Good to the Last Drop...

...and drink to the last drop we did.

All we can say is, "Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord..." Tonight during our 8pm feeding we were allowed (Travis actually) to try and bottle feed Tennyson again. Needless to say, 35 minutes and no desats later, he had downed the entire 50 MLs so it was wonderful. Okay so there's a video we wanted you to partake of for snipets of the event (it's very quick, the longer one wouldn't upload). Please note that I'm an amateur who didn't realize it took the audio as well. I guess we all learn something new everyday. However me and technology...I will try again tomorrow, for now enjoy the photos.

He weighed in at 5lbs. 6.1 ounces and did so great with the feeding. He kept falling asleep so we had to keep waking him up to finish which is why it took a while. Also he did great burping for dad, I so wish I'd caught the first one on film because it was wet, loud and well awesome if I do say so myself.

Again all praises to our God and King for all He has done and continues to do in our little mans life. Thanks for taking the time to pray for us and for Tennyson, you make all the difference in the world.

Praising the Potter -

Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

Reminder when feeling helpless...

Thanks Hollie for reminding me again...

Jesus is visiting with the father of a demon-possess boy...stay with me here, no I do not believe Tennyson is demon possessed however this reminded me that when we as parents, are feeling helpless and unable to do anything in our own strength which too often I find myself trying to do, all we have to do is cry out to Him and He will hear our cries. The answers that we receive are not always those we wanted however He is good and faithful and just and will not leave or forsake us regardless of our circumstances.

I keep crying out to God though He knows my heart, assuring Him that I'm not doubting His sovereignty but that I'm just overwhelmed with everything. Then I wonder to myself if I have to assure Him I'm trusting in Him, am I really??

Mark 9:21-24, 29 (The Message)
21-22He asked the boy's father, "How long has this been going on?"
"Ever since he was a little boy. Many times it pitches him into fire or the river to do away with him. If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!"

23Jesus said, "If? There are no 'ifs' among believers. Anything can happen."

24No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, "Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!"

Too often in my requests I am asking if He sees fit to or if it's His will, to cure our little one of all his ailments. When I am praying my 'ifs,' what am I saying to God?? I pray I would be like the child's father (ultimately I would love to never doubt His will however know better than that, though I know His ways are better than mine) and instantaneously, before the words are finished leaving Jesus' mouth cry out for His help.

When the disciples questioned Jesus as to why they were unable to cast the demon out of the child, they too were reminded that they cannot do in their own strength that which only God can do.

29He answered, "There is no way to get rid of this kind of demon except by prayer."

Thanks for listening and for praying...love you guys!

A thing of the past...

Preemie clothes that is. Tennyson is growing so quickly that we're outgrowing the preemie clothing. They have even discussed putting him in newborn sized diapers in the near future because he's so long and getting rather rotund.

So we will have a few (very few) days left that we're able to wear preemies and after that it's officially onto big boy clothes. Tennyson weighed in last night at 5 lbs. 5.7 ounces. He is doing better though there are still no answers at this time around why he's spitting up so much and why he's so cranky as he's not feeling well.

He is looking rather swollen as well but that's to be expected I guess, he's retaining water around his eyes and his feet so he will probably receive another lasik today.

He's keeping his sats rather high, since 7am has only had one episode and recovered himself though we're on 1 liter of oxygen at 21% so if he can maintain that the rest of the day this afternoon he may get moved down to 1/2 liter. His coloring this morning is better, he's looking less orange and splotchy so that's another plus.

There was discussion last night around trying to feed by bottle again today if he continues to improve though I haven't at this time heard a final decision around whether that will happen and if so when.

He is in a new outfit this morning from when we left last night as he had another bad vomitting bit last night and then this morning had two mouthfuls however I caught it during our non-nutrative time and so saved the outfit he's in now.

A praise in the midst of all these complications is that in the new big boy bed, he's able to maintain his temperature much better than most (I think he gets that hot-blooded nature from his daddy though I'm sure he's warm because God is holding him in His hands).

Please continue praying for his breathing, his digestion and infection to stay away...you know the same ole, same ole, things I ask prayer for each day and will probably continue to request until long after we're home.

I cannot thank each of you enough for taking this journey with us. I know it must be hard to remember and to follow our changes as we're in our sixth week here. I know I'm constantly asking for prayers for the same things over and over and that you're probably tired of hearing my belly achin' but thanks for staying with us. We know and I hope you know that he's only doing so well because you're lifting us up and interceding on our behalf. You don't know how much that means and how greatful we are for each of you.

Philippians 1: 3-6 (The Message)
Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God's Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

All our love and prayers.

Yearning for more of Yahweh-
Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

I will praise you in the storm...

This was passed onto me by a dear from Lisa Smith from St. Joseph and really speaks more than I can today...

"'Learning to trust God with a life as fragile as a baby born so early is one of the hardest trials one can face. Seems silly when I think about it. The God who cut a dry path through a raging sea; the God who took a lowly shepherd boy, five stones and a sling shot and made him a warrior; the God who delivered Peter out of a guarded cell; is the same God who cupped his massive hands gently around a frail body and breathed life. The same God who laid his hands upon the lepers, the outcasts, the lame placed his hands upon my heart and said "Fear not, only believe.'

Every time I look at my precious son I remember the past, yet I can't help but think of the future. He was the best teacher I ever had. He taught me to have faith, he taught me that God cares, he taught me that we are not here by mistake or chance, but by the grace and love of God. Most importantly, he taught me humility. For apart from God I can do nothing, but with him nothing will be impossible. We are not in control, but when we loosen the grip from those things we cling so tightly to, his tender voice will cut through the icy sting of disappointment and give us the courage, strength and faith to face the trials of life head on.

One day someone asked me if I believed in miracles. I thought for a moment. 'No.' I answered to the surprise of the one who asked. Then, I continued, 'I believe in the God of miracles.'

Aren't we so very blessed to know the God of miracles, up close and personal!"

This has been a very hard day for us and for Tennyson most of all. Last night around 4am when I called to check on him I was informed that he had been returned to his oxygen, this morning we were at 1 liter and 23%. He had quite a few desats last night and just couldn't get his breathing under control. He also had an episode last night of major vomitting and this morning was having a terrible time keeping everything down. He also dropped weight last night though not much, just to 5lbs. 3.2 ounces.

All these things combined lead them to believe he has an infection somewhere however they are unable to find the infection. His CBC and CRT have come back fine so they're unable at this time to locate what's the matter. He has also been crying quite a bit, and we never cry.

We are just broken, not knowing what to do for this precious one. Please pray for Tennyson as he's struggling now with breathing and digestion and just feeling terrible, hence the crying. We also found out the antibiotic they were using to treat his eye infection treats staph E, not staph A which is what we have so hopefully we'll have something changed up tonight.

We were moved to the big boy bed yesterday which means we get to hold him as often as we want however those priviledges as well as non-nutrative and attempts to feed him with anything but the NG tube were removed from us today. Please pray for us as this is really hard for me because it was not what I had planned. I was sure we were going to be eating soon and on our way home in the next week or so...so much for my plans, Tennyson and God have others that will be far better than mine anyways.

We love you guys and today can't thank you enough for your prayers, he needs them now. Know God is holding Tennyson, us and you in His loving hands.

Thankful to the Teacher-
Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

The Incredible Hulk

that's how big he seems to be...he's growing like a weed still.

Sunday morning we went to the 9:45 service at CCO which was great however we snuck in late and had to leave a bit early as Tennyson's schedule is at 8 and 11. He is doing great, he's hovering a bit with his oxygen saturation however they haven't put him back on the oxygen at this time.

