Our little pirate!

Kale's nurses made him a sign since he opened his eye yesterday, I thought it was great!

I was terrified of blinding him, so I took a close up picture of the picture the nurses took.

Kale had a good holiday today. He had a stable day, which is always great. He stayed steady at 1 lb. 12 oz., gaining 10 grams. They did increase his feedings today, up to 9 mls every 3 hours, and it is still fortified with the formula to add calories to hopefully beef him up a bit.

As you read yesterday, Kale opened his right eye, and we're hoping the left is soon to follow! I got to see it today, it's a cute little eye :) The nurses will continue to keep it covered most of the time, taking off his band when we do our cares every 3 hours. They do this so he doesn't become overly stimulated as that can be incredibly stressful on these small babies. They don't have the ability to block anything out or multitask, so with the noise of the vent, noise of the doctors, smells and now sight.

I got to have another parenting experience today, which unfrotunately has to do with another dirty diaper...which I feel is becoming a trend. I was changing Kale's diaper and before I could finish he started pooping again! This continued for THREE diapers, as soon as I would get a new one on, but didn't quite have it latched and him clean, he would start going all over again!! What a stinker :)

Kale's blood gases were pretty good today, he was pretty stable with them. His heart rate has also been pretty high for him the past few days. He has been up in the low 100s - 110s over the weekend pretty consistently, which we're happy to see!

One of my good friends, Jacqui, came to meet Kale today. She brought all sorts of fun stuff for him, which included CAMO overalls from Bass Pro Shop!! She knows Derc well to know that he has been waiting to get his hands on some camouflage clothes for Kale. It was great to see her, and we got to do some shopping and grabbed some lunch. Derc got to see some of our friends today as well, Kyli and Ben who also just had a baby about a week before Kale came. Derc brought Mack out to their parent's farm where they were having a little pool party. Mack got to go with Derc and he enjoyed the day as well!

We hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, we had a nice time and Kale had a weekend full of milestones! We hope to see them continue, thank you for keeping him in your thoughts and prayers!

Eye opening day :)

So, Kale had a milestone today! We just called for our nightly update and the nurse said he opened his right eye!! That's right, just the one for now, but we are so excited, we can't wait to see him!!! We'll definitely get some pictures up of him tomorrow...who knows, maybe by tomorrow he'll have both opened :)

Otherwise, he has had a pretty stable day. The Drs. feel that he is at 'full feeds' now, so instead of increasing his intake volume, they will fortify his milk with formula to increase the caloric intake. Breast milk has 20 calories, and they fortify it so it is 24 calories per feeding. This will hopefully allow him to begin safely and steadily gaining weight.

His blood gases were pretty good throughout the day, so we're happy with this. However, the Dr. said that his lung x-rays are still pretty hazy, so it doesn't appear that the drugs they gave him to loosen up his lungs are working quite like they would like. They are keeping him pretty 'dry' with his fluids in attempts to dry out any fluid in his lungs.

Tonight he was measured and he's still at 13 in. and head circumference increased from 21 cm to 22.5 cm. You don't want to see large jumps in his head circumference as that can indicate brain bleed or swelling, but the nurse said she wasn't concerned with his jump, she didn't feel it was abnormal to see in a week. We also noticed throughout the week that his head is forming a little more, the significant ridge that was in the center of his skull has evened out quite a bit so that means his plates are moving in place. He gained 10 grams today, which is about average, so he is still at 1 lb. 12 oz.

I got to 'hold' Kale again today for about 20 seconds while the nurse switched out his bedding (he pooped on it :) ). It was pretty cool because he was having trouble with his SPO2 levels (the 80-90 number), he was down in the 50's which is very low. When I picked him up and held him he increased up to 80s! It's probably because the vent tube shifted in his throat, but I like to think it's because I have magical powers :) The nurse said that he can definitely tell when Derc and I are around from the way he reacts, she said even though he can't see us, he senses us by smell, our voices and our touch (she said particularly with touch with me since he can feel my heartbeat in my hand and it's familiar to him). We can only hope and assume that as soon as we can do kangaroo care he will respond well since these senses will be so strong!

Derc and I also realized that we are 'those' parents this mornings. I called for our morning update and talked with Karla, who is a nurse Kale hasn't had before. So I introduced myself as Kale's mom and she said, "Hi, well let me get my chart because I've heard you guys always want to know about the lung x-rays". You think that's a clue?! Haha, I hung up and said, Derc I think we call too much, woops! Oh well, that must be a preview to how we'll be as parents. Derc makes fun of me because whenever we talk about things Kale will do when he grows up he always makes me out to be the crazy overprotective parent (which I can only assume is 100% accurate).

Derc and I had a chance to hang out with some good friends, Emily and Jeff and Derc's brother Cory and his fiance Laura tonight. We had a good time grilling out, playing yard games (Our dog Mack tried to play washers by picking them up and running around every time they hit the ground) and some card games (which turned into a completely overly competitive event I must add). We are lucky to have great friends and family to offer support and help keep some normalcy in our lives.

Well, hopefully we'll get some good pictures for you tomorrow! Everyone have a safe holiday tomorrow, thanks for keeping Kale in your thoughts and prayers!

Tippin' the scales

Hello!

Not a whole lot to report today, thankfully. Kale had a fairly uneventful day. The Drs. increased his feedings to 8 mls every 3 hours. He's almost up to 2 ounces per 24 hour period! Kale gained a little too much weight last night, he was up to 1 lb. 12 oz., and he increased 60 grams. The Drs. only want him to gain 15-30 grams per day, so 60 was a bit much. So, they gave him 3 doses of Lasix which is a medicine that makes him go to the bathroom to move fluids through him a bit more quickly. The concern is that if he is gaining that much it may be fluid, which they obviously don't want.

His lung x-ray's still looked hazy, which they said we should expect to see for a while, they hope that the Lasix helps eliminate any fluid that may be in his lungs or lung tissue.

His blood gases were pretty good today, however his SPO2 levels (these are the ones that should be between 80-90) were kind of all over the place. But, as long as his blood gases are looking good then that is what we are concerned with.

His infection is still negative, so we're hoping he has kicked it for good! Kale will get the full workup tomorrow since it's Sunday. He'll get weighed, measured in length, head circumference, tummy circumference and all sorts of stuff.

Hopefully in the next few days Kale will be tolerating full feeds well (which is 10 mls) and then he will be able to go off the TPN which is the IV artificial nutrition!

