Prayers Needed for New Grand Nephew and Niece and her Family
 

My niece had her 2nd baby yesterday. He was born 5 weeks early. The baby was not doing well and may have come congenital birth defects and some chromosomal disorder. They sent him by Air Evac to a hospital in Salt Lake City. My sister flew to SLC to be with the baby and I'm sure my niece and her DH will follow as soon as my niece is ok to travel. She had a C-section. Please keep them all in your prayers. Thanks!:hug:

Oh my goodness Trish. That sweet little one is being prayed for right now.
And also for your DN and Family.:grouphug:

Prayers for them and for you, too. :smileypray: Please keep us informed on the babys condition.

You know all youhave to do is ask. A new born baby is to innocent to have to born with those kind of challenges.

Prayers for all...that is so scary!! Please keep us informed of how it's going...:hug:

oh, i'm sorry trish. of course they will be in my prayers.
especially for the little baby as they try to determine what's wrong.

you all are in my prayers and healing wishes coming your way.

Update . . .My niece was discharged on Monday and her sister-in-law drove her the 3 hours to Salt Lake City to be with the baby. Their 4-year boy stayed with some relatives and just joined his mom, dad, my sister, and other relatives in SLC. He finally got to meet his little brother yesterday. A social worker worked with him for a bit before he met him.

Anyhow, regarding the baby, they took out the breathing tube and he's breathing on his own. He is still on oxygen. He still has a feeding tube and is learning to use a bottle. He had an MRI done and they are waiting for the neurologist to review it and give a consult as there was a little spot on his brain. His chin was not fully developed and I'm not sure if he has any other defects but the ENT doctor is supposed to come do a consult as well. They should hear back this week regarding the genetic testing that they had done. I know at one point my sister mentioned that he had trouble with his range of motion in his limbs but I haven't gotten an update in regards to this. She did say that he is a little wiggle worm and that was a good sign. I'm not sure if he has put on any weight but he was a little over 4 pounds when he was born.

Please keep them all in your prayers. I'll keep you all updated.

Thoughts and prayers continuing...:grouphug:

thanks for the update trish.
it's normal for babies to lose wt the 1st wk of life. even up to 10% put that would be pushing it.

they can do so much with even babies from a therapy standpoint to strengthen their limbs and teach the to eat and suck more effectively.

don't lose hope. prayers are still coming for the baby and family.

Judy - You're right. It's amazing what they can do with little ones now. He is lucky he was born during this time. He does have OT and PT a few times a week (I think my sister said 3 times a week) and my niece and her husband have been working on his limbs as well. They took him off oxygen today and took out his umbilical IV. He's doing well with the feedings and is now taking more food. Hopefully he will be able to get his feeding tube taken out this week. They are still waiting on the ENT, neurologist, and genetic testing results. I haven't gotten anymore updates from my sister but they have been posting updates on his fundraising page. Since they have to stay in hotels and eat all their meals out, my SIL's sister started a fundraising thing to help them with the costs of lodging and food. They believe the baby will be there at least another month. :eek:

Thank you all for the prayers for my little grand nephew. It is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the update, Trish...rays of hope, healing and growth raining down on the baby...

Keeping Baby and you all in my :Heart: and in my prayers.:smileypray:

The baby had to be put back on oxygen today. He just needs a little extra help with his oxygen. They have been working with him on oral feeding (I'm not sure if it's by breast or bottle) but he doesn't seem to like it much. He'll eventually get it. Once he does they take out the feeding tube out. Still no word from the consults and the genetic testing.

To see pictures of him breaks my heart. You can see that he is not well and yet, I can see improvements.

Ah, the sweet little soul...we all pray for the best for your little angel...:hug:

My nephew was on all sorts of tubes when he was born and he is 18 years old, about 6'5 and 250 pounds. They seems to have a way of coming around

hi trish,

1 thing i learned when i was a NICU nurse and trying to get preemies to suck was to put a bit of breast milk on a 4x4 and place it near the baby's nose so he could smell it. and/or put a drop on his tongue so he can taste it.

of course you'd have to check with his nurses.

still sending prayers.

