To start off I thought we would take a blast into the past from Vinnie's birth post to see how far he has come:
June 29th, 2008..............
"Our beautiful baby boy Vincent Joseph Karnes joined us on June 29th at 12:34pm. We appropriately named him Vincent meaning "the conqueror". He was 2 lbs 10 oz and 15 inches long.
It was confirmed that I was having contractions at about 6am Sunday morning. I was running a low fever of 99.5 so my white blood count was tested around 830a. It was at a 13, so somewhat high. Average is about 10 and I had been at about a 7 for the past 5 weeks I had been in the hospital. The increase meant I was fighting an infection. They tested again about an hour later at 10am and I had gone to a 16 already. This is when they decided I may deliver. By this time my contractions were becoming stronger but I was not dilating at all. Infections are very common in pprom mom's since there is no longer a barrier keeping infections out. I was grateful to make it the 9 weeks without having to deliver. Every day really counted. Only 10% of women who experience prom make it past the first 48 hrs. For those 10% who make it about 7 weeks is the average amount of time they make it.
Around 11:30a it was decided that for my health and our baby's I would need to deliver quickly. Little did we know that with in the next hour little Vinnie would be here with us. Everything went very quickly as you can imagine and before we knew it Vinnie was born via emergency C section and he even let out a little cry. The largest concern when he was born was if his lungs were developed. It was very comforting to hear his cry although I admit it was shocking to actually see how little he was. Joe did a great job getting a video and pictures. I only got to see Vinnie for about 15 seconds after he was born as they were wheeling him out so I was glad to have these pictures! Joe was fabulous as usual. He did a great job keeping me calm, updated on what was going on, and I have never seen a father who was more proud or thankful to see his son!!! It was so sweet. He's going to make a terrific father.
We have truly been blessed with this tiny miracle. "
July 3rd, 2008:
Every once in a while I read the following blog. Vincent's birth was many things on so many scales. Exciting, scary, amazing, terrifying, joyful, etc. Never take anyone for granted and never ever give up.
"Vincent is currently having the most issues with his lungs. On Sunday night he was maxed out with the machines and breathing they could do for him. He was up to 100% oxygen and high pressure. We breathe 20% oxygen. They added Nitrogen Dioxide to help stimulate his lungs. This was our biggest scare so far. The NICU doctor came to my room and asked where my husband was (Joe had ran home to let our dogs out for a bit). The doctor told me that we needed to come see Vincent as soon as possible and that he was not doing well. This was the first time I was able to see him besides for a few seconds in the OR. Joe hurried back. They did let Joe and I touch him this night. He is early so he doesn’t care for any rubbing or touching, but I got to hold his little hand for a few minutes and Joe cradled his little head earlier in the day. He had one more episode during the early hours of Monday morning.
Since Monday morning he has been stable!!!! His oxygen has been between 30-50% ranges. They adjust it based on his needs. Today he was down to only 2% Nitrogen so they have almost weaned him from that which is fantastic. His pressure has decreased to 22. It was 34+ in the days prior. Our nurse said the highest she has seen a baby have is 36. They have to be very careful with these machines as to not damage his lungs further. So he is not great in the lung department yet, but a definite improvement.
He is currently on a machine that gives him up to 600 breaths per minute and as soon as he is ready the next machine will give him up to 60 per minute. After that he would go to a CPAP. This machine would allow him to breathe on his own and would only give him breaths if it senses that he stopped breathing.
Currently Vinnie is receiving all hydration and nutrients through an IV. As soon as he starts to become have less issues in other departments we will introduce milk to him, starting with only about a teaspoon and working our way up from there.
Joe and I learn a little more from our nurses every day. The staff in his NICU is very informative and they make us comfortable. They allow us to come anytime besides shift changes whether they are doing any types of procedures or not. We are always welcome to be there. He mainly needs rest right now. His nurse said it is good for him to hear our voices as he will recognize them from listening in the womb. We are very proud of his progress so far. He is doing a great job and he is really a little fighter.
Tomorrow I will be discharged from the hospital after six weeks of being here. I thought that I would be sooo ready to go home, but I know it will be hard to not be staying here with him. Luckily we live about 15 minutes from the hospital and his Grandma Vicki lives about 10 minutes away on the other side of the hospital. I will still be with him often. In a few more weeks I should be able to be more involved with diaper changing, sponge baths, etc.
In his three days on this earth he has already taught us so much.
We have learned to be very patient, slow down to enjoy the small things, good things really do come in small packages, and now we both believe in love at first sight :) "We are winding down our 3 day celebration. Saturday we had the big birthday bash with friends and family. Vinnie was partial to the cake, but we gave it another whirl on his birthday. Still no go, but that's ok. Guess he is a meat and potato boy like his dad.
My mom made the main cake and I decorated Vincent's. It was the first time I have tried my had at that. My mom thought I should and bought me a decorator kit to have at home. If you know me then you will also know that things like baking cakes to decorate cakes really is in left field. I liked it though. Especially eating the frosting :) It's a family tradition though. My grandma Lucy was excellent at making cakes and she taught my mother.
Vinnie got many excellent gifts and is currently using them to cut his top teeth! He likes toys, but at the current time he looks at them for about 15 seconds and then straight to the mouth. His top teeth are getting close and I expect them to pop through soon.
Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes to Vinnie and/or coming to his party. We had a great time and are thankful for family and friends like you.
