JC just called me, and they are on their way home from visiting Eli at the hospital – they were there for quite a while! JC said that he looks absolutely fantastic, and that he is down to 27% oxygen, which is great. He got his first bottle of milk today, and did great – it was 11 cc’s of breastmilk. Previously he was on a feeding tube, and was only getting 5 cc’s of milk per feeding. Commentary from Rachel: For a frame of reference for those of you who haven’t been through the “fun” of pumping and storing breastmilk, 1 ounce is about 30 cc’s, and most infants start out on 2 ounces (~60 cc’s) and quickly move up to 4 ounces (~120 cc’s) per feeding. So Eli is taking about 1/3 of an ounce of milk per feeding.

The best part of the visit was that they got to hold him for the first time!! (Lindsay got to hold him right after he was born, but she doesn’t remember that too well and JC didn’t get to hold him at all). JC said that it was definitely one of “life’s greatest experiences”, and that it didn’t feel like he was holding anything but blankets. Eli even opened his eyes for a minute while JC held him.

They are thrilled with his progress, and thrilled that he got moved down to the CCN. They took some pictures and promised to get them to me tonight to post for all of you!

Eli is now out of the NICU and into the CCN (Continuing Care Nursery)!!! Yay!

Here is the update + pictures from JC!!!

Okay then. Here it goes.

Lindsay was discharged from the hospital yesterday around lunch time. When they came in to take her vital signs her BP was still too high for them to discharge her, but the nurses had her lie on her side, and take deep breaths which got it just below where it needed to be.

She had developed a headache over the past two days, and after we went home it became much worse. It was better when she was lying down, but unbearable when she was sitting or standing. When we went to visit Eli last night I mentioned it to one of the nurses who had us go back downstairs to see the doctor on call at the maternity entrance. It turned out to be caused by complications related to the epidural, a “post dural puncture headache.” There is a procedure, a blood patch, they can do to fix it, but they chose to take a more conservative approach and treat it with medications and fluids. We were glad of this because the anesthesiologist on call was the same one who botched the epidural, and he didn’t sound very confident in his ability to do the blood patch. She felt somewhat better after the drugs and the IV, so they sent us home around 1:30. She feels much better this morning, so we’re hopeful that the conservative approach will work.

Eli is doing great. They’ve started feeding him breast milk (through a tube) over the past 24 hours, and he is responding well. His breathing is easier and so they were able to remove the C-PAP (tubes to hold airways open and give him oxygen). Since he no longer has the C-PAP, they have moved him to a covered bed (incubator?) where they can control the oxygen level of his environment. He’s breathing 35% O2 now, which is a big improvement from 50% with the C-PAP a couple of days ago. And while the nurses warned that his weight would fluctuate do to the fluids and milk they give him, we couldn’t help but be excited about the fact that he weighed over three pounds last night. That’s about a 40% weight gain in three days. We still haven’t been able to hold him, but it’s amazing to see the way he responds to touch. We didn’t get any pictures last night, but I’ve attached two from the night before.

Thank you all for your prayers, your kind comments and words. The support and love we’ve felt has been overwhelming. While we still have a long way to go, it’s great to know we have such wonderful family and friends looking out for us. Special thanks to Rachel for keeping everyone else updated. It’s such a relief to know that you all have a way to check on Lindsay and Eli.
J.C.

(attention Eli-Junkies: There are a few updates from yesterday about Eli below this post)

So I finally went to pay my speeding ticket yesterday, because I just didn’t have enough to do yesterday. ;) I had just not gotten around to it yet, and of course, this week of all weeks is the week that it had to be paid. So I drove over to Crestline Village in search of the Mountain Brook Police Department. Of course, C.V. is one of those snooty little city centers that has adorable buildings and very little parking. So I followed the signs to the Police Department, went around the building, and much to my surprise, found several open spaces. I pull in and get out, and there are 4 police officers standing a few feet off. Immediately one of them asks me what I need. Kind of taken aback, I tell them that I am here to pay a ticket. He says “OK, but hurry up, you’re not supposed to be parked there.” I consider joking with him about giving me a parking ticket while I’m paying a speeding ticket, but decide against it. He gives me directions to where I need to go. Ali and I head off according to his directions (“through the veranda” – I told you this place was snooty). We go through the veranda, and the door under the veranda has a sign that clearly says “We do not accept payment for tickets at this office. Go to City Hall”. Great. City Hall is around the other side of the building. I try to sneak back onto the sidewalk in hopes that the cops don’t see me and think I’m not obeying their directions or not “hurrying up” and head to City Hall. They happily accept my money. And, thank goodness, when I got back to the car, no parking ticket!! As I drove away from paying my speeding ticket, my car still rattling from my wreck last week, I could feel the policemen’s eyes (they were still standing around) watching me, and I could just hear them thinking “women drivers!!!” For a moment, I felt like the worst driver in the world.

Writing about being embarassed about my car reminded me of a very vivid memory I have from my early High School days. We were going on a youth group outing (Video Scavenger Hunt, I think) and we were all meeting at the church. My dad was taking me, and he wanted to ride the motorcycle. Being that I was the type of teenager that was deathly afraid of attention, I begged him not to – too many people would notice!!! So, being the nice Dad that he was even though I’m SURE he thought I was silly (I think I’m silly now), he took me in his truck. Then, the moment we pull into the church parking lot, his truck engine explodes. I mean – loud booms, then steaming liquids of all colors start leaking from every area of the front of the truck. We all load up in the vans to go out, and EVERYONE rides right past my Dad and his steaming, leaking truck. If I had agreed to the motorcycle, the worst thing that would have happened is that people would have noticed and thought I was cool.