Travis and I finished up his nursery and got his book shelf with all his books (which consist of many of my old titles) set up, along with his swing, Air Jordans and Chuck Taylors but otherwise the room looks pretty empty. The nurses here at Freeman keep teasing us about how laid back we are about these things because they think he'll be coming home in the next few weeks (praise the Lord).

Last night we had the weekly weight (which is done daily), length measured and head circumference which is always fun for him...I don't know why but Tennyson doesn't really like to be all sprawled out in the cold air, naked on a scale, can't honestly say I blame him. He weighed in at 5lbs. 3.5 ounces, was 19 1/4 inches long and his head was 12 3/4 inches around. So he's grown quite a bit since we started this trip five weeks ago. I can hardly believe he's five weeks old today, doesn't seem like it's been that long to me (though I'm sure Travis would disagree, we couldn't believe how wonderful our bed felt this weekend. We truly appreciate the Ronald McDonald house and all they do, but there's just something about being at home).

Travis and I also found that our puppies in our absence have degressed back into some old habits that we had broken them of (by we I mean Travis) when we first moved down here, such as digging, running the fence lines and barking. They are so starved for attention and we feel terrible for them and now for the poor neighbors. This may seem like a silly thing to some but please pray for our puppies and for the transition this has been for them as well as us.

Anyways to today...Tennyson is officially 5 weeks old and looks so great.

This morning again they tried him on a bottle and he did great with the non-nutrative or sucking portion however just doesn't have that swallowing part down yet. He would spit some back out, swallow some and then choke a bit. He did that a couple times and then I think got the hang of it but began to desat as he wasn't doing the breathing portion. So we stopped that and Maura (the speech therapist) will return tomorrow and we will try again. She was going to write an order for him to be bottle fed (as much as he would tolerate, which today was 2MLs) once daily however he's getting a lot of other changes today so she will return at 11am tomorrow and we will try again. They will also be putting the oxygen back on him for his feeding attempt tomorrow to help with the desatting until he gets everything figured out. Once we finished however they fed him through the NG tube and we gave him his pacifier however that wasn't what he wanted he wanted that bottle back so I'm hoping that's a good sign.

The nurses really thought he would take off with this and so did I so I was a bit disheartened as we're so close to getting to go home once he gets the feedings down so I know this isn't a setback by any means, he's still doing wonderfully but for some reason it feels to me as if it is. Please pray for me.

(Again thank you Hollie and Paul)
Satan's angel did his best to get me down,
what he in fact did was push me to my knees.
No danger then of walking around high and mighty!

At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it.
Three times I did that and then he told me,
My grace is enough, it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen.
I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift.
It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness.
Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer,
these limitations that cut me down to size -
abuse, accidents, opposition, Bad breaks.

I JUST LET CHRIST TAKEOVER!
And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Joyce the nurse practitioner on duty today made a few changes for our little man that I'm stoked about. She increased his feedings to 45ML/1/2 HR which is pretty routine however he's graduating from an isolette today to an open bassinette which means he can pretty much be held everytime we come over rather than just four times a day and for limited amounts of time. He's been really hovering with his satting so we haven't been getting him out the past few days anyways (I don't know if Friday really wore him out or what) but we've been doing minimal things with him however now it won't be such a change from his bed as he will have to begin regulating his own temperature. The isolettes are heated however now it won't be. This will be a major culture shock to this little boy but his mama will hold him to keep him warm (and so will many of the nurses) if I have to...please be praying for him during this transition as it's going to take quite a bit more of his energy to keep his body warm and with how he's been doing with the oxygen saturation they're not sure how much extra energy he has to give as it appears to be taking all of it to breathe.

His eyes are still oozing quite a bit and they're wondering if the virus like many other viruses (it's stapholocaccus arius (mispelled I'm sure) that's in his eyes which is staph off our skin) laid dormant for the few days when his eyes looked so good and is now rearing it's ugly head again so they're watching it closely but please continue to pray for this infection specifically and that infection will stay at bay.

Another praise however is that I talked to Dr. Holmes office in Neosho and they will take us as a new patient so we got the physician we were wanting and even though it's a bit farther many people have reaffirmed to us that this is the right decision as a good pediatrician can make all the difference in the world.

So after all the updates and my belly-achin' thanks for making it to the end of the post. Know that we're so indebted to you for all your time and prayers...we love you all so dearly and know we wouldn't be making it through this time without you.

Blessed by the Beautiful ONE-
Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

As big as a sack of potatoes...

Eating My IV...crazy little bugger!!

...as heavy at least.

After the exhausting day of pictures, Tennyson was weighed, measured and definately not found wanting (reference to A Knights Tale in case you're wondering). He weighed in at 5 lbs. 0.04 ounces so we broke the five pound mark and then today weighed 5 lbs. 1.1 ounces. It's incredible how quickly he's growing. Many of his preemie outfits are still large enough around however are not going to be long enough much longer. We measured him and he was 18 inches long, so he's grown roughly 7/8 of an inch in the last week which is amazing.

He's got such a great personality and he's so funny. He's started this week communicating with us in a brand new way. He's grunting...and not the I have to or am using the restroom at this moment grunting but just different grunts now and again. He's so precious, but hilarious as well.

As you can tell from the pictures he was really wide eyed last night and exhausted at the same time. We did our non-nutrative but after that he was so tired he even slept through a large portion of his kangaroo time with daddy.

Jeanne the nurse practitioner visited with us this morning and stated after his blood transfusion, his hematicrit was registering at 39.6 and they want it to be 40 but she thought he'd be able to make that up on his own. Also some of the tests for infection came back negative so they believe the viral infection to be rather mild and hopefully contained mostly to his eyes, though his right eye has again started oozing, so we'll see. Please continue praying for the infection to stay at bay and his body to continue fighting...

He's also looking so good she believes they'll begin bottle feeding him next week on Monday or Tuesday (since that's officially when we become 34 weeks gestationally) and then once he can take a bottle for one feeding a shift he will move into his BIG boy bed, meaning an open bassinette so we're praying for that transition as well.

Tonight he kangarooed with Travis for a bit though he was moving back and forth quite a bit with his saturation so we put him back early. He seems to be really exhausted and we and the nurses are not sure if that's because he's had so much happening lately or if he's having to work rather hard because he's still off the oxygen so they're monitoring that really closely. Please be praying for his little lungs to continue developing and working hard.

To leave you with...a funny story from last night. Our favorite night nurses, Dana and Jenny were finally working the same night and since Jenny worked Thursday night, she had him last night and boy at the end of the night was she wishing she'd have let Dana have him...

When I got there this morning I was handed a gallon ziploc bag containing three of Tennyson's outfits with the following note attached from Jenny stating, "Lindsay and Travis - Sorry that Tennyson went through 3 outfits tonight, but I have officially (reluctantly) been initiated into Tennyson's poop hall of fame (SMILE)...I got pictures. Jenny P.S. Dana just watched and laughed hysterically."

Needless to say, he's now gotten just about everyone and earning himself quite a reputation. They said this morning the night nurses were talking about how it just kept coming (that's what they get for taking him off of the iron and giving him a transfusion).

Thank you for taking the time again to pray for our little man (we can't say this enough), you all mean the world to us. Thank you for taking an active part in the care and life our Tennyson.

We love you all-

Joining you in Jehovah-

Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

Farmer John

Here are the photos of our littler farmer, he sure looked precious (but he always does, doesn't he). As you may notice he has grown rather rapidly in the past week and apparently his legs are a bit shorter than Kits however his torso is longer (note the hairholders holding his suspenders up, yes I know hairholders fix everything).