Thanks for checking in, Kale appreciates that he's in your thoughts :)

Kale says Happy Friday!

Kale had a nice little Friday for himself! Not a whole lot to report today, which we are learning is a good thing.

Kale got himself another bath last night, AND he got a new bed today. They switch out the beds every 2-3 weeks or so just for maintenance purposes. I SO wish that I had a picture to post from this experience. But...since I don't, I'll do my best to describe this, as it was pretty hilarious (but I'm sure it's one of those things you had to be there for, so when you finish reading this and you're not laughing hysterically like I am right now, just understand that it's the small things in life right now that we look forward to!). Wendy, Kale's nurse, told us she could use some help switching out his bed. Well, Derc and I of course jump at the chance because we know it will involve lifting him up and holding him for at least a solid minute. So, Derc wins the 'holding Kale' part, whereas I 'win' the holding all of the vent tubes and some heavy box looking thing that is attached to his body. So, the switcheroo has to happen in our 8'x8' room. The bed is probably 3' long by 2' wide, so we have to fit two beds in the room, plus his big honkin' vent, his machine that drips his meds, the three of us and all of his other stuff. Derc begins the process by going under his mattress and lifting and he is squatted down a little bit because he had to keep Kale at the same level he was at when he was in his bed. Meanwhile, I am bear hugging Derc from the back (just trying to get you a mental image!), my right hand holding the IV coming out of Kale's ankle and is hooked up to his machine , my left hand holding the vent tubing that is coming from the machine and going into my child's lungs (I'm sweating from the stress of just re-living this!), then as the nurse leaves the room, she says, oh wait, here is this box that you'll have to hold while we switch, don't worry it's not that heavy. She then hangs this box over my PINKY to hold. Ok, I haven't done any sort of bicep curl for maybe 2 years so I can take accountability for that, and granted, this thing was maybe 10 pounds, but locked in a curl position, holding IV and vent tubing in each arm which is connected to my son's body, bear hugging my husband and squatting over...NOT OK!!!! (By the way, Justin is Sarah doing the wind up laugh yet?!) She could not move that other bed into position fast enough, as soon as she did I let go and my arms were literally trembling and I was a sweaty mess. Yeah, so that was our excitement of the day!

Other than that, Kale increased his feedings again today, up to 7 mls every 3 hours, that is almost TWO ounces per day!! He's flying through this milk, what an awesome little man!

His blood gases were pretty stable today, blood sugar has leveled off a bit, and they still have negative test results on his infection. So, we're hoping for a calm weekend. His lung x-ray is still hazy, so they are talking about potentially doing some steroids in the next week or so to see how his lungs respond. His weight was still at 1 lb. 10 oz. The Drs. said that we should expect to see his weight start to increase a bit more quickly now, but nothing too crazy.

Well, we hope everyone has a GREAT Memorial Day weekend, we're planning on seeing some friends this weekend and hopefully enjoying it with uneventful news from the hospital. Thanks for checking in, we tell Kale every day how many people he has thinking of him and saying prayers for him. He says thanks :)

Another stable day

Kale had a stable day today, which we are always thankful for! Today his weight was at 1 lb. 10 oz, once again back to his birth weight. His feedings are up to 6 mls every 3 hours now, so he keeps moving on up! He definitely has an appetite :)

Today the Drs. had to take out his old PIC line because they thought it had a leak. This is the line that runs from his ankle, up his leg and ends in his chest. The reinserted a new one in his other leg, so hopefully that one lasts more than a week as it has to be tough on the little guy.

Kale's blood sugar was a bit all over the place the past few days, but the Drs. aren't too concerned, they think that over the course of him going high and low with his blood sugar they may have over corrected with insulin and sugar doses to try and regulate, so tonight and tomorrow they are going to let him try to regulate it a bit more on his own and see if that helps it stabilize.

The Drs. gave him some medication (Surfactin maybe?) today to see if it would help open up or clear out his lungs at all. They gave this to him when he was born, which is very common with preemies, to try and help out the lung tissue. They gave him another dose so we will see if that helps his 'hazy' lung x-rays over the next few days.

His blood gases today were pretty stable, and his vent settings are lowering each day, so we're still hoping that this means he is moving toward going back on the other ventilator, but we still aren't expecting that for another few weeks.

His tests for infection are still negative, so we're hoping that at the three and four day mark they are still negative, as that is when they came back positive before. They said that the kind of infection he had may have been caused by his PIC line, so hopefully since they took that out it will help with his infection.

It's fun to see how he is progressing, not just with all the stuff going on inside him, but just how he looks as well. His eyes are closer to opening, his skin is so much healthier (not bruised or dry anymore), his head is rounding out more and his color is more consistent.

We're hoping for another stable day tomorrow, with clear infection results, stable vent settings and blood sugar levels. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, we appreciate it!! Kale is just 5 days away from hitting the twenty day mark, and we want to thank everyone for their daily support and encouragement, we definitely couldn't do this without all of you!

Two weeks old!

Little guy is trying SO hard to open up his eyes!!

Precious little guy!!

Swollen purple foot!! They have to draw blood from his foot so many times throughout the day, it is all bruised and sad looking :(

Kale grabbing Derc's finger, precious :)

First family photo with all three of us!!

Well, our thoughts came true over the night, Kale went back on the high frequency vent. It's what we expected with how his blood gases were throughout the day yesterday. He was pretty stable on the vent today, so we're happy with that! His blood gases looked better and better throughout the day.

Kale's weight dipped a bit today, back down to 1 lb. 10 oz. He just can't seem to stray too far from that number! He increased his feedings today, up to 5 mls every 3 hours. He's just a rockstar when it comes to eating!! The Drs. are happy with his eating habits, so hopefully those will continue to increase and he will begin packing on the pounds.

Kale's infection came back today negative. This either means that his infection is slow growing (which is likely from the way his three tests have come back so far...negative, positive, negative) or they are false positives. So, the Drs. are keeping him on antibiotics to try and get rid of this for good.

Today I got to experience some true parenting moments. Kale peed through his diaper and soaked his bedding, thata boy! So, Jodi (one of Kale's nurses...we think she is his favorite :) ) and I had to work together to change his bedding. So...that means I got to briefly HOLD my boy!! I lifted him up about 6 inches in his incubator while Jodi switched out his bedding. It was special, he is just so light, it completely threw me off. But it was fantastic! Annnnnnd the true parenting moment came when I later realized that while I was holding him he pooped a little on my hand, haha! One of many times to come I can only hope!! The next one was when I had my hand up by Kale's face and I was changing one of his wires and he reached out and grabbed my finger :) I'm pretty sure that was a complete coincidence since he can't even open his eyes, but hey, I'll take it!

I think that's about it from today, we're hoping that Kale continues to improve tomorrow with his blood gases and works towards stabilizing his oxygen levels to bring him one step close to the next vent. Thanks for keeping him in your thoughts!

Lucky #13

Kale had a pretty stable day today! He stayed on the Drager vent all day, which is a full 24 hours! The Drs. are leaning toward putting him back on the high frequency vent that he was on first because his blood gases haven't been stable throughout the day today. Derc and I anticipate him being back on it at some point tonight or tomorrow. Although, we thought that we would walk in and see him on that today, and Kale did what he does best and surprised his parents!

Kale's infection is back :( Which means that it may not have ever gone away in the first place. They put him back on an antibiotic to fight the infection, hopefully it works quickly! Poor guy just has so much going on, it is torture for us to see him constantly fighting so many things, but he never ceases to amaze us in how much he can fight.

The Drs. increased his feedings today to 4 mls every 3 hours! That's right, he has officially passed ONE ounce per 24 hour period! Seems like his eating habits take after both Derc and I.

The Dr. said that they decided to repeat Kale's brain scan in two weeks, so he will have another on June 7th. In between now and then we want Kale to just focus on getting bigger and stronger.

The Drs. had to remove Kale's ART line as they only last a few days and it was starting to not work very efficiently. This means that every time they need to draw blood (which they do anywhere from 5-10 times per day I would say) they have to poke his heel. Since he has a PIC line in one of his heels, they can only use his right heel. His poor foot is all swollen and purple because it has already been poked so many times!!

Derc and I are so impressed with our little guy, he continues to surprise us each day and fights so hard for the smallest achievements. We love praising him and telling him how proud we are, we know he has a long road a head, but we feel better as each day passes that he is up for the fight, and we've definitely got his back :)

I had my 2 week follow up appointment today which was fairly uneventful. The Dr. gave me some information on Kale's third degree heart block. Unfortunately, our talk didn't give me awesome news. She said that with people that have this SSA antibody, about 2% of these babies can develop this third degree heart block. Two percent!! Seriously?! This corresponds to 1 in every 15,000-22,000 pregnancies (or something like that), which may explain why she had never seen one before. Oh well, nothing we can do now, but it's good to know for the future. The good news...my lifting restriction is up to 25 pounds now, so my mom is off purse and bag duty :) Except, she probably will continue to not let me carry anything or drive, she says I'm her worst patient since I always try to break the rules, ha! Thanks for all your help these past two weeks, Mom!

Signing off for the night, thanks for keeping Kale in your thoughts and prayers! We're hoping our little man's infection goes away and his blood gases stabilize so he can stay on this vent!

Your prayers are working!

Wow, what a day!

I got a call this morning from Kale's nurse, Jodi. My heart just about stopped as this is the first time we've received a call from the NICU. Thankfully, she had good news! She said that the Dr. wanted to switch Kale to a new ventilator. This would take him off the high frequency vent that he has been on since birth. The vent he was on gave him 900 breaths per minute and they are shorter, shallower breaths, simply to keep the lungs inflated and provide steady oxygen. The new vent is referred to as the Draggar vent or the Baby Log. This vent will give him anywhere from 30-60 breaths per minute, and they are more like breaths that you and I take. Kale has the ability to breathe over the vent as well, and when he does this, the vent will help give him a push to complete the breath fully. The vent was set at 30 breaths per minute, and Kale was reading about 40-45 which means he is trying to take 10-15 breaths over what the vent is providing. They had a very busy morning and afternoon watching his blood gases closely to monitor the vent, and took another lung x-ray. The Drs. said that we shouldn't be surprised at all if he goes back on the high frequency vent, as it's pretty common for them to flip back and forth a few times. Either way, we're excited he got off this vent, because once he is a bit more stable this vent allows us to HOLD HIM!!!! The tubing is flexible and this allows us to do the Kangaroo care with him (skin to skin contact). We are soooo ready to hold our little guy, Derc and I never imagined that we would have to wait 20 days or so before we would be able to give our little man a kiss or hold him.....that will be a fantastic day!


Kale also increased his feedings today, he is up to 3 mls every 3 hours, he's just sucking that food down now. His Drs. are happy with the fact that his feedings are moving along nicely, and will continue to increase them as he tolerates it. His weight dropped today, back down to 1 lb. 10 oz. He just can't seem to stray too far from his birth weight.

Kale's infection results came back negative today as well, so he has kicked his first infection!! The Drs. stopped the antibiotics, so they feel confident that he has fought it off.

We did receive word on his brain scan, and it is the same as it was last week. So, still a stage II on his left side, and a zero on his right side. Derc and I were hoping that his results either stayed the same or improved, so we are just happy that it didn't get worse! We will hear more from the Dr. tomorrow on when they will repeat another scan.

We had a visit today from Pastor Perry, and he had some nice words of encouragement. We are so thankful for all of you keeping Kale, Derc and I in your prayers, we truly feel that your prayers are working as Kale had a few great things happen today! Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts, we appreciate it!

Another big day tomorrow!

Look at how big his diapers are! They cover over half his back and still aren't even up all the way.

Kale's first fort! Every preemie in the NICU receives a quilt (from different churches and organizations), and this is the one we picked out for Kale. It has dalmations and other fabric on it. He is able to have it over his incubator to keep the light out when he doesn't have the photo therapy light on.

Little guy is looking better and better every day!

Kale had a stable (which Derc and I like to call 'good') day today! He is up to 1 lb. 12 oz.......that's right, 12! He's headed in the right direction with his weight, gaining steadily. He is doing awesome with his feedings, they increased him again to 2 mls every 3 hours. So, over a 24 hour period now he's at 16 mls (that's about 1/2 an ounce!) per 24 hour period...that's way up from where he started 4 or 5 days ago at 4 mls per 24 hour period. What a stud :) They said going forward they will simply start increasing the amount, as they don't feed the preemies more often than 3 hours.