Update: My grand nephew is doing really well. They have now moved him to a regular crib. His genetic testing came back negative for any congenital abnormalities. The neurologist isn't too concerned about the little spot on his brain. They will do a repeat MRI when he is 4 months. They tested his muscle tissue and that came back normal. They are still working his limbs to help with the stiffness he is experiencing. He pulled out his feeding tube so they have now placed in through his nose. They are hoping that this will improve his sucking and breastfeeding. He is now almost 4 pounds and is putting on more weight. Once he gets the hang of oral feedings, I'm sure his weight will increase even more. With the fundraising, my niece, her husband, and their other little boy as well as my sister have moved in to a house. The cost is less expensive than a hotel and there are 5 rooms. Since they have other family coming and going to help out and visit, this is awesome for them. My sister has mainly been taking care of my 4-year old grand nephew and being in a house will be much easier than a hotel since he will have more room to run around and play. I'm sure the people in the hotel appreciate it. :) j/k.

Thank you for your prayers. The prayers are working.:hug::hug:

that is great news trish.
i'm glad the family can be together while they wait for him to eat and grow.
what's his name BTW?

if you think mom may be interested in learning infant massage i know of a really good book. years ago i became an infant massage instructor and also used massage on some babies in the hospital (with dr's permission).

all good ways to help baby with stress and help mom with bonding. i'm not pushing it but just that i did it for many yrs and results were worth it.

trish, thanks for that wonderful update. Are they using Mom's breastmilk for his feedings?

Thanks for the update...prayers are continuing to be sent to the little guy and family...:grouphug:

My nephew is doing well. He is gaining weight. The goal is for him to gain at least 30 grams a day. He's been doing more than that. He is now off oxygen, with the exception of when he breastfeds. He still is having trouble with oral feedings so he still has the feeding tube.

Again, thank you for all your prayers.:hug::grouphug:

Thanks again for the update...he sounds like a fighter!!

Thanks Trish. I love to hear good news about the baby. I hope he learns the
feeding ropes soon. Love and hopes for you, Baby, DD and family.:grouphug:

My nephew had to go back on oxygen. They also have him wearing braces on his wrists to see if they can get his hands to straighten out. He wears them for 3 hours a day on each wrist, for a total of 6 hours. This is from today's updated . . . He "remains in the NICU in Salt Lake City. He is gaining and taking about 11% of his food orally…the rest is through his tube. He is currently weighing in at 2160 grams or 4.76lbs. Please continue to pray his weight increases and his family can take him home!"

He never left my special prayer list.:hug:
God bless him and help him to grow healthy.

My nephew is gaining weight. As of Friday (I think), he was almost 5 pounds. They did a swallow study on him and found out that he is having trouble swallowing thin liquids. They are now thickening his liquids in hopes that it will help him gain weight. He still has the feeding tube in and they are still doing oral feeds. They are hoping that within the next couple of weeks he will be well enough to go home.

Gosh, Trish, I hope with maturation his swallowing reflex improves...prayers continuing. Thanks for the update...:hug:

me too, it's good to hear of his progress.

i hope the little one gets better and better and goes home quickly.:hug:

best of luck and prayers for the little guy :hug:

As of now, they are waiting until my nephew is 5 1/2 pounds and then he will have surgery to place his feeding tube in his stomach (he's at almost 5 pounds). Then he will have to stay in the hospital for 7 to 10 days before he can go home. He did not tolerate the bananas they used to thicken his "milk" so they stopped his oral feeds for a few days and started them back up. As far as I know, he has been tolerating them so far. I'm hoping that trend will continue for him and he puts the weight on so they can do the surgery and he can go home.

It's hard to believe that he is now a month old already!

Thank you to all for the prayers! I know they are working and I know my niece and her husband really appreciate it.:hug::hug:

here's hoping the little man won't be so little for long.
i hope all goes as planned and he gets home soon.

then the family can get into a routine and relax.

Continuing to pray for the little fighter...it is amazing how the human spirit is so strong!

The little guy is having surgery today to place his G-tube. Please say some extra prayers for him. He will need to stay in the hospital for another 7 to 10 days, provided no issues come up, and then he can finally go home.

I hope he will heal well and get home and all of this will be a distant memory someday. :hug:

Me Too!!!:hug:

They had to postpone my nephews surgery until today. In fact, hopefully, he is having his surgery now as I type this. I'm not sure why they postponed it but it was rescheduled for this morning between 9 and 10.

Let us know once he's out of surgery, Tricia. Poor little guy.....such big stuff for such a little guy. Bless him. Saying a prayer for him now. :smileypray:

sending healing prayers that the procedure goes well and he recovers quickly.
then, on to home.:hug:

This is my little grand nephew. He looks so much better now than a month ago. I still haven't heard anything but I know my niece is probably busy taking care of the little guy and my sister is at work. I'll post as soon as I hear.

Awwww bless his beautiful sweet little heart.:hug: