 6lbs 8oz now! He has one more surgery to get the VP Shunt and that is the only thing keeping us from going home. We are trying to find out when they plan on doing the surgery. We will keep you posted. We have come so far and we cannot Thank GOD enough!

Update: April 14

Chase had his first round of immunization shots and he had a rough couple of days. They had to put him back on oxygen to keep him stable. He is now doing much better and back to his normal self. April 12th was actually his due date and he graduated to a big boy bed! He's in a crib now and loving it! They continue to increase his feeds. His belly is healing nicely from the surgery and his bowels are functioning properly. He gets bigger each day. He is now 6lbs 2oz!!! We have truly come a long way. We are Blessed!

Update: April 8

Chase continues to do well. He is becoming more alert each day. He is also doing well with holding his head up on his own. They continue monitoring the fluid on his head by doing a head ultrasound each week. Although he is now 3 months 2 days, they are planning on giving him his 2 month immunization shots. They decided to delay them due to his back to back surgeries. Please continue praying for our sweet Angel.

Pictures of our Little Angel!

Update: April 4

Chase is back drinking from his bottle. They are starting him off slow since he just had surgery on his belly. They are giving him 3cc's every 3hours. He remembers how to do it, he just has to get use to it again. They pulled fluid from his VAD and he continues to do well. God continues to Bless us!

Update: April 1

Chase is breathing on his own again. They are trying to figure out when they will resume his feedings. He continues to heal daily. He's our little miracle baby.

Update: March 31

Chase is doing well. He was a bit swollen from having two surgeries back to back. The swelling is going down and he is getting back to acting like himself. He was on the vent since he had to have surgery and he's off the vent now and has the nasal canula. He should be able to breathe on his own again, soon. Please continue praying for our little Angel.

Update: March 27

Chase is out of surgery and doing well. Praying for a good recovery. We thank God for bringing him through his 5th surgery

Update: March 25

Chase will have another surgery on Wednesday. The VAD he has is not working properly, so they will have to go back in and reposition it. The VAD will later be replaced by a shunt as soon as his belly has completely healed. He is a very long way from coming home. Please keep us in your prayers

Update: March 24

Chase is still recovering from his surgery. The new VAD that they put in his head on Feb 15 seems to be giving us issues. They went to drain fluid from it today and they could not pull anything off. It appears it needs to be repositioned. They will do a CT Scan tonight to determine what they need to do. Please continue praying for our sweet baby boy.

Update:March 22

Chase is still recovering from his surgery. We are still taking it day by day. We are not sure when he can come home. We thank God for giving him the strength he has.

Update: March 20

The surgery went well. There were no issues. Chase is resting well. Thank God for bringing our baby through another surgery. Praying for a speedy recovery.

Update: March 19

Chase took his entire bottle(40cc's), twice today!!!! They will stop his feedings after 12 tonight, due to his surgery tomorrow. He will only be on IV fluids, so I know he will be fussy since he knows when it's time to eat. He will have to go without his milk for at least a week, depending on how his belly is healing. I pray there are no issues and it all heals well. His surgery will be between 3 or 4 tomorrow.

Update: March 18

Chase took 30cc's from a bottle today!!!!!!! He is also up to 4lbs 8oz!!! He will have another head ultrasound tomorrow, praying for good results.

Update: March 16

Chase is doing well. He now knows when it's time to eat, he gets fussy a few minutes before his feedings. He is also doing good about being up more during the day and sleeping at night. Each day is closer to his surgery and we are already praying for a smooth recovery. They are waiting until after the surgery to give him his immunization shots. We are unsure what the neurosurgeon will do about the VAD since they have not had to tap it. One day at a time.

Update: March 14

Chase is now 4lbs, 6oz. They scheduled his last surgery to close his intestine up. It will be on Wed March 20th. He took 13cc's from a bottle today, which is exciting! They continue to work with him daily. His eye exam, physical therapy and occupational therapy is all going well. We are so Blessed for Chase's progress. Each day he get closer to coming home. Thank you for continuing to pray for our sweet baby.

Update: March 9

Chase is doing well. He gets stronger each day and is even more alert. He continues to work on his bottle feedings. We have to pace him because he tries to go too fast. He is 2 months, 3 days, so they are preparing to give him his immunization shots. They said there is a chance he could get sick from the shots, but not sure because all babies are different. The surgeon will be back Monday to decide when they will do the follow up procedure to put his intestine back together. We are thankful God has allowed Chase to continue progressing.

Update: March 5

Chase had another good day, he's up to 4lbs, 3oz! They increased his feedings to 35cc's. The results from the head ultrasound showed no change, so they are not draining any fluid from his head. They are starting to wean him off the bed. They put a shirt on him so he can start regulating his own body temperature. He should be in a big boy bed in a few days. God is so Amazing!