His blood gases came back pretty good this morning and he won't have another one until later in the evening. Kale's vent settings are pretty low, the amplitude levels are around 18, which is the lowest we've seen it and is great compared to the other day when he was around 28. His oxygen levels today were better, they were around 30% or so all afternoon, which is better than the day before.

We have not received the results from his second blood culture. Kale received another blood transfusion today, so that's about 5 consecutive days with blood transfusions. the Drs. say this is a sign that he is definitely fighting some type of infection since he is having a hard time maintaining his blood elements (mainly the hemoglobin and hematorcrit). They said his platelet count looked pretty low this morning so they are anticipating giving a platelet transfusion later this evening or tomorrow.

We are hoping that Kale has a peaceful night as he has another busy day tomorrow. He will have a brain scan tomorrow morning to see if his brain bleed has improved, worsened or stayed the same. We are all hoping that it either remains the same or improves, and doesn't worsen. The scans are up for a bit of interpretation, so if a different Dr. reads the scan they could interpret results somewhat differently. There is really nothing we can do about the brain bleeds, no medication to give at this point or other type of treatment, but it's still nice for us to know where he is sitting.

Derc and I had some afternoon visitors today - my parents, sister, brother-in-law and nephew came through Ankeny on their way home from Justin's hometown (he races on the weekends up in Algona). It was great to see them, they always lift our spirits and help take our mind off things and offer great support! They worked together to put together Kale's changing table and then organized all of Kale's bedroom furniture, so it will be all ready when he comes home! Kale's grandparents also got us a beautiful plant that we're calling Kale's garden, it sits out front of our house. I'm ok with admitting that I'm pretty terrible at keeping plants alive, so hopefully I have some better luck with this one :)

Well, hope everyone had a great weekend, Derc and I did and feel like Kale did as well. We ask that you keep Kale in your prayers, and that he has an improved brain scan tomorrow and continues to fight this infection!

He made it to double digits.....day 10

Well, our little guy had a better day today. His morning started off a little rough, he couldn't figure out how he wanted his vent settings. They had to put him on 100% oxygen for the first time (that I know of at least), because he wasn't responding well to other things they were doing to try and help him breathe better. His blood gases improved throughout the day, and by the time we left his oxygen levels had stabilized.

The Dr. said the blood culture and ET (ventilator tube that goes into his lungs) tested positive for infection...something like gram positive cocci. All of his other tests have come back negative for infection (what they pulled from the urine culture and spinal tap). The Dr. started Kale on another antibiotic, so we are hoping that that helps clear this infection up before it gets too bad.

Kale's heart rate was steady today, back in the normal (well, normal for him) range of 80-90s. He received another blood transfusion today as his H&H levels were on the low side, that's another reason the Drs. can tell he's fighting an infection. They also feel that it could be a reason that his oxygen levels are having a tough time stabilizing, when he's not doing so hot with maintaining the elements of his blood, his body isn't getting oxygen dispersed as needed. The Dr. also said that his lung x-ray this morning looked 'hazy'. We're hoping this doesn't mean that he is developing a lung infection or ailment.

Kale had another poopy diaper overnight, and one this afternoon, which means that his gut is tolerating the feedings well! They may increase his feedings tomorrow, so Derc and I are happy about that.

Derc and I attempted to have a normal day today. We went down tho the hospital for a few hours and hung out with our boy, then ran some errands, got the car washed, mowed the yard, watched the Gray's season finale (and OH MAN was that amazing!!!!). Now we're meeting some friends out for dinner, we're lucky to have such great people around us for support but also to help keep our mind off things.

So, we're hoping that Kale's night continues to be stable and uneventful and his blood gases continue to improve. Thank you for keeping our precious little man in your thoughts and prayers, we greatly appreciate it!

Quick update from earlier

I wanted to provide a quick update from earlier today. We just checked in and Kale is having a much better evening. His 8pm blood gases came back better than his 1pm gases, which were better than his 8am gases...so that's good!! His heart rate stabilized throughout the day as well, he was back in his 80-90 range.

Kale's preliminary CRP results came back in. These results were from his spinal tap, and they show protein levels in his blood (I think), and really shows if there is inflammation in his body, as this indicates infection. His levels came back very well, and the doctor said he was happy with them. He said there is still a good possibility of infection, we will know more once his cultures come back in the next few days.

His weight increased 30 grams, so he is back up to 1 lb. 10 oz. The Dr. also inserted Kale's ART line before I left for the day. Now Kale has a line in both arms and it kind of looks like he is wearing boxing gloves as each of the IVs is covered in padded gauze......yeah, Kale's reputation of pulling IVs out has spread through the nursing staff....little stinker!

As we left for the evening, Kale was swaddled up in his incubator and the top of his incubator is now covered in a quilt, since he is out of the photo therapy light. The fact that he is swaddled up should hopefully help comfort and soothe him since it will remind him of being in the womb.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for the prayers this afternoon for his infection, we're hoping all the tests come back clear in the next few days!!

Everyone have a great weekend!

Kind of a tough day...

Well friends, Kale had a bit of a rough day today. When I got to the hospital this morning the nurse said his blood gases were not good for his morning read, and his white cell and H&H levels were low. They also said his oxygen was pretty high, about 55%. So, they wanted to do a few tests to see if his body was developing some sort of infection. Turns out after the tests came back it looks like he is starting to develop some sort of infection, they aren't quite sure yet what it is. They did a spinal tap to draw fluids to test for infection, so we will get those back in the next few days. They started him on rounds of antibiotics to help fight off infection, so hopefully those kick in and he is able to fight this off!! The Dr. said it could be anything from a blood infection to pneumonia, there is just no way to tell right now. Kale also had to be on some morphine through the night to calm him down as his numbers were fluctuating and he was getting a bit worked up.

The Dr. gave him a sodium bicarbonate drip to try and help neutralize his blood gases, and his 1pm read looked much improved, so we are relieved to hear that! He has D-Sat'd a few times today, with his oxygen levels going down into the 50's. It's incredibly nerve racking when this happens, and I'm certainly not pleased that it is happening more often the past few days. They also said his blood sugar levels were pretty high this morning, although they are not going to start him on any insulin for now.

Kale had a blood transfusion this morning and is having a platelet transfusion right now. We're hoping that this blood will give him a much needed energy boost. His weight today increased 10 grams, which still leaves him at 1 lb. 9 oz.