As for an update for today...this morning all was well, we were told yesterday that his hematocrit numbers were still low and were to be retested last night. If the number was 25 or lower he would be getting a blood transfusion today (normal is 40 in preemies), ours tested 26.5. Our nurse stated that many times in preemies when they're right on the line, once they receive a transfusion they perk up and do so much better with things like their breathing, etc. The nurse practitioner, Jeanne stated that his heartrates have been rather high which leads her to believe he's having to work too hard to get his blood flowing all over so a blood transfusion is inevitable at this point.

This afternoon before heading to lunch Jeanne called my cell phone (telephone calls from the nurse practitioner or physician are usually not something you want to receive). Jeanne stated after reviewing his chart that he will be receiving another blood transfusion today (actually he's probably receiving it right now and we're just praying they were able to put the IV in his hand and not in his head), and they will be discontinuing his iron injections (to help the hematocrit production) for at least a week, she was also writing orders to discontinue his oxygen as she believes he's able to do without it, and they will be giving him a lasik following his blood transfusion to help him get rid of any additional water he may be carrying.

Then came the news we were unprepared for...

Jeanne stated that his CBC (complete blood count) from this morning showed that he had a viral infection (which of course is the kind that they are unable to treat with antibiotics, we just have to watch it run its course, which will hopefully be very swift). She stated she wasn't super concerned with it right now and it could very possibly be in conjunction with the eye infection that he has had recently. This however is not something they will be taking lightly, he will be monitored more closely and will have more blood tests done tomorrow.

I know this isn't the end of the world, and this has been a great day however it's hard to hear when he's appearing to do so well that he has an infection which in the NICU is a major setback. This type of infection is something that a term baby would be able to handle very easily however with underdeveloped lungs and systems in general it will be more of a struggle for us.

Please be praying for all these changes for our little boy (the lungs with them taking his oxygen away, the additional blood transfusion (and the possible infection that could come from the IV site), his retaining water and his poor little body fighting this infection. These will be harder days ahead of us as we've not experienced an infection at this time.

Thanks for taking the time to share in this journey with us, we love you guys and thank the Lord for you...

All our love.

Leaning on the Lifegiver-

Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

AND THE WINNER IS.............

The Neonatal Intensive Care unit at Freeman Medical Center has a Halloween costume contest annually for the children staying in the NICU. There is no theme for the parents and the only limitations are that the childrens' beds and monitors must still be functional and accessible to the nursing staff. You are also not allowed to put make up or stickers on the children.

Needless to say, Travis and I were excited when we were first told about the contest and decided of course that Tennyson should be a little farmer. We carried this idea over to the grandparents and Granny had a great time creating the basic layout for the tractor as well as coming up with the perfect costume out of Kit's American Girl railroad outfit so we wouldn't have to purchase additional pieces.

So alas, the attached pictures are of the contest which took place this morning in the NICU. Tennyson was named the first prize winner by administration at Freeman. It was great to see so many administrators and staff members at Freeman as they do the annual parade through the NICU observing the costumes. We can't comment much on what the other children were dressed up as because we're not really allowed to just roam around so all I can say is two of our roommates were dressed up, one as a boxer and one as a pumpkin.

Tennyson did so great, he was wide awake during the entire parade and everyone just kept commenting on how precious and beautiful he was (though we already knew that). He was photographed by many including Children's Miracle Network, Angie (who is the photographer that takes the photos of the babies in the NICU, you've seen tons of her wonderful work and will see more once we receive them) and was filmed by KSN (channel 16 in Joplin) for tonights news broadcase so if you're in the Joplin area, be sure to check it out.

Travis and I had a great time as everyone was praising our little guy for the isolette decorations but even more for how precious he was, it was amazing!!

Anyways this is just the first post...there will follow some of him in his outfit.

You take the good with the bad...

Tennyson is doing wonderfully, don't take that wrong from the title. I am just trying to find him a pediatrician as we'll have weekly visits with them for a while after being discharged and none of the Freeman physicians (except for three I was told not to call and one who doesn't have hospital priviledges) are taking new patients...even though we have insurance. It's crazy I am not sure what to do. One of the physicians who was highly recommended sees patients in Neosho but that's almost 45 minutes-an hour from our house. I am not sure what to do...any advice anyone???

Anyways Jeanne, the nurse practitioner said yesterday during her assessment of Tennyson that she thought he was looking a bit puffy (like he was retaining some water) however today he's looking much better. Last night he weighed in at 4lbs. 12.4 ounces so we're guessing he was retaining quite a bit of water which is why he gained only 0.01 ounces rather than the 2 or so he'd been gaining (makes me wonder how long he'd been retaining). Otherwise however he's doing great.

They started the eye drops and his eyes are looking great. Before they had a glazed or glossy look to them but that's even gone away now, along with the discharge he was having (makes us wonder how long the infection had been building unbeknownst (is that a word) to us).

Last night he did really well during his time with Travis and I however Travis didn't kangaroo as they were doing an admit (another new roommate, however she was term so she won't be there long) so we were behind the curtain with lots of commotion and they warned us we could be asked to leave at any time so we didn't get him all riled up, just held him but he did so great and it was wonderful.

They didn't change his feeding yesterday but reduced the amount of human milk fortifier they were giving him so they're weaning him off the additional calories so that's another great thing, closer to going home...in a couple weeks...

Today we have Candy and she's such a great nurse, she's always teaching us something new about their development or things to observe and what the babies signals are telling us. She was with us during non-nutrative and this was by far the best one, he did so great for like 1/2 an hour. Before we were lucky to get five minutes of his time, she was impressed and if I had known some of the things she had taught me she figures we would have been soaring along before now. Either way he's doing great and he and I are both starting to get this all figured out.

One thing that I guess he's had for awhile but no one ever mentioned to Travis and I is that he has a heart murmur. During Jeanne's assessment yesterday she mentioned she could still hear his murmur and I think I kinda freaked. She was surprised we were unaware as I guess he's had it for quite a while, since the PDA closed I believe. She said they're very common in preemies and his is very small but still it's there so we will especially be praying for that and if you'd join us that'd be great.

Tennyson of course is still perfect and beautiful, Travis and I are running home tonight to get some things ready for tomorrow's big TODO so hopefully we'll post some new pictures tonight, we'll see if we get everything done in our allotted time constraints. We have Jenny as our nurse tonight so that's awesome!!

Yesterday was the weekly Ronald McDonald house meeting and it's so great to get to know some of the other families in the house. When I first got there, Sarah was there for help to guide me and let me know when I didn't understand things what they were really saying or to give me pointers on things when I had questions. She was just there, with me, experiencing all of this and I don't know early on what I would have done without her. Now there's another new family there and I think the Lord put me there (just as He did Sarah for me) to be His light to them and help them though this difficult time. I also found out yesterday that in July they're having the tenth anniversary of the Ronald McDonald house so it will be great to get together with everyone and see at that time how much the kiddos have changed.

Please pray for them as their little boy was 24 weeks, an entire month earlier than ours. They are so precious so please upon remembering them lift them up.

Thanks again for joining us on this journey, you don't know what it means to us to know you're there interceding for us. Words cannot express our gratitude. Someday when we get home and I have more time (haha!) I will try and get birth announcements and thank yous out to you all. Please make sure we have your address, you can email me at carryinthecross@hotmail.com for birth announcements.

We love you all and thank you for the prayers.

Safe in the arms of the Savior-
Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

Praises to our God and King...