Update: March 4

Chase is still doing very well. He is up to 3lbs, 14oz. They did another head ultrasound today, so we should have the results tomorrow. Speech therapy came to work with him on his bottle feeding today. They will continue working with him daily. We continue thanking God for our little Angel.

Update Feb 28

Chase continues to do well. They continue working with him on taking more from a bottle. He is up to 30cc's and drinking anywhere from 6-10cc's twice a day. We are thankful for the progress and continue praying for our sweet baby. God is working it out!

Update: Feb 26

Chase is still doing well. They reviewed the results from yesterday's ultrasound and determined they do not have any excess fluid to remove from his head. They will continue to do weekly ultrasounds to monitor it. We are very blessed!

Update: Feb 25

Chase is still doing well. He is 38in long now! They did a head ultrasound today to see if his VAD needs to be tapped to remove any excess fluid, they will know tomorrow. All we can do is pray and Continue being just as strong as our little fighter. He continues to surprise the Doctors and nurses and that's nothing but God!

Update: Feb 24

Chase had another good day! He got to snuggle with Ryan again, while Ryan read to him. Thankful for progress

Update: Feb 23

Chase continues to do well. He is up to 3lbs 10oz. Thanks again for your support and prayers!

Update: Feb 22

Chase is officially off of oxygen and breathing on his own! His feeds are at 24cc's and will increase to 27cc's. He is doing very well. We continue thanking God for his Blessings.

Update: Feb 21

Chase continues doing well with his feeds. Yesterday he took 12cc, today he took 18cc, he really likes his milk! He was so full, he let out a really loud burp! Afterwards, we snuggled for 2 hours and he slept comfortably on my chest. They changed his bed, since he is improving and no longer on the vent. The next step will be a regular bed/crib. One day at a time, but we thank God for progress.

Update: Feb 20

I gave Chase his first bottle today! He did so well, he is a great eater. He actually pitched a fit when we ran out, he wanted more! It was a big deal because no one knew how well he would do. Ryan also held him for the first time, it was a beautiful father/son moment. The power of Prayer, that's all I can say...

Graduation!

Chase graduated from the preemie paci(purple), to the big boy paci(green). He is also picking his head up and turning it from side to side. It doesn't matter which side the nurse faces him, he has started to turn his head if he doesn't want to face that way. Very proud of our little Angel!

Update: Feb 19

Chase is doing very well. They continue to increase his feedings and he is no longer on the vent, so we are making steps in the right direction. We are Blessed!

Update: Feb 17

Chase had a great day! He had his eyes open quite a bit today and didn't seem as exhausted from the surgery. We started back reading to him and he seems to enjoy it. We continue to take it one day at a time. We believe in God's healing power.

Update: Feb 16

Chase had a good night after his surgery and is still doing well today. He is still in recovery mode, so he is resting very well. God continues to watch over our sweet baby and we thank Him for each day.

Update: Feb 15

Chase had surgery today to remove the VAD, since it was infected. They decided to put another one back in since there was a little bit of fluid. The surgery went well and Chase is doing fine. Praying that this VAD does not get infected and a speedy recovery. We thank God for bringing him through another surgery.

Update: Feb 14

Chase is still doing well. The infection is not going away as fast as they hoped, so they have decided to remove the VAD tomorrow. They will not be putting another one back in, for now, they will just take it day by day. They will continue doing the head ultrasounds to monitor any fluids. We pray that God will continue guiding the doctors.

Update: Feb 13

Chase has had a good day. They are still treating his infection with antibiotics and it is improving. The neurosurgeon feels like they can treat it vs taking him back through surgery to remove the VAD. He is returning to his old feisty self. Please keep our little fighter in your prayers.

Update: Feb 12

Chase is doing better today. His white blood cell count has decreased, which means the infection is improving. They did not remove the VAD today, so not sure what they will do at this point. We are thankful for better news. Chase is resting very comfortably and seems to be regaining his strength. Continuing to pray.

Update: Monday Feb 11

Chase still has an infection. The neurosurgeon said they will try treating it with antibiotics one more day and if there is no change, they will take the VAD out. Not sure if they will put another one back in or not. Other than the infection causing him not to feel well, everything else is fine. Keep our little man in your prayers.

1 Month Old

Wednesday Feb 6th. Chase was 1 month old! He did well all day. Around 6PM, he began having episodes where he would stop breathing and his heart rate would drop. They soon realized he had an infection from the VAD that they put in his head. They told us that it was not uncommon for an infection to develop because it was a foreign object and his body was rejecting it. They placed him on antibiotics and said they would watch him for a few days to see if the infection improved. They told us that if it did not improve, they would have to go back in and remove the VAD. Today is Sun Feb 10th and Chase is still not feeling well. They will decide within the next day or so if they will be removing the VAD. Praying that our baby feels better soon...