Through all of those tough things, we did get some good news from the cardiologist today. The cardiologist did an ultrasound on his heart today and said he is pretty confident that his PDA has closed. PDA=patent ductis arteriosus for those of you who had no idea (like Derc and I before all of this). In babies their PDA is a vessel in the heart that is open in utero and should be closed by the time they deliver. So, the fact that they are pretty sure Kale's has closed is great, and they said at this point there would be a very low chance that it would reopen.

Kale's Bilirubin (Jaundice numbers) have gone down far enough that he doesn't have to be under the photo therapy light....that means no more Oakley's for now. The Drs. said not to be surprised if he goes back under the light if his numbers require it.

The Dr. will be in a bit later to insert the ART line I talked about yesterday, then hopefully after that we'll be able to leave him alone and get some rest, if he'll let us. I did get a chance to talk with a mom in the NICU who had twin girls born at 24 weeks. They were born 4/1, so have been in there about 45 days. The mom shared some stories that her girls went through, all very similar to Kale, so it was great to hear from someone who had been through it. Her girls are doing good and one was born at 1 lb. 4 oz. and is up to roughly 2 and a half pounds! She let me know what to expect from the vent changes, spinal taps (her girls have had 3 spinal taps total), blood gas readings, etc.

We ask that you include in your prayers for Kale that his labs for infection come back clear and hopefully his day today is just a bump in the road. It has been a trying day for Derc and I, along with family waiting for hourly updates. They keep telling us that this is a roller coaster, and we should expect days like this. Just in case you're wondering, this is the worst roller coaster ever...we wish we weren't tall enough to ride :)

HE POOPED!!!!!!!! :)

Physical proof for everyone that Derc IS changing diapers, he never thought he would enjoy it so much! You can really see how little Kale is when compared to his dad.

Precious little guy got his first bath last night...and by bath I mean he got wiped down with a wet rag, but it really made a lot of difference with his skin, he was all shiny and clean today :)

Little man getting ready for his blood transfusion. That is the syringe of blood, it connects to another machine then runs into his IV. You can see that the amount of blood he gets seems like it would make him go up a few ounces!

While his vent was up I couldn't resist hopping in for a picture, I love touching him any chance I get. When he drapes his fingers over mine I can hardly tell, if I wasn't staring at him I would have no idea he was touching me because his little fingers are so light.

That's right folks......little Kale took his first poop today :) I've never been more excited to hear such icky news! This is fantastic, because it shows that his intestines are working, and that his digestive system is taking to the feedings. This also implies that his intestines and colon do not have any tears or perforations in them....that isn't guaranteed, but this is a good sign that this is the case.

Today Kale was pretty stable throughout the night and day. His blood gases were pretty good, and heart rate was stable for the most part. He did have a few dips in his heart rate into the 60s, but he was able to bring them back up. As we left for the evening he went into D-Sat for the second time today. That is a very unsettling way to leave things. Essentially this means that his SO2 levels that they want between the 80-90 range took a plunge to about 50 and stayed there for a few minutes. When this happens all of the alarms go off and Derc and I stop breathing right along with him until he reaches normal levels again. His head and skin turn a darker pinkish color, similar to what we would see if we held our breath. Thankfully he recovered within a few minutes both times it happened. The nurse comes in, suctions out his ventilator tube and repositions his head as his head can shift down and close his airways a bit. Anyway, it's not a fun thing to see happen to our little guy, and we're hoping that two of those episodes today doesn't mean that his lungs are struggling. The Drs. warned us that around day 10 these micro-preemies can develop lung diseases or other issues, so we're hoping that this is not what is happening since he had such a stable day outside of these two events.

Other than that, Kale had a blood transfusion today and is expecting another one tomorrow to keep his H&H levels up (Hemoglobin and Hematocrite - again, no idea how to spell that). He dropped an ounce last night, so he weighs 1 lb. 9 oz. now. He got to increase his feedings today, so he is up to 2 mls every 4 hours! We are very excited that he is doing so well with the feedings! The Drs said that they will continue to increase this slowly, he will probably stay at this amount for another day or so and then they will plan on increasing again if it continues to go well.

Kale had some visitors this afternoon, he got to meet his Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Burkholder! They came all the way down from MN to meet their second Great Grandson, and Kale was happy to meet with them. He also met some of my friends, Lynnette and Megan, and he was flirting with them because when they were there his oxygen levels and HR were sky high.

Today we got to do diaper changes again, we're really getting the hang of it now!

Tomorrow we anticipate getting another blood transfusion and they are talking about inserting a new ART line which will go into the artery in his wrist and replace the one in his bellybutton.

We've received some inspiring stories through email, facebook, comments on our blog, and other ways. We appreciate everyone sharing their stories or stories of friends who have had preemies, it gives us comfort to hear success stories! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, we're praying that Kale's oxygen levels stabilize and he has a steady night and day tomorrow.

Happy One Week Birthday, Kale!

I realized I didn't put the picture of Kale's baptism the other day. Pastor Perry Fruhling from St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids came all the way down to Des Moines to baptize little Kale. We appreciated it so much!

Little guy is getting rolled over on his side now so he can get equal pressure on the sides of his head as well. I don't think he likes it too much...

Cutie pie....he's a little hairy right now, but that's ok, we don't care! They say he may open his eyes in the next week or so.

Hanging out with his mom :) The top of the incubator was lifted up for his changings so I snuck in and got a pic! My little nugget, so precious!

Kale had a pretty good 'One week birthday'! Weight today was 1 lb. 10 oz, back up to his birth weight!! The doctors increased his feedings today to 2 mls every 4 hours, up from every 6 hours. The little guy is doing great with his feedings, we're just waiting on him to have his first bowel movement so they can make sure his digestive system is working correctly.

Today his blood gases read pretty well, but his oxygen was a bit more stubborn. He gives the nurses a hard time...let's just say he keeps them pretty busy with alarms going off just about every 5 minutes. His heart rate was fairly consistent today as well, with a few dips earlier in the morning. The Dr. didn't say there were any changes in his lung x-rays, which is a good thing. Generally no news is good news with that.

The Occupational Therapist came in today and observed us interacting with him. Initially in the first few weeks until he is bigger she will probably just observe how he moves and reacts to our touches. She was pleased with how he did. He naturally calms himself by bringing his hands and arms in midline, and she said this is a sign that he knows how to self soothe, which is good. He also reacts to the touches by pushing back and acknowledges our touch. When we swab out his mouth he loves it, he sucks on the swab and often sucks on the tubes in his mouth.