It has been a crazy couple of days in the NICU with so many new babies being born and so many that have been there leaving. Our little roommate Darcy was able to room in with her parents last night and though they were moved around quite a bit and kicked out of their room early this morning they are so excited about going home and so precious to us. We're going to miss them just as we miss Klayton who was our buddy and whose mom was my saving grace until last week when that little scoot headed home (he's doing great still by the way). It's amazing to me how attached you can become to people in such a short amount of time and the friendships that you make and will continue to build long after we've left the hospital.

Anyways as to the praises...thank you all for praying for little Matthew. Division of Family Services brought him a family in last night, I can't believe it but God didn't tarry on that prayer request at all and we're so thankful. Continue praying for them if you remember.

As for Mr. Tennyson, I thought he was a heavyweight yesterday but he weighed in last night at 4lbs. 12.3 ounces (we're almost five pounds) and he's receiving feeds of 40ML/1/2 HR so they moved up the timing on those as well.

He seems to be really tolerating everything well and he's down to 1/4 liter of Oxygen and satting very highly right now so praises there as well.

I mentioned his possible eye infection yesterday and last night his left eye (which was the healthy one) was looking rather icky and all last night. Jenny our nurse took the issue to Dr. Porte because even though they'd cultured one, it was highly likely that the infection, if there was one had spread to the other eye. Dr. Porte wanted to be proactive rather than waiting for the 72 hour culture so they started him on eye drops in both eyes and they're looking much better this morning.

It's amazing how much he's changed lately, he's getting his own personality, he's growing and everything is taking shape...he finally has a tooshie, rather than just bones covered in skin with a crack. The nurse practitioner, Jeanie who was there the night he was born has been off for the past week and she couldn't believe how much larger he is. She said yesterday he was too big for an isolette and she would bet that next Tuesday he will be in an open bassinette so that's huge. An open bassinette means I can walk in and pick him up to hold him anytime I want...the nurses can't wait either as they love the 2am feeding when we're not here and they are able to hold him. It's also another step towards heading home.

He hasn't been given another bottle yet however I think if Mara is here today it will probably happen, that makes me rather nervous because he's doing so well with non-nutrative and with his pacifier so I know he can do the suck portion but if he ever gets anything he chokes while swallowing. Those bottle they don't really have to suck on, the milk just runs out so I am worried he will choke so I am hoping maybe that they wait until he's the recommended age which is 34 weeks (which will be next Tuesday) before trying again, but we'll see.

They are saying Tennyson is doing better than they could have expected and now they're just waiting developmentally for him to get to the point where a full term baby would be so probably a couple more weeks!! It's hard to think that way because it's so exciting but there is still so much to be done. The nurses keep asking us what we have for him and we say, a swing, a pair of Chuck Taylors, a pair of Air Jordans and his preemie clothes that are under his isolette. They just laugh and say we may want to be thinking about that.

The thought is both exciting and nerve-wracking. I can't imagine taking him home as I know we will be total nervous wrecks however we also can't wait for him to be home and with us so we can hold him whenever we want, and start to develop our own routines. It will be bittersweet to leave the NICU though we're still a few weeks away but something I find myself often thinking about.

We are hoping that we will be able to get Tennyson's room all cleaned out and disinfected tonight and this weekend, so that we will be able to start putting things in there as we acquire them.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers, and continue praying that infection will stay at bay and he will just continue developing. Pray for his little lungs and for his suck, swallow, breathe reflex as those are our next big obstacles.

Again we're indebted to and love you all.

Living in the Light-
Travis, Lindsay and Tennyson Myers

We're a Heavyweight

so many premies are sent home weighing less than we do already...

I can hardly believe it but Tennyson weighed in last night at 4lbs. 10.6 ounces??!! Can you believe how big he's gotten, we sure can't.

Things are holding steady here on the NICU front...Tennyson is doing great with his Kangaroo times and they think he can tolerate them closer together so we're non-nutritive at 8am and 8pm and kangarooing at 11am and 11pm...YEAH!! No more 4am mornings for at least a while, when he gets to feeding every time by bottle or breast we (or at least I) will be there every three hours to feed him so we have a few more days/weeks of normalcy if you can call it that (it's as normal as we get right now)...

Yesterday he had a lot of drainage from his right eye so last night they cultured it. It could be one of two things, either a clogged tear duct or infection. Many times infections will look to escape from the easiest venue and that many times in premies is their eyes. We are praying it's only a tear duct however it was cultured and initially showed no growth. They will review the growth at 24, 48 and 72 hours to see what develops so please keep that in your prayers.

He is up to 40ML/HR on his feedings and seems to be tolerating those well. He is still on 1/2 liter of oxygen at 23%. He's really doing great, he just doesn't seem to want them to turn that oxygen down to 1/4 liter (which is as low as it goes so I can't really complain that he's at 1/2 a liter, he's really tolerated everything so well and doing so great). I can only be thankful for the provision and protection the Lord has provided our little guy through everything so far. We know He's holding him in the palms of His hands.

We want to again thank you for taking the time to visit this blog and remembering us in your thoughts and prayers. The Lord has truly blessed us with friends and family who are holding us together, so again thank you.

I know there are many things we've asked you to pray for however please keep in your prayers, our roommate Matthew. He was born three weeks before Tennyson and is doing pretty well however has no family. Please pray that the Lord will lift up a family that will love him wholeheartedly, as the nurses are doing all they can but premies do so much better with affection from their parents, there are many things nurses just can't provide for these kiddos. The entire situation is so heart-wrenching and it just breaks Travis and I every time we're here. We are dying just to hold him in our arms however that of course is not allowed. So please pray that a family will rise up for this little precious one that will love him and raise him up in the Lord.

Thanks for all your prayers, and for sharing your hearts with us.

Praising the Perfector-
Travis, Lindsay and Tennyson Myers

Totally Forgot

His test results from this morning were to show his blood cell counts and how well he's producing red blood cells. All tests came back very positively except for his hemoglobin levels which were low, therefore he's anemic. So they are giving his doses of iron during his feedings via NG tube and this is a sign we will pretty much definately have another blood transfusion however if they can keep him producing as he is until we get ready to head home they will probably do it the day before he's discharged to be sure he's as healthy as he can be before leaving the NICU. They don't want to do too many transfusions as each one is an increased risk for infection.

Please be praying for his blood cell development and counts, and know we're indebted to you for everything.

Love you guys-
Travis, Lindsay and Tennyson Myers

One Month Today

Tennyson is now a month old, can you believe it, we sure can't. Everyone said while in the NICU it would feel like an eternity however when you look back later it will seem like a blink of an eye. I know it's been hectic and crazy for us but I truly don't feel as if Tennyson has been gracing us with his presence for an entire month. It must sound strange but the time sure has flown.

He is doing wonderfully, he's weighing in at 4lbs. 8.3 ounces and is now 17 1/4 inches long so he is growing quite quickly. He's on 1/2 liter of oxygen at 23% and satting wonderfully. This morning during kangaroo care, we didn't get below 98 so that was wonderful therefore maybe he will be turned down again soon. They are not however going to remove the oxygen again until after his feedings are up and running. He needs to be receiving feeds by mouth (not NG tube) his eight times per day. Many times in preemies with learning to suck, swallow and breathe many struggle with the breathing portion and in desatting so they are planning on leaving it on until his feeds are successful all day so basically until right before we go home.

He's so precious and such a good boy, we are truly so blessed to be his parents. He hasn't made hardly any noise in this first month however is starting to find his voice which the nurses attribute to increasing lung function so it's strange to say it but hearing him cry is so wonderful, it's almost like music to your ears. They say fussing means getting ready to go home. Though we have a couple weeks left, we're really excited to see how he grows these next few weeks.