Things suddenly changed

It was Sunday Jan 6th and I was stable all during the day. Around 9:30PM, I began experiencing extremely painful contractions. I was 26 weeks and 2 days. They were going to make another attempt to hold them off, but my contractions were coming very fast and very strong, so they called for an emergency c-section. They rolled me back in the OR and as they prepared to cut, my Dr checked and I had already dilated to 10cm, I was complete. They had me push and Chase was out in a matter of minutes. Chase Anthony Jeans was born Sunday January 6, 2013 at 10:53PM. He was 2lbs 5.8oz and 14 inches. He came out crying and eyes wide open. God is so AMAZING!They initially told us that he was big for 26 weeks and very fiesty. We found out on Thurs Jan 10th that Chase suffered from one of the side effects of the medication they gave him to close the ducts to his heart. They said he showed no visible signs of any issues, it was only when they did a routine x-ray that they noticed a small bubble. The side effect was a spontaneous intestinal preferation(a small hole in his intestine), which required surgery. They transported him to LeBonheur for the procedure, which only took about 30 minutes because the tear was very minor. They told us they would go back in to close him up in 6-8 weeks, so we knew there would have to be a follow up surgery. His recovery was going well, no issues. He was gaining weight and things were looking good. They did a routine head ultrasound on Fri Jan 11th and notified us on Sat Jan 12th that Chase had bleeding on his brain. Grade 4 is the most severe and he has a grade 2 on one side and a grade 4 on the other. They told us that there was a chance that he would not be able to use the entire left side of his body, he might not be able to walk, talk or learn. On Monday Jan 14th, they did another ultrasound and said the bleed was in an unusual spot, but it was not as bad as they originally thought. Through all of it, Chase had remained very alert, active and responsive. They continued to monitor it to see if the fluid would simply resolve on its own. On Monday Jan 28th the Dr told us that they would more than likely have to do surgery on his head because his ventricals were beginning to get larger, so they wanted to prevent any further damage. They told us that they would place a VAD in his head, under the skin, so they could manually drain any fluid when needed. He would eventually need a Shunt, which is permanent and also be under the skin. The shunt would automatically pump fluid from his head into his belly and it would be absorbed there. He was too small for a shunt, which is why they decided they would need to do the VAD initially. They did the surgery on Wed Jan 30th and it only took about 15 minutes. The surgeon came out and told us that Chase did well and there were no issues. They did another head ultrasound and told us that they did not have to drain any fluid from the VAD in his head and it appeared his head was improving on its own. They said they would continue to monitor it, but they were hopeful that he may not even need the Shunt afterall.  Chase continues to make progress, God has given us a little fighter.  He continues to grow and his lungs are getting stronger each day. We do not know what the future holds, but we do know God is in complete control and we Believe in His Healing power. We do not allow the enemy to bring doubt or worry in our minds, we are in constant prayer, so we are positive and in good spirits. Our Faith and our Strength is renewed everyday and through it ALL, we are truly Blessed.

The beginning of our Journey

I want to start by saying Ryan and I sincerely appreciate your thoughts and prayers during this time. We agreed that we would share our experience and begin to answer questions, which I'm sure most of you have...we will try to keep everyone updated by using this blog....My original due date was April 12th. I had no issues during pregnancy, not even morning sickness. My appointments were all normal and I was coasting through. I began experiencing cramps on Wed Jan 2nd. I called my Dr and she assured me they were Braxton Hicks contractions, so I continued my day at work. The discomfort never went away. I was unable to sleep, so I went in without an appointment the next morning Thurs Jan 3rd. She checked and said my cervix was closed. She tested to see if I was going into labor and said the results would be back the next day. In the meantime she advised me to take Tylenol to ease the pain. She also took me off work the rest of the week and said I could return on Monday. I was actually scheduled to fly out to Baltimore on Sun Jan 6th for work, but she said I had to cancel it. The pain continued, but I fought through it. The nurse called the next afternoon, Fri Jan 4th, and confirmed the results were negative, so I wasnt in labor. I advised her that I was still in pain and she suggested Tylenol and a hot shower/bath. I could not sleep at all due to the pain. I went to use the restroom and was alarmed to find a good amount of blood. It was around 1:30AM Sat Jan 5th, so I woke Ryan up and we drove to the nearest ER(St.Francis), which was not the hospital I was registered to deliver. They checked me and confirmed I was dilated 3cm, there was no doubt I was in labor, so they admitted me around 2:15AM. My contractions were very close together. They called my Dr and she advised them to stabilize me enough to transport me to Methodist Germantown. I arrived there around noon and remained stable, so I rested most of the day. I was still experiencing contractions, but they were only 1-2 every hour or so. My Dr advised me that I would remain there until I delivered.