I got to do his first diaper change of the day, along with temp check, mouth swab and monitor switch. I love doing the care sessions because it's a great chance to interact with him, touch him and just be close with him. I can't wait to give him a kiss for the first time! That little guy is going to be so embarrassed when he goes to Prom and I ask if I can hop in the pictures as his second date...poor guy :) Derc came to the hospital around noon today and got to do his 4pm cares. Derc changed the diaper all by himself!! For those of you who have heard of his reaction to the thought of diaper changes (before we had Kale), you would understand this is a huge deal! He did a great job and Kale loved his Dad's touch. His oxygen numbers went way up which is fairly unusual.

That's about all to report today, another stable day and one more for the books. Kale continues to impress us with how strong he is and how much he is fighting for his life. By the time he leaves the NICU his little body will have gone through more than either of us have in our entire lives. We're so grateful he is still holding strong and continue to ask that you keep him in your prayers. We thank God many times a day for his continued improvements!

Day 7

Time for a diaper change! This is Derc and I tag teaming the diaper change. Derc holds his arms and legs and I come in on the other side with the diaper switch out. It takes two of us because we're so nervous of moving/ripping out any cords/wires/IVs, and he's just so fragile, I think we both hold our breath the whole time.

Just look at all those wires! Crazy to think what technology can do, and what's even more amazing is that each of those cords does multiple things. We're grateful for all the medicine/technology that is available.

We think he's pondering life here......we know buddy, it's tough right now, hang in there! We don't know why you have to go through this either, but we know that you're as tough as they come so you can do it!!

Derc and I are debating how we approach the diaper change....it's not easy trying to change a diaper in an incubator on a baby that you're terrified of hurting. Doesn't help that the diapers are so big on him, but they don't come any smaller!

That would be Derc's wedding ring on Kale's wrist...kind of puts his size in perspective. Kale has shown that he is a fighter and will give it everything he's got. Thanks to all of your support, prayers and God watching over him he is still stable!

Today we spent a good chunk of the day in the NICU with Kale. He weighed 1 lb. 9 oz. today, getting back up there, almost back up to his birth weight! They inserted a PIC line today (no idea if that is how you spell that...I went to school for marketing, not medicine :) ) into his leg. This line will go up near his heart. This line will take the place of one of the lines that was going in through his bellybutton. They wanted to get those bellybutton lines out as soon as they can since they weren't permanent and have a high risk of infection.

We got to do TWO diaper changes today, Kale's bladder definitely works! They have increased his feedings to 2 mls per 6 hours, it seems as though his gut is handling the feedings well, which is exactly what we want.

His lung x-rays haven't changed since yesterday (they take them everyday), although his ventilator settings were a bit rough today. The doctors are trying to figure out the best combination of settings, as the vent controls oscillation, oxygen purity, volume, strength and probably a few other things I don't realize. Kale seems to be doing better on his back when it comes to his blood gases. They check these a few times per day and then change his vent settings based on how the reports come back. Today he was kind of all over the place, he just can't decide what he wants to do!

His heart rate was fairly steady today, with a few dips into the 60's in the morning. For the most part his heart has done pretty well, all things considered. He holds pretty steady in the 80's-90's. Normal heart rate would be roughly 140-160. The first few days he was in the 80s, now he's more consistently in the 90's, and even spent some time in the 100s today.

Tomorrow Derc goes back to work. He is thankful he got to spend a few solid days with him, but tomorrow could be a bit tough for him, but I'll be there to spend time with our little guy and you can be sure I'll be calling with updates!

Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, we're so grateful!

Day 6 is a good day

Well...the results are in....talk about the most nerve racking day of our lives!

Kale had his brain scan today, and we feel that we got pretty good news. His right side of his brain (which I believe controls emotions) was CLEAR...no bleeding :) His left side (which I believe controls his motor/speech skills) has a Stage II bleed. The doctor said that this is because he had a dilated ventricle and some bleeding. They seemed pretty positive with these results, and said that with a baby as small as him, they would have expected a more severe stage. They said this may have even been classified a Stage I bleed had his ventricle not been dilated, so they were happy with that! They will do another scan in one week, and probably a few more throughout his stay in the NICU to see if the bleeding is improving, getting worse or staying the same. They said that these bleeds can resolve on there own, and they see may Stage I & II bleeds resolve themselves before they leave the NICU. On the other side, obviously they have a chance to worsen, however that is why they monitor these closely. There is no treatment for this, Kale's body simply needs to continue to fight it and be strong. The 'danger' zone of 72 hours has passed, and now the risk of new bleeds is lower, so that is good news.

Kale was pretty stable today as far as his medications and other drips. His oxygen levels were a little bit all over the place today, they are still trying to get his vent settings figured out to be the most optimal for him.

His feedings were going well today, he had 3 rounds of feedings at 1 ml every 6 hours. They are increasing it now to 2 mls every 6 hours! To give you an idea of just how little that is, a normal baby bottle is about 4 ounces. There are 120 mls in 4 ounces. So our little angel is having about 1/120th of a 'normal' bottle every 6 hours :) Hey...we'll take it! He weighed 1 lb 8 oz. today, so a bit more than yesterday, however it's likely that this gain is probably some fluid retention, as 2 oz. overnight would be quite a bit for this little one!

Derc and I got to change his diaper today...cool huh?! We were both pretty timid reaching our hands in there and moving him around, but we did it together and got it done. His diapers are so teeny and moving his tiny little legs and lifting his small body is so nerve racking. Pretty neat feeling to change our son's diaper for the first time though...big smiles!!

We did hear from my doctor today on my blood tests. They said that I have the SSA antibody, which is an antibody that can cause Lupus. They said it's not confirmed that I have Lupus, it would require many more tests to classify it as such. However, when I go to my 2 week follow up appointment I will be able to talk with the doctor more about this. They said that this antibody is what caused Kale's heart block. They said it has the potential to affect future pregnancies, about 15% chance or so. However, now that they know there is a risk, I would be highly monitored and if the baby was developing it there is potential that they could do some type of treatments or monitoring in the womb so he wouldn't have to be delivered so early. Anyway, we're not overly concerned about that yet, we obviously have a long road ahead before we would even think about more pregnancies, so we'll focus on one little guy for now! I'll keep you all posted on what they find out about me and what future testing I'll need. As for now, I'm feeling healthy and am recovering well.