Hollie McDowell reminded me or informed me the other day of the following... "In a sense, it's easier to deal with the NICU when you're baby is really sick and needing machines to do most of the work for them. When they're really sick, the thought of bringing your baby home doesn't even cross your mind. The only thing on your mind is Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, Thank you for keeping my baby alive. Then as your baby starts to get better you start thinking about how good they're doing. You start dreaming about taking them home. You start wondering how long it will be. The huge gains their making don't seem to be coming quick enough and the tiny set backs seem to linger on as you wait and wait and wait."

Travis and I were discussing these thoughts from her email as Friday night I was crying as we left the hospital and headed back to Oronogo (ironically called our vacation home since we're only there two nights a week)...Tennyson is now doing so well and his progress is now measured in the ounces he gains, the bowel movements he has and the amount of oxygen he's on. These may sound like many things to many of you however when we were intially worried about all his body systems being unable to function this doesn't seem like so many worries and I just want to be able to hold him so badly, all day long and can't wait until that's a reality. Now that he's doing so much better it is becoming so much harder to leave him there. Many parents it seems find it easier when they're babies get to this point to stay away from the NICU because it's so hard to leave and leave him now...strange how the tables have turned.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to sound whiney, we're just so blessed and so thankful for all the progress he has and continues to make, it is amazing to watch the reactions of the hospital staff as they are calling Tennyson as we do so often a miracle. No one expected him to do nearly as well as he has and he just keeps progressing and we know it's only because the Lord has our precious one (who is actually His precious one, given to us for a short period of time) in His arms, holding Him constantly to His chest in comfort that he continues to do so well.

Again our hearts are yours in thanks for your time and commitment to prayer for our family.

Justified by Jehovah-
Traivs, Lindsay and Tennyson Myers

Our Little Farmer Boy

Sorry in posting the other photos ran across these and couldn't resist...

Happy Grandparents Day!!

Here are some photos of the first time Granny, Poppie and Nana Jo were able to hold Tennyson. My dad (Papa) was in the field, harvesting beans and unable to be with us this weekend but I'm sure he'll partake next time he's down here.

Also they worked (with Travis) on a project for Tennyson...be sure to check the blog Friday afternoon for it's unveiling.

He's doing great, down to 0.5 liters of Oxygen and satting well. He's such a miracle.

Love you all, thanks for the prayers and the time...can't say thanks enough.

God is Good, all the time!!

Travis, Lindsay and Tennyson Myers

And for our adoring fans...

Isn't he beautiful???

Some would call it a setback,

we call it a miracle...

Tennyson as you may know from yesterday's blog was taken off his oxygen much earlier than expected with the caution he may have to go back on it. He was without oxygen from 8:30 to 3:15 yesterday but then they returned the cannula to his nose. The respiratory therapist said he wasn't desatting however was hovering around the low level of where they want him to be. Seven hours though, that's a tremendous blessing that was so unexpected.

Needless to say however he was exhausted from all the hard work the rest of the day. At 5pm during our non-nutrative he was unable to keep his eyes open so we wrapped him in blankets, gave him his pacifier (they're trying to get him to take it during all feeding to associate sucking with food) and I rocked him for the hour. It was a slice of Heaven I'm sure...I decided today when I'm able to hold him, those are the moments made for worshipping, there is nothing greater.

During his 8pm feeding while Travis was at praise team practice, I was able to give him a bath and weigh him all by myself (with no nurses assistance) which was frightening and wonderful at the same time. Jenny said they're going to try and let us start doing as much as we can so we'll be prepared when we go home. It was also rather convenient that we bathe him on the scale as he's so little there's no where else really to bathe him well. Anyways after the bath and him smelling so wonderful (thank you Johnson & Johnson), I was able again to swaddle and rock him before Travis' kangaroo time.

Around 9:30 I headed back to Ronald McDonald and got things ready for this morning and headed to bed. Travis got back around 10 and headed to the hospital for 'daddy time' while I caught some shut eye. He got back around 12:30 as I was finishing my pumping so we visited for a bit and he said Tenny was a bit squirmy at first however did wonderful through the hour once he found a comfortable position. That was a great time for them... Mr. Josh if you're reading this know that Travis tells Tennyson each evening about fishing so make sure that boats ready when he's able to go out...maybe in a couple years right??

Also dad (like he reads these but mom pass the message along) they talk each evening about riding in the combine next year during harvest so be sure to save some combine time for the weekends...:)

Anyways he's weighing in at 4 lbs. 5.5 ounces (so he gained 2.1 ounces yesterday) and is just growing like a weed. A coworker Quiauna brought in her three month old baby, Gabriel today and boy Tennyson is still very little however looks so grown up to us.

Again and as always thanks and we're indebted to you for all the prayers, cards and thoughts of us. You don't know how much you mean and how influencial you are in his progress. Can't wait until next summer when we can show him off...

Love you all!

Amazed by the Amazing-
Travis, Lindsay and Tennyson Myers

1 Chronicles 16:8-12 (The Message) Thanks again Hollie...
Thank God! Call out his Name!
Tell the whole world who he is and what he's done!
Sing to him! Play songs for him!
Broadcast all his wonders!
Revel in his holy Name, God-seekers, be jubilant!
Study God and his strength, seek his presence day and night;
Remember all the wonders he performed,
the miracles and judgments that came out of his mouth.

He is the air we breathe,

and many times I think he's doing the breathing for us.

Tennyson weighed in at 4lbs. 3.4 oz. last night so we gained another ounce and he had a great time kangarooing with daddy. He kept ripping his cannula out of his nose and putting it into his mouth so his nurse last night turned him down to 1.5 liters of flow.

He did great all night and got to see mom bright and early this morning and he sure was wide eyed at 5am I must say, he sure is precious...

When I went back at 11am his nurse, Ms. Harla, was so excited to let me know he was missing one of his buddies (that's what we call all his pumps, probes and tubes...so we're down to one)...anyways when Harla was receiving report from 7-8am and then got into assess him at 8 his cannula wasn't even in his nose so she thought he could do it on his own since he was satting 95-100 without it. So we are now breathing the same air as everyone else and so far we seem to be holding our own, though they left the cannula in his isolette and told us not to freak if he is put back on it at a low flow because this is quite a change for his little lungs.

His feedings were also increased to 37ML/HR and he seems to be handling those well. He and I kangarooed this morning for around 30-40 minutes which was great considering we didn't have the oxygen and we'd just been out and held from 5am to 6am.

We couldn't be more blessed with the progress he's made, we're continuing to pray for the development of some of his systems and for infection to stay at bay however the Lord has already done miraculous things in this little mans life that we couldn't have asked Him for anything more (though we will continue to do so).

Thanks to all of you who are praying for us and for Tennyson as we know he wouldn't be doing so well were you not interceding for us. We can't thank you enough for your time and your commitment to this little one. Know that you are as instrumental in how well he's doing and how well he will continue to do as we and the nurses are. Again our hearts are yours...

Exalting the Everlasting-

Travis, Lindsay and Tennyson Myers

P.S. I know there haven't been any pictures in a while but here are some and know we will download the cameras this weekend so there will be more I can assure you...

They keep pushing, and pushing, and pushing

and he's handling everything so well so far.

Last night before Travis' kangaroo time we weighed him but first we had to clean up another blow out (64 grams to be exact) and clean up everything, another new isolette and bed...