JC just emailed me and asked me to post this update:

We were in the NICU with Eli as the doctor was making rounds. He was the same doctor that was in the delivery room Monday night, and we were able to talk with him for a few minutes. He assured us that Eli was progressing perfectly. While this was not what we would consider the “normal” path for a baby to take, so far Eli has been a textbook case for what they would like to see. The doctor said that we could hold him soon and that they expect to start him on milk either tonight or in the morning. He said that Eli meets all the criteria to graduate to the CCN (continuing care nursery), but they will probably keep him in NICU for a few more days to make sure he continues to progress like they would like. He emphasized that this has been a textbook case and that “we know how these babies turn out.” It was a very
encouraging conversation.Lindsay’s BP was back up a little bit tonight, but they still expect her to be discharged around lunchtime tomorrow. We took a few pictures and will try to get them to you soon, but we both need to get some sleep.

For all the Eli-Junkies out there, I owe an apology because I have no new pictures tonight – we scheduled our visit badly so that we couldn’t go see Eli due to visiting hours. :( Sorry. However, Blogger got their video problems worked out, and if you couldn’t see the videos earlier, they are back working again now.

Not too much news – Eli is doing very well, they have decreased his oxygen, which is a good thing. He is less labored in his breathing. Lindsay gets to go home tomorrow.

However, today Eli has enjoyed being touched by JC and Lindsay – he doesn’t like to have his skin rubbed, but he loves to be lightly patted or touched. He also started grabbing and holding onto their fingers, and tightening his grip when they try to pull away. He also starts to whimper when they take their hand off of him. So cute!!

For my non-Eli-readers, we are doing well – we are starting to hit the exhaustion phase – it seems like my parents hit it yesterday and Lindsay’s the day before, and JC and Lindsay go back and forth between calm and exhaustion, and so I kept wondering why I hadn’t hit it yet, but today I’ve been drained. Life seems like Sim City lately – if you ever played it, you should remember that you could just play the game, build up your city and build up wealth, or you could “inflict” disasters on your city and have to rebuild over and over. I never liked the disaster setting – I like things nice and peaceful. Our life had been very peaceful for about 10 months or so until the middle of April – then all of a sudden Kitty and Leo moved to the beach and I started working for E&A as well as my current job (all from home, of course) and Chris’ increased responsibilities, then the horrible nightmare of James’ Death and all that went with it, then my terrible stomach virus that ended me up in the ER, a wreck, Chris having to work till midnight a few nights a week for a few weeks due to the backed up deadlines because to James’ death, planning and hosting Lindsay’s baby tea, then Eli’s early and unexpected arrival. Obviously, not all of these are disasters, but it just seems like one big event after the other keeps happening, and every time we think life is about to slow down, it spirals even more out of control. It all kind of piled up on me today and overwhelmed me. So, whoever keeps hitting the “random disaster” button on our Sim Life, please quit already!! In all seriousness though, I am so glad to know that God really is in control in spite of it feeling like life is out of control. It really is so comforting and gives me hope to make it through all the craziness! Plus, I keep remembering that our life is not nearly as overwhelming as Ashlie’s, or as JC and Lindsay’s right now. We can dooo eeet!!!

Gotta love the simple answers sometimes. After letting my computer try to re-upload the videos for a couple of hours, I finally had a eureka and went to the blogger help page. First note on there? They are having video issues. Ah well.

Here’s the pictures of the nursery in progress. I will go back over there when Ali wakes up from her nap and do a little more so it looks like a nursery when Lindsay and JC come home tomorrow!

For those of you who haven’t checked since last night, my full update, pictures, etc is in the post below. However,since I had 350 hits on my blog yesterday, most of which were looking for updates on Eli, I decided to post the other video that Chris took last night. It’s only for the true Eli junkies, as it is over a minute of Eli doing. . .not much of anything. :) But I know some of you will want to see it, so here it is!!

Hey everyone! We went up to UAB tonight to visit Lindsay, JC, and Eli!

Eli is doing great. They do still have him on oxygen just to help his lungs out. But he is quite healthy – I have a video of him showing off his healthy lungs!

It looks like Lindsay will be discharged from UAB on Thursday morning. Eli, of course, will have to stay for a while.

Mom and I got Eli’s bedroom painted today, and hopefully I will get to go over there and put some of his stuff in the room tomorrow to make it look a little more like a baby’s room! Yay! I will try to post some pictures of his room tomorrow.

I don’t have much news at the moment other than the fact that everyone is doing well, but I do have a bunch of pictures and a video for you! Sorry for the long wait for this post – we visited at the hospital for a while, and then it took FOREVER to upload the video.

Eli right after birth last night!

Last night again, pre-oxygen tubing. He’s a long baby – 17 inches!! Long and SKINNY.

JC and Eli today. Look at those toes!!!

Eli wearing JC’s wedding ring.
I tried to find a “perspective” picture of Ali sucking on this type of paci when she was a newborn (to show how teeny he is), but couldn’t find one. I promise that paci is NOT supposed to look so huge!!!
Eli and Daddy.

Here’s the promised video. Warning – he is screaming the whole time – but that’s a good thing! He has healthy lungs! The nurse was shifting his blankets and such, and she explained that he is extremely sensitive to touch because his nerve endings are so young.

That’s the post for today!! I hope it was worth the wait!