William's NICU Stay

William Jeffrey Hughes
Born September 14th at 2:29pm
6lb 11oz

Poor guy had a little bit of a rough start since his cord was wrapped around him and he was facing up during delivery. Due to lack of oxygen, brain swelling, and acidic blood, they whisked him off to the NICU right away. He's hooked up to a lot of monitors to keep track of and regulate everything right now, but the main treatment they're doing to treat the HIE (Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy - brain injury caused by lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain) is called newborn body cooling. William has to stay in this cooling blanket for at least 72 hours to slow down his metabolism and allow his brain time to heal.


September 15th (NICU Day 2) - Today they took him off of the CPAP breathing machine that was in his nose, so he's improving! (See second photo above). He's looking at a 2 week stay in the NICU but we're so glad this little guy is already making improvements!


September 16th (NICU Day 3) - First Family Photo



September 17th (NICU Day 4) - Baby William has reached the 72 hour mark of his cooling treatment, so they've begun the reheating process at half a degree per hour. He's also weened himself off of the milrinone (medication that was helping his heart pump). It's been a little rough today for him with all the changes but he LOVES being sung to so whenever things are getting hard, the nurses or Chris or I sing to him and he calms down almost immediately. We love our little William! He's doing great! 👪 ❤️ #warriorwilliam
September 17th (Evening Update) - Baby Will is no longer on the cooling treatment! He is swaddled and warm and cozy now :) All those brain probes will be removed in 24 hours after monitoring how he handles this new situation. I'll be happy when all those wires are gone! #warriorwilliam


September 18th (NICU Day 5) - William got all his head wires out, is opening his eyes and looking around, and he nursed today!

Baby William has to do three things now before he can come home:
1. Regulate his body temperature in an open crib.
2. Have regular feedings and gain weight.
3. Breathe without needing oxygen (which he already does now ✅)
Things are looking good! #warriorwilliam


September 19th (NICU Day 6) - Little William is getting an EEG today to measure his brain function after being off of the cooling blanket treatment. The probes have to stay on for an hour but he slept through the whole time they were putting them on and will probably sleep through the whole thing. We should get the results tomorrow. #warriorwilliam
 

September 19th (Evening Update) - William got the rest of the lines out of his umbilical cord and they put a picc line in his head for the last two medications he's on (tpn and lipids). The picc line and a couple sticker monitors (for heart rate, lungs, blood oxygenation, and temperature) are the only wires he has now!

September 20th (NICU Day 7) - William has to be under some lights to combat some jaundice. They put a feeding tube down his nose and have started him on a feeding schedule which should help clear up the jaundice as well. He also got an MRI today, we should get the results soon.




September 22 (NICU Day 9) - This little guy got big boy clothes today!

We also got the results from his EEG and MRI. The EEG showed that all the electrons in his brain were firing like they are supposed to. ✅ The MRI showed a couple small bleeds but the large bleeds is what they're worried about. The small bleeds should resolve themselves. ✅

He got off the UV lights today and he's in an open bed now too! They've continued to bump up his feedings, stretching out his stomach gradually so he'll be up to bottle feedings in like 3 days. The feeding tube and Picc line should come out around then too! That's the last requirement for discharge from the NICU, we're so close!

Grandma got to hold him for the first time today too!  ❤️


September 27 (NICU Day 14) - Here's a picture of baby Will looking like a gangster in his too-big onesie and his beanie 😊 And here's to hoping he gets that line out of his nose today! He's maxed out on his tube feedings so they're letting him eat however much he wants and whenever he wants now!

September 28 (NICU Day 15) - William got another echo on his heart and an EKG done today. BUT he also got his feeding tube out!! He just has to eat 50ml or more nursing or bottle feeding for the next 48 hours then we can take him home!

September 29 (NICU Day 16) - William passed his 90 min car seat test and his hearing test! Christopher and I have to watch a CPR video and "room in" with the baby at the hospital tonight, but we should be able to take him home tomorrow!  ❤️

Rooming in that night
September 30th (NICU Graduation Day) - Guess who's home??? 😊 ❤️