He weighed in at 4lbs. 2.4 oz (minus the blowout) and is doing so great. They changed his oxygen to 2 liters yesterday and he's holding his own as they're reducing the percentage and received order this morning to try weaning him off of it as much as he will tolerate.

He did great kangarooing with Travis last night and Dana couldn't believe how awake and alert he was the entire time. Travis probably held him at least an hour and a half, maybe even close to two hours so that was awesome!

This morning (with Travis' permission :)) I slept in a bit and didn't attend his 8am feeding as I was exhausted (and we received word at Ronald McDonald last night one of the mom's we ate dinner with the night before has shingles) and we don't want to be getting sick but it was so amazing because I got over here before 11 am and Mara (the speech therapist) was at his bedside talking to Ginny, his nurse. I wasn't sure what they were doing with Tenny but when I got in there they explained they were going to try and feed him his first bottle. Keep in mind they don't develop their suck, swallow and breathe reflex until 34 weeks so we were not expecting this at all however Mara explained the insurance companies are pushing them to start them at 32 weeks because generally once kids can bottle feed, they are able to go home much more quickly.

I was a little precarious at first as we've just started getting the hang of the pacifier however said I'd try it (I would have been mad if they'd bottle fed him without me and am really sad Travis missed it). We tried it and he liked the taste but didn't know what to do so needless to say, we didn't do much sucking and even less swallowing however we kept breathing (praise the Lord) so Mara said we'd try it in another week.

She said however he was doing a great job with his mouth positioning so she wrote orders for us to do non-nutrative nursing (sorry guys) which basically means after I pump twice a day he can suck as he's being fed to try associating the two. Then following that we/I will be kangarooing him as long as he will tolerate. They asked that we try and not do kangarooing back to back so basically I will do non-nutrative at 5am and 5pm and kangaroo at 11am and Travis will kangaroo at 11pm so pray for us as we're stoked but also will be exhausted.

We tried the non-nutrative today and he did well for a few sucks but then was rather exhausted, considering he's never had to work for his food before. But after a bit we started kangarooing and we kangarooed for two hours and fifteen minutes, it was amazing. Definately the highlight of this mom's day.

His test results all came back this morning within the normal limits and they're expecting another feeding increase today however haven't received those orders at this time. Otherwise, we're doing great, just hanging in there, sleeping and growing...can't beat that.

The Father has sure blessed us beyond what we ever could have imagined...Tennyson is our little miracle from Him, the Lord's using him so as he's a miracle to the physicians and nurses as they and other parents can't believe he's doing so well. It truly has been an amazing witnessing tool and to know so many of the nurses and Dr. Porte are praying over this guy as well as each of you is mind blowing to us. We're so thankful and indebted to all of you for the time and the encouragement you are to us, we pray someday (though under different circumstances) we can be a Barnabas to you. Thanks for being ours...

Embraced by the Everlasting-
Travis, Lindsay and Tennyson Myers

Quick Update

Hebrews 12:2 - NIV
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

We know our little one is a gift from the Father but all too often it seems as he's doing better it becomes harder and harder to remember to thank Him for everything and as often as we were before. Even though we are so thankful, that doesn't change just our inability to keep Him at the forefront of our minds does, I guess...

Just wanted to let you know I went back for his 11am feeding and Harla said he woke up around 10:30 and was fussing (which we never do) so she changed him and started his feed early. He had 2ML of residual which is much less than this morning and 8ML of air so as it's decreasing it could have been anything earlier including his positioning so they're monitoring him but not making any changes at this time.

Just wanted to let everyone know as much as we do. Love you guys...

Standing in the Savior-
Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

Our Funny Boy

Okay first the statistics and an update and then two funnies, we're so proud he's ours...

He weighed in last night at 4lbs. 1.5 ounces and is just doing great. We had a rough morning yesterday but Jeanie the nurse practitioner was in to see him and made a few changes...

She thought he might be getting a bit lazy and letting the oxygen do the work for him so they turned him down to 2 liters and 23% and he hasn't had a desat since (this was at 1:30 yesterday) so needless to say he did great kangarooing with Travis last night and me this morning (granted he was awake for Travis and asleep for mine). His retic (lab testing if they're producing red blood cells) came back at 3.8 (the normal range is 0.5 to 2.5) so that was great news though his hematocrit numbers are still low.

Also Jeanie increased his feeds to 34ML/1HR so we're back to the one hour but he hasn't had too bad of a time yet as he's still satting well. He seems to be tolerating all the changes really well and they reintroduced him to a pacifier (it's very small and shaped like his thumb) yesterday morning and try to get him to take it while being fed as he will be better able (when we reach 34 weeks) to take a bottle because he's worked on the suck reflex.

This morning he had his first bit of residual though they're not concerned unless he continues to have them. He had 8 ML of residual and 10ML of air in his little tummy this morning, Harla's worried she's in for an afternoon like yesterdays (read on).

Okay now for the funnies which are rather hilarious if I do say so myself...

He had a desat yesterday right before the changes and Harla, his nurse wanted to know what was going on...well she soon found out. When she went to do his assessment at 2pm, boy did she get a surprise. I guess she had taken his diaper off and found that he was a little dirty so Amy, one of our respiratory therapists (who had been dying to hold him but since he's not yet in an open crib she hasn't been able to) walked in and Harla asked her to watch him for a moment. She left him undiapered and he just let her know his thoughts on that. He ended up with poop everywhere but on him and his outfit. It was all over the bedding, it his leads box, underneath the bed and all over the isolette. Harla grabbed his snuggle up out of the isolette and put it on top of the bed however that then smeared it on the outside of the isolette and then she threw it on the floor as she was trying to get everything cleaned up and got it on her pants and shoes. During all this Amy was holding Tennyson and he let a little more go down her pant leg. Apparently it was hilarious, our roommate Darcy's mom I guess laughed through the entire thing. When we got back at 5 however he was happy as a clam.

The other funny occured during Travis' kangaroo time last night. While snuggling, Dana started his feeding and we have been working on sucking on a pacifier while feeding well we forgot to put the pacifier in his mouth and pretty soon he was licking Travis' chest all over. Travis hollered at Dana that our baby was defective, then he latched on and was sucking on his chest and Travis was like Dana, he's broken. She peeked her head around the curtain because she wasn't sure what he was talking about and just started laughing and I was laughing really hard. She explained he was just a baby and we found the pacifier quickly needless to say.

So all in all it was a great and funny day, we couldn't be more blessed by God as our little one is growing like a weed and thus far his body is tolerating all the changes well.

Thanks for all the prayers and time you all give us. We love you guys more than we can say.

Walking in Wonder-
Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

Residual

Sorry I forgot in the last post to mention that he had at his 11pm feeding 4ML of residual and at his 2AM feeding 7.4 ML of residual. What that means, I had to ask this morning is that that was the amount of undigested milk in his stomach left after his feeding. They stated they're not overly concerned at this time as this morning his residual was only 1ML however if it elevates again and continues they will run additional testing as those are signs of digestional distress meaning we'll have a kink or clog somewhere which of course can lead to once again, infection.

We were also told last night by the nursing staff these next five weeks (at least) will be a real roller coaster as he's done so great up till recently and he's still doing well, just not as well as he was that he will begin having more issues. He will be showing more of what's not quite working properly and the neonatologists will continue pushing his little body as far as they can to determine his limits and see where additional developments are needed. This means according to them that there will be many more downs with some ups but not as many as we've had thus far. Please keep us in your prayers as it's been hard enough to experience the reflux and desats as they scare us out of our minds however these are minor compared to what we could have experienced (we know the Lord is continuing to hold His little one in His hands and providing for his development through all of this).

