In other news, Chris arrived in town late tonight. He will be in town for a short spell to offer added support. And we thought Luc looked tired! ;)

Beau, the Grandmothers and I took some time out today from the NICU and headed to Fenway for a baseball game.  We had 4 thickets left over form the Mother’s Day flood and thought it would be nice to take our minds off of the hospital for a couple of hours. Our seats were in the right field grandstands. It was a great game – lots of action. The Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 6-4 and a good time was had by all.  We brought back a Red Sox blanket for Luc to have draped over his isolette once he no longer needs to under the blue lights. 

The most amazing thing happened when we got back to the hospital after the game.  I got to hold Luc.  He was wrapped in about 5 blankets and still had all of his lines and cords hooked up but it was still the single most amazing moment of my life.  I finally got to feel my baby breathing in my arms and for the first time since he was born I felt like a mother, I felt like Luc’s mother.  I got to hold him for about 25 blissful minutes.  During this time Luc had about 3 “spells” where he forgot to breath – this was of course terrifying but the nurses said not worry. This was something that we should expect to happen until abut 35 gestational weeks. I like to think that he was just so comfortable in my arms that I lulled him into such a deep sleep that he just forget to breath…typical mother, huh.  Anyway, it was a day to go down in the record books as one of the best!

In other news, we were able to bring home some used blankets from Luc’s bed. We wanted to start to introduce Sam, Killian, and Max to his scent. They seemed thoroughly uninterested…  

This condition is caused by a duct in the heart that stays open. In utero, this is a normal condition, because of the way blood flows through the body, and the fact that the baby does not need to use his lungs. Once born, however, it can be problematic as the blood does not flow properly through the body and can cause acidosis amongst other things. PDA can be remedied in 1 of 3 ways: 1) all by itself, 2) chemically with a drug called indocin, and 3) surgically. Obviously, the surgical option is last on the list. It’s a common procedure and only lasts about a half an hour, but it’s a last resort as it adds undue stress on the baby and can lead to other complications.

As was noted in the previous entry, Luc had been receiving the chemical treatment of indocin in the hope that it would help to close the duct. A side effect of the indocin is that it reduces circulation to the digestive system. The doctors are not comfortable feeding him breast milk because of this and as a result Luc had lost some more weight (1 lb. 11 oz.). To add to that, has developed acidosis (which we had worried would happen) and has become dehydrate. To counteract this, the doctors ordered a blood transfusion. Taken these collectively, we were starting to worry about our little buddy and were anxiously awaiting he results of the second 2D Echo. A good sonogram would go along way as most of his aliments were falling out of the PDA.

Well, we got the results and the duct is closed! You may be able to imaging the excitement around the house. We had been on pins and needles all evening. We also found out that the transfusion is working and his acidosis is correcting nicely. And now for the trifecta, he gained 43 grams- woo hoo! Needless to say, we will all sleep little better knowing that we have cleared this latest hurdle.

Luc had a good night, no breathing episodes and the color has remained in his toes.  THANK YOU DADDY (Beau).  Luc is now in an isolette which keeps him warmer and makes him more comfortable.  Anything that helps to mimic the environment of the womb is a good thing.  His bilirubin levels are down to 4.1 which is good - the blue lights must be helping. 

Unfortunately the PDA duct in his heart is still open.  It is considered moderate in size so the Doc’s have started a second round of the meds. His electrolytes are also low because they are restricting his fluids in hopes that this will also help in closing the duct.

Luc’s weight has dropped to 805 grams (1 lb 12 oz).  He also had a few breathing episodes in the night and another one early this AM, Luc was able to pull himself out on his own though.

We are home now.  I think I have called about a million times to check on the baby.  The nurses must think I am crazy but it is the only connection I have.  We will check back in again soon.

 The nurse, Jen, one of our favorites told us that Luc would be getting a 2-D Echo to check on the heart murmur.  We are hopeful that it will be closed. None of the nurses has been able to hear it since he started the meds and his pulses are less bounding, which is a good sign. 

Luc’s bilirubin level is at 5 – they say this is good.  Unfortunately we had a mild set back today when the doctors noticed Luc’s toes were “duskyâ€�.  They said that this could have been caused by a restriction of Luc’s blood flow from the meds being used to treat his murmer. It could also be because of a blood clot.  The Doc’s are holding off on the final dose of the meds just in case.  Beau actually held the baby’s foot and his hand acted as a heat source and was able to restore a lot of the color – I always knew he had a healing touch.

5:00pm Cares – I changed his diaper, I think I am getting a little more comfortable.  He has started grasping my fingers and quieting down when I hold his legs and arms.  It has been another long day – Luc seems stable for now but we are all bracing for the “ups and downsâ€� that are inevitable.  Beau and I are exhausted, but our Mom’s have been an amazing source of strength for us.

We woke up at 8am or so. We made it up to Luc’s room for his 9am Care. He looked none the worse for the wear and was resting comfortably despite having had the murmur and a couple of breathing episodes during the night. He was on medication to control the murmur and seemed to have recovered well. His doctor came in and was very good at explaining all of the details. It seemed that Luc had settled and was responding well to the medication. By the end of the day, the Murmur had not been detectable and he had not had any breathing stoppages.

We tucked him in and said our good nights. All in all, it was a good day. Luc was resting comfortably and we felt good leaving him in the hands of his much-abled care takers.

In other news, Chris left to head back to the River early this afternoon and Bunky headed back to Maine this morning. It was sad to see them go, but Chris assured us that he would be back next weekend and Bunky left crying exclaiming that she would be back as Luc had impressed himself upon her so. We can’t say enough how nice it’s been having the family here. It really helps.

We are learning a lot about the world of being a preemie parent and the staff here at BID are truly wonderful. They have been great at keeping us in formed and managing our expectations. We are being told at this point that no news is good news.


Our nurse practitioner told us tonight that we may expect Luc to develop a heart murmur. This is typical in preemies and is caused by the fact that the heart is not quite prepared to be out of utero. She also told us to expect him to stop breathing from time to time. This is caused by his underdeveloped system that simply ‘forgets’ to breathe. It’s not a concern only if it doesn’t happen too frequently.



All in all it was a good day. Luc was resting nicely. It’s comforting to see him resting so quietly. He is impressive at the strength he exhibits for his small size. All of the nurses seem to comment at his feistiness given that he is only 1 day old.  We have much hope and are cautiously optimistic at this point.

In other news, Kate was able to start breast pumping today. The plan is to freeze the milk for when Luc can start feeding. She did really great until she accidentally poured all of her hard work down her front side. Such is life…