Thank you for your prayers, we know we had many, many people praying today and we are so thankful that his results came in where they did. We feel that with all things considered, his results are good and we're keeping a positive attitude about it! We thank God every day that he is helping him be strong and keeping the fight alive in him, and also that he is with Derc and I as we cope with all that is going on.

More to come tomorrow!

Day 5

Day 5...another stable day, which is all we are asking at this point! This morning we called down to the hospital to see how Kale's night went. The nurses said that the little squirt yanked his IV out last night! What a little booger, we know that we will have our hands full when he finally comes home :) So, they replaced his IV and took the saran wrap tent off. He squirms around way too much to be under that, he keeps getting tangled up in it. We went to visit him today and Derc got to do some 'Positive Touch' with him. That basically means that he reaches into the incubator and 'cups' his body, putting his hands around his feet and over his stomach. Kale definitely responds to it, but sometimes a little too much. His oxygen levels dipped quite a bit when Derc was touching him because it's so much stimulus on his little body. He did it for about 5 minutes or so then we let him rest. His blood sugar levels are still within normal without being on insulin, so that is a positive thing. He has remained off his dopamine (Blood pressure medicine) another day as well. They are flipping him over again tonight to his stomach, they will begin doing that more frequently. He lost a little more weight last night, he is at 1 lb. 6 oz. now. Tonight they are planning on giving him about 1 ml of breast milk through his feeding tube to see if his stomach can tolerate it. It is a slow process for him but we'll see if he likes it!

Tomorrow is the biggest day of our little guy's life. He has his brain scan around 7am...that will show if there has been any bleeding in his brain so far. His capillaries are so fragile and he has been through so much stress that there is a risk for brain bleeding. There are four different levels, stages 1-4, and we would love to see ZERO. They said that often times if we get a stage 1-2 those can resolve on their own before they leave the NICU, stages 3-4 are more severe. Also, he will have another scan again around 32 weeks, and the stages can change if bleeding either occurs or slows. Anyhow....that is the biggie tomorrow, so if our little one has been in your prayers, we would love if you could pray for a clear brain scan!!!

Kale's aunt Sarah spent the night with us last night, and she spent some time scrapbooking! Kale has a very creative aunt so she made some cute stuff for his door. Check out the pics above....we have a little 'ticker' that counts how many days old he is :) We stole the idea off of a door down the hall...the little girl's sign said she had been there for 50 days and was born at 1 lbs 6 oz and is now at 2 lbs 6 oz. She has some pictures up so we have a good idea of what gaining a pound will do for Kale.

Today the docs took off his mask so we could take a look at his face, those are posted above :) We think he's pretty cute and once he gains a few pounds we'll be able to see who he looks like more. We're taking bets on what features will look like which parent....everyone says he looks like Derc so far...I'm thinking he has my massive hands :)

As for me, I'm healing up well, I have lots of help around the house between Derc and my mom staying with me, along with many other offers for help from friends and family. I should get results back from my tests tomorrow on if there is anything going on inside me that may have caused Kale's heart block. At this point it's tough to think about anything except his brain scan, so I haven't had much time to think about that.

As always, thank you for your thoughts and prayers, he has so much positive energy coming his way from all of his friends and family, and so many others that we have never met or don't know and have heard his story. The support is completely overwhelming and we continue to hear new stories each day about someone who knows someone else that has gone through something similar. We love hearing stories of hope, it helps tremendously.

Well...until tomorrow. Cross your fingers for a clear brain scan!

Day 4

Day 4, another day in the books for our little angel!

Today Kale weighed in at 1 lb. 7 ounces. Yep, he lost about 2 ounces throughout the day yesterday. The Docs say this is common, and not to worry. They say that all babies lose weight as they go through the first few days. They would rather see him lose weight than gain at this point. If he were gaining it would be water weight and that would mean he's retaining fluid. They said expect him to lose about 10-20% of his body weight in the first few days/weeks.

Kale hit his 72 hour mark today, which is great! The first 72 hours of life are the highest risk for brain bleeds. After 72 hours they are able to move him around a little more and not be as concerned about the risk of bleeding. Obviously we do not know yet whether or not there are any brain bleeds, we find that out Monday with the ultrasound, so please continue to pray for a great scan!! Throughout the day today he managed well off of his insulin and dopamine. His blood sugar was a little all over the place, but not too much that they needed to re-introduce the insulin. Also, his heart held steady without the dopamine, so that is another great step! He was flipped onto his stomach today, this is to try and reduce the risk of fluid build up in one place from laying still....so he will chill on his stomach for about half the day and then go back to his back. The Doc did an x-ray on his lungs today (he does that daily) and said it looked like he was getting a little too much oxygen, so they turned that down a bit. The ventilator that he is on gives about 900 breaths per minute, and they are very tiny breaths. The risk with the vent is that it could cause too much stress on his lungs and cause them to tear or perforate, which is why they do x-rays every day. So, he is on a lower vent setting now, which has made him do a bit more work on his own to breathe.

Derc and I left the hospital today since I was discharged...needless to say this was a very emotional day for us. It was incredibly difficult to leave the hospital knowing our boy was going to be there for a long time. Tonight we called the hospital for our nightly update and Kale was continuing to hold steady...which is the news we always hope to hear.

We made it home and got settled in with the help of my sister, Sarah. She is hanging out with us for the weekend and helping around the house. It's great to have her here because she is a huge help and continues to help keep up our positive thoughts. She is scrapbooking for Kale's door right now :) We can post pictures or little notes on his door, and she is pretty much a pro at that stuff :)

As always, thank you for your thoughts and prayers, the support we have received is completely overwhelming. We have heard of prayer requests from around the country, and it couldn't make us feel better, it's amazing! Please continue to pray, he has a long road ahead.

Until tomorrow.....g'night!

Day 3 update

It's hard to believe that our little guy is already 3 days old! Today Derc and I had a fairly relaxing day. We got caught up on sleep and did some walking around. I'm definitely starting to feel the pain from the c-section. Derc is a great helper, and he's not letting me "over do it." Kale had a good day today, he was able to come off a couple drugs/insulin today. Which is a step in the right direction. He may need to go back on these throughout the next few months but this is good for his third day. He had his second blood transfusion today which again is pretty common in preemie's. We can not even imagine thanking everyone who is praying for Kale, but keep praying b/c so far it is working! We looked up his horoscope sign today and found out it was a Bull, we don't really care about that stuff but thought it fit him perfect for the situation he is in! We will keep everyone posted, thank you again for all your support and prayers, how ever long it takes to get him home the road is three days shorter! We go home tomorrow (unfortunately without Kale) but hoping to return to some small form of routine. We made a promise to each other to try and do one thing a week to help get our minds from worrying. If anyone is interested in hanging out with two worrying parents please feel free to call! As all of you know we are easily entertained!