Anyways again all our love and thanks.

Amazed by Grace-
Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

Member of the Four Pound Club!!

This weekend has been wonderful but a whirlwind as I believe they all are, anymore honestly I have no idea what day it is only know that if Travis isn't at work it's the weekend...

Tennyson is doing great, we're still dealing with the reflux issue and the desat issue however he's holding his own. We visited with Dr. Porte around reflux medications because he is sometimes in such pain and squeaking (those are his cries) that it's heartbreaking but he stated they don't like to give reflux medication before 35 weeks of age (we'll be 32 tomorrow) and the reflux medication kills the acid in the stomach which allows bacteria and yeast to grow which is not something our little guy could tolerate at this point so it's not something Dr. Porte is willing to do.

Saturday night he weighed in at 3 lbs. 14.7 oz. and last night weighed 4lbs. 0.04oz. So we've hit the four pound mark. Granted they say he's been gaining so rapidly that he will probably again lose some however currently we're there. I'm sure it has nothing to do with him eating 33ML/2HR with a 24 calorie fortifier added to it, having an hour break and doing it all over again, could it??

He did so great with visits from both sets of grandparents, as Granny and Poppie (Ted & Connie) were here Friday night and Saturday and then Nana Jo and Papa (Robert & Mary Jo) were here Saturday night and Sunday. We feel so terrible because it seems like we don't get to spend much time with everyone while they're here but we're so thankful they think enough of our little one and us to make the sacrifice and make the trips. He is so precious and I think so much bigger than before however none of them think he looks "big" by any means :)

Today he had tons of labs drawn and everything came back great, including a test showing he is in fact producing red blood cells so that's great. There will be another transfusion however at this time he's holding his own so they aren't going to do the transfusion now.

They test a bunch of 'cytes' like monocytes, leukocytes, etc. The nurse stated if all of these are high that's an indicator that there is an infection present however currently his monocytes are the only thing that is elevated (he gets that from his mother as she's had mono before, I'm sure). The nurse practitioner is reviewing his chart and will make a decision on what to do from the labs however at this time we haven't heard anything.

He and I kangarooed this morning and he did great, his oxygen has been turned up to 23% however he didn't desat once so they are claiming he gets a gold star for today if he keeps it up.

The nurse practitioner Jeanie who was there when he was born has been away teaching a course and couldn't believe how much he'd grown and how great he looked and sounded today as she's been gone for five days. She thinks he's pretty handsome and I have to agree...

Yesterday Travis was the soundmaster at CCO and let me just tell you, it was loud but sounded great. It's amazing how refreshing those moments are. Though I haven't made it through a service, especially the song portion without having a breakdown as the words are just so true, it's beautiful.

Again many thanks to all of you for taking the time to visit this site and lift us up, we know without you interceding for us at this time we wouldn't be doing so well, so again thank you.

Continue lifting up our little guy, can you believe it's already been three weeks??!!

Crying out to the Creator-
Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

Face of God

Hollie McDowell (a constant encouragement to us) who has experience having preemies of her own sent me this yesterday or the day before as a reminder of how Good God is...

Psalm 34: 1-8 (The Message)

I bless God every chance I get; my lungs expand with his praise. I live and breathe God; if things aren't going well, hear this and be happy: Join me in spreading the news; together let's get the word out. God met me more than halfway, he freed me from my anxious fears. Look at him; give him your warmest smile. Never hide your feelings from him. When I was desperate, I called out, and God got me out of a tight spot. God's angel sets up a circle of protection around us while we pray. Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see— how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him.

There haven't been many changes in the past day...last night I got to hold (not kangaroo as evenings are Travis' kangaroo time) him for about half an hour as Travis was at praise team practice during his 8pm feeding and it was wonderful. Travis got back to the hospital around 10 and had his kangaroo time then, which is so precious.

Tennyson had quite a day getting those bowels cleaned out and wore four new outfits total during the day, I think he was just trying to see which ones fit the best. The precious outfit he's wearing in the pictures we put on him last night however he's so long that he won't be wearing it much longer I'm rather certain.

He's growing like a weed and weighing in at 3 lbs. 12.3 ounces at this time. Dr. Porte came in and visited with me last night. He said Tennyson's doing so great, his progress is much better than Dr. Porte expected (he is a miracle of the Lord for sure) however cautioned again how important this first month is and reminded me that our chances of infection are around 30% considering he was so early so please continue praying for that. With the dissention in his bowels showing on the X-ray yesterday (meaning they were full), Dr. Porte cautioned us around his concern for Tennyson acquiring NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis, an intestinal infection unique to preemies, the nurses have warned us that NEC usually appears with no signs or symptoms. Once you realize there is a symptom NEC has already taken over their little intestines so please keep this in your prayers specifically).

Otherwise he's doing so much better with his reflux (thanks for all the prayers, God is really using each of you to bless us beyond words, we are forever indebted to you for your generosity in this), he didn't have many if any desats yesterday. We were able to maintain pretty much our typical 95-100% range. Yesterday he was on 30% Oxygen however today he's maintaining at 25% and they increased his feedings again (don't ask me why) to 30ML/2hr. Don't get me wrong he's still struggling greatly with reflux and has episodes of spit up, burping and horrible pain (you can tell by his squirming and the look on his little face) however his body apparently is better able to tolerate them at this point. Please continue to pray that this will get better as seeing his precious face in pain is enough to break your heart, it sure does mine.

His CBC came back yesterday good, the only numbers that were low were his hematocrit and hemoglobin however they're riding right on the line and he isn't showing any signs of distress so they're going to try and hold off and see if he can't regenerate these on his own. If not we will be having another blood transfusion which isn't the end of the world, just another risk for infection.

Anyways all in all we're doing rather well (Trav and I are exhausted but otherwise all is well). Tennyson seems to be thriving and the nurses can't believe how big he's getting between their shifts. He had Jenny last night who is one of our favorites and she got to bathe him twice, he is so spoiled.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as he's a tough little guy (gets that from his daddy) and praise the Lord got his daddy's immune system, along with everything else honestly but continue lifting him (and us) up as he's doing great but there is still a long road ahead of him.

Thanks again for all the love, prayers and generosity of time and finances, we've been blessed beyond words by each of you.

Clinging to the Carpenter-
Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

This is a moment made for worshipping...

I hadn't received the pictures from 10/2 until this morning and here they are...

This has sure been a time of ups and downs...since I posted last night following or during Travis' kangaroo time and he did great I will just update with today.

I kangarooed with him this morning during his hour and a half feeding and he did great, we didn't desat a single time and he kept his oxygen saturation levels between 93 and 100 so that is excellent. You could tell that he was refluxing though because he would burp occassionally and he would chew as if there was something in his mouth however he did so good.

This morning there were many tests ran and his infection test came back negative, his sugar test was good, etc. During his CBC however he clotted so they had to redo that test (poor guy) so we don't have the results of it yet.

They did the chest x-ray which led to the downs for today as we met Dr. Topper through that. They were checking for aspirations (which is reflux fluid in his lungs) and his lungs looked clear (praise!!) however his bowels were looped and filled (so they are closely monitoring this as his stomach is beginning to harden with how full everything is) and his heart showed a boot shape. I could hear the nurses and doctor talking about the Myers baby's heart defect but didn't know what so I was a bit panicky when they were visiting and during our kangaroo time when the nurses told me I just fell apart however we were still kangarooing so I had to pull myself together because Tennyson could pick up on my anxiousness.