Kale Anthony Albrecht has arrived!

Well....my 24 week checkup didn't exactly go as planned. By now you have all heard that Kale arrived yesterday, here is how the series of events occurred....

I went in for my normal 24 week checkup around 1:15pm. The doctor did not get a strong heartbeat at all from the normal check, so she said she wanted to do an ultrasound. At that point I called Derc and told him what was going on, and luckily he only works a few minutes away so he came as quickly as he could. By the time Derc got there I was ready to go into the ultrasound room. The ultrasound tech looked at his heart, and while it was beating steadily and the structure looked good, it was beating very slowly...a heart rate of about 80, much slower than they like to see. At that point, the doctor said that she wanted us to go downtown to have it monitored and be looked at by a cardiologist. She said that based on what they found that we may end up delivering that day. Needless to say, our first question was, can he survive at 24 weeks if we deliver?! They said yes, babies do survive all the time at that age. At that point they said that Derc wasn't going to drive me to the hospital, they were going to call for an ambulance. Looking back I feel like the doctors were downplaying the seriousness of this condition a bit in attempts to keep Derc and I calm. As soon as the ambulance got here, they put me on the stretcher and started doing tests. The ambulance ride took about 10 minutes, and during that time we called our families to let them know what was going on.

From the time I was wheeled into the hospital to the time Kale was born was probably 15-20 min. As soon as I got there, they took me to the OR. There were about 10 people waiting for me. They got me prepped in about 30 seconds and did an ultrasound. During the ultrasound Kale's heart rate would go from about 140 to 70, and when it was low he would stop moving, so they were concerned he wasn't getting the oxygen he needed to his brain. At that point they thought it was necessary to deliver him to avoid anymore stress for him. Within about 1-2 minutes I was under and at 2:48pm Kale was born. He was taken by C-section, and was in the breech position, so that made it a little tough on the little guy. Derc got to hold him for about a minute before they took him to the NICU. By the time I woke up (begging for pain meds) I was already in the recovery room and we were just awaiting family to make it and updates from the doctor.

The cardiologist came in and spoke with us. He said that Kale has a 3rd degree block in his heart. Essentially the node in his heart that controls the electro-pulse that tells his heart how to beat is not sending signals properly. This was causing half of his heart to work normal, and the other part was getting only half the signals or so, which was why we were seeing such irregularities. The Dr. said that he wasn't sure why this was happening. It's possible that I have an autoimmune disease (like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis) that caused my body to build up antibodies against his heart. There is about a 50% chance that this is the case, and I had blood drawn today to run tests on those things. The other 50% is just a random genetic thing....either way the Dr. said it's pretty rare. He said Kale will likely need a pacemaker to regulate his heart rate when he is big enough. Right now he is only 1lb. 10 oz., and a pacemaker wouldn't fit inside his body.

The doctors here are taking very good care of him, and he seems to like his temporary home. He will be here for about 3-4 months minimum. The biggest concerns right now are his underdeveloped lungs, brain bleeding, his heart issue and risk for infection. He is getting a blood transfusion as we speak. The drs have been taking so much blood out for tests that his body can't keep up, so they needed to give him a transfusion. They said that is very common with preemies so we shouldn't be concerned about that. He has an ultrasound Monday for his brain. This is to test for bleeding in the brain. If there are bleeds (caused from broken blood vessels from stress and delivery) then this could potentially signify risks of mental or physical disabilities down the road, so please keep him in your prayers for a clear brain scan Monday! He will likely have these every 4 weeks or so to monitor.

Today Derc and I got to touch him inside his incubator :) We got to stick our hands in and cup his little feet, and then he pushed back on us. He responds to our voice, he can tell who his mom and dad are, so that's kind of cool! When Derc put his hands in there, he gave Kale his pinkie to grab onto and Kale took it and held on. That was very special to see! He has also had two wet diapers today, which means that his kidney's and bladder are working, so that's great! He has to wear some dark cloths over his eyes to protect them as they are so underdeveloped. We think he has Derc's nose :)

So, needless to say, the road ahead is very long and has the potential to be very stressful on Kale, Derc and I and all of you who care about him/us. We thank you in advance for hanging in there for us. We could not do this without the support we have from our friends and family, you guys are utterly amazing. Kale has so many people praying for him, it's amazing. We're hoping that the prayers work and God protects him in his long journey. Derc and I fully realize that we are faced with a life altering event. We're preparing for Kale to have a tough road, as the potential is there for him to have some physical or mental disabilities, but holding out hope that he will be one of the few that comes out at the end completely normal. Either way, words can't describe how much we love our little miracle, he's so precious, so tiny but seems like he is a real fighter. Pastor Perry from St. Marks in CR came down today and baptized Kale. It was important to Derc and I that he be baptized early on in this journey so we knew God was with him every step of the way.

We'll keep everyone posted as much as possible, thank you for your thoughts and prayers, we love you!

23 Weeks!

Well, this week marks the start of the sixth month! We are well on our way to being parents...it's getting a bit more real each week that goes by. This week Nugget isn't doing a whole lot of crazy stuff, he's supposed to double in weight this month, which means my belly is going to start getting bigger quicker...woohoo! I'm feeling him move around quite a bit now, his movements are getting more noticeable and sometimes I feel a stronger more abrupt movement which I'm realizing are probably kicks or punches.

Not a whole lot going on in the Albrecht household this week, just getting back into the swing of things with work since returning from vacations. Some exciting news for Derc this week is that he got the vehicle he has been wanting for a while! I finally gave him the thumbs up to buy an Avalanche (used of course, we don't do new!). Our garage is very tight now with two large vehicles and I keep telling Derc that in a month I'm going to have to crawl out the window because I won't be able to open the door! No crazy plans this weekend, I have to work all weekend and I'm sure Derc will spend some time golfing. Maybe I can talk him into putting some baby furniture together since we have both our crib and dresser now...we'll see :)

Have a great week!