Anyways Dr. Topper went back to his previous heart echos and his heart was shaped fine then however this morning showed a boot shape. He stated sometimes this happens as the thalmus thins and leaves open space. Most babies with a true boot shaped heart are unable to sat above the low 70% however Tennyson is currently satting between 97 and 100 therefore with that and the last echo showing normal he didn't think there was anything to worry about as the heart will retake it's original and correct shape with time. Therefore he apologized over and over for them using the word defect as our baby is still perfect.

So please continue to pray for his poor reflux because he's in so much pain during feedings, his full bowels, that infection would stay at bay (as we're worried about NEC with his full bowels) and for his heart and lungs development.

Thanks again for all the prayers and for the time you are giving to us.

Exhausted in the Everlasting-

Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

Paper or Plastic

I know...I know...it's taken me quite a while today to get this posted but I will explain in the following...

Tennyson has undergone many changes in the past few days...first of all his PICC line was removed (praise the Lord) therefore he is no longer receiving TPN (the nutrition) and only has his feeding tube and oxygen. He weighed 3lbs. 11.5 ounces last night and 3lbs. 11.8 ounces tonight. They have very aggressively been increasing his feedings here as many as three mls per day so we were receiving 29 ml/1hr this morning but they have now moved that to 29ml/1.5 hrs. This has led poor Tennyson to encounter a few complications.

His head ultrasound results were received and were negative which means everything looks great there so that's another huge Praise, thanks for the prayers on that one.

A common complication with preemies is bradycardia and apnea, this means that during a "brady" his heart rate drops below the recommended ranges and during apnea, he forgets to breathe. Over the past two days as his feedings have increased so drastically we have had quite a few episodes with both brady and apnea. There are many things that could cause this including respiratory distress, exhaustion, reflux, infection, etc. Everyone on staff here believes based on the times the episodes occur and the other symptoms that are present during their occurrence that the cause of his is reflux (symptoms including hiccups, gurgling in the back of his throat, resemblant of snoring, etc). Many times as the reflux comes up and enters the preemies throats they don't want to swallow or breathe because of the burning sensation they're feeling therefore they "brady" and apnea.

During Tennyson's worst fits they have had to pull out the Oxygen and "bag" him, hence the title for this post. So please be praying that tomorrow's test (as they are running many, including several blood tests, a tests of his sugars, a test for infection and a chest x-ray) to try and figure out exactly what's causing these spells so that they can try and treat them and make him more comfortable. He was "bagged" once last night during his kangaroo time with Travis and then three times today they used the bag on him however used it more as a CPAP.

To end with a funny story from today, this morning following my kangaroo time, I realized he needed his diaper changed. As I was pulling the dirty one off after getting him all cleaned up (and the clean one was underneath the dirty one for fast securing...) he tooted and then released his poop shoot for lack of a better term. Needless to say he covered the floor in his room, his issolette, my shirt and pants, his clean diaper, his bedding and his clothing. As his nurse and I were getting all that cleaned up he wiggled out of his diaper and pottied all over the freshly cleaned issolette (needless to say tonight we got a new issolette, new bedding and a bath so we're smelling nice). Thought this was hilarious and something that is continually making me smile, thinking about it therefore thought I'd share it. So I was unable to update the blog this morning because I had to run over to the Ronald McDonald house to shower and change between his feedings. Then this afternoon we had a Ronald McDonald house meeting so I was unable to update then as well. So now I'm sitting in Tenny's room with Travis anxiously watching as he's finishing his feeding...

Please continue to pray for little Tennyson's development and especially now for his breathing and digestion as hopefully it is acid reflux and not an infection that we're dealing with here. One common complication that occurs with reflux however is aspiration which is when the reflux that comes up into his throat is then deposited into his lungs and causes pneumonia. Also pray that Tennyson will be able to rest well, he's been more awake the past few days partially because of the reflux I would imagine and partially because it's so much louder and brighter where we're now located. We know the Lord is holding Tennyson in His hands and us as well as this has been quite a few days on this roller coaster we call life.

Thanks for all your prayers and for taking the time to visit this blog and check on our little guy.

Thankful-
Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers

Playing the Waiting Game

First let me thank each of you for taking the time to lift Tennyson (and us) up in prayer we know that God is carrying us and this little guy through this. We just keep getting good news every day and can't believe it, it's only by His grace...

Tennyson had a great night last night, during his kangaroo care time with Travis he was probably awake for the first 45 minutes. He had Dana as his nurse who we love and Tennyson was doing so well that she let Travis hold him for two hours which he thought was wonderful, but kinda made this mama a little jealous...

To add insult to injury this morning during my kangaroo time we just couldn't quite get our sats to maintain at the level we would have liked. We made it through our hour (barely) but were up and down a lot and finally dropped very low so I decided we should return him to his issolette.

He is doing really well with everything and last night Dr. Topper (a specialist from KC who covers for Dr. Porte when he takes a day or two off) changed Tennyson's feedings to 23ML/2HR for the 8pm feeding and up to 25ML/2HR for the 11pm feeding which is where we are currently. They also decreased his TPN levels to 1.4 and stopped his lipids. Jeannie the nurse practitioner came in last night and stated that it was time to change the dressing on his PICC line which is externally his greatest infection risk at this time so when they change the dressings the entire crew scrubs in, wearing gowns, masks, donning sterile gloves, the whole nine yards to change his dressing (which is the tape) however she said she'd heard a rumor that he was going to lose his PICC line today as the only things running through it were his lipids and TPN. If that is the case she decided that they would just wait until today and remove the entire thing rather than getting him all riled up for something that's coming out today. We are just amazed at his progress and so grateful that he's doing so well, we can't believe he's progressed this well and know it's a gift from the Lord.

The PICC line as of right now hasn't been removed but the dressing hasn't been changed either which means if he continues to gain they will be looking to remove it today. When he was weighed last night he came in at 3lbs. 10.3 oz. so we're looking huge and heavy at this time...

Again we're just so thankful for this little ones life, for the gift God has given us in this child and the many people who's lives he's touched already. We're overwhelmed with the cards and calls that we've received with and the generosity of each of you with your time to devote to us in checking these updates and in the prayers that you're raising to our Father, you don't know how greatly you're appreciated and how indebted to you we are.

Continue praying for:
-lung development (his chest x-ray taken yesterday compared with the last one on 10/3 looked so much better, they said it was almost clear)
-the hematoma on his head (at this time the Radiologist had not read the results so we still know nothing but will update as soon as we do)
-his digestive tract (he's eating so well and doing so great with no residual and reflux but we're wanting to get the pipes working without assistance)
-his eyes and ears (these will be tested at 6 weeks to make sure there wasn't any damage done during birth or during his NICU stay at this time)
-INFECTION (the grim reaper that we're continually warned is lurking at our door, we just keep praying that the Lord will continue to hold our little guy to His chest and keep him from infection)
-Rest (that he would be able to rest better in his new room as he's adjusting and that Travis & I would continue to get some rest each evening, we're running on fumes today)
-His sinuses (he keeps desatting and he is congested so much that they are sucking his nose out about every shift to keep his airways clear, many nurses don't like to take the time to do it because it upsets Tennyson, but pray they would be dilligent about it and that we would be so about reminding them)

Again thanks for lifting up our precious one, we're so blessed to have you as our friends and family and blessed that Tennyson is so loved already. We're indebted to each of you.

A volunteer at Freeman takes photos (professionally, free of charge) of the NICU babies each Tuesday, we had our photo taken last Tuesday and will this one as well. She should bring the CD of last weeks photos today so hopefully I will have some pictures to post tonight.

Love you all-

Amazed by Grace-
Travis, Lindsay & Tennyson Myers