My Children

My five children in their pajama's. I couldn't decide which picture was better.

Wyatt, sleeping...growing.

Wyatt on his Christmas horse in his Christmas pj's.

A Little Bit of Christmas

If the Bergmann kids were to recreate the first Christmas, here's what it might look like:

Baby Wyatt in his stocking. This won't work next Christmas!

Home at Last!

I took this picture the other day on a rare moment when Wyatt had his eyes open and he wasn't yelling to be fed.
The phone we used to call into the NICU to get permission to enter. I won't miss it!

The locked doors to the jail - I mean, NICU.

The sink where I washed my hands many, many, many times. Every time I came into the NICU, I had to undergo a very thorough one-minute hand washing ordeal.
Wyatt one last time in his bassinette. Above, the computer I watched anxiously for the last nearly three weeks as it monitored his resps, heart rate, and oxygen saturation levels.

Getting ready to go home this morning. We were told we would be able to go when we came in at 10:30 am. We got there...and another test had been scheduled for 11:15. This did not surprise me, but we finally got to go at 1:00 pm when Mike was available to pick us up.
Andrew and Natalee were so excited to finally see Wyatt! Natalee can hardly keep her hands off of him. Andrew is happy that Wyatt is home, and probably most happy that I no longer have to come and go all day. As am I!

How I Amuse My Mom On Cold Winter Days

Lucky Wyatt...

...gets to stay inside 24 hours a day while the rest of us have to brave these extremely cold temperatures!!

Wyatt has done well these last two days. At today's weigh-in, he is back up to his birthweight and actually surpassed it...by 2 grams. And today, he breastfed three times, and two of those times, nearly completed his feed requirement! The nurses won't gavage him if he gets over a certain amount. He is gagging a lot when they push the tube down his throat, so he would just end up throwing it all up anyway. They add a little bit extra to the other feeds when I'm not there to make up for the small loss. He has also been taking the bottle at other times too.

He has also been waking more at his feeding times, so hopefully this means that his home coming will not be too far off! In order for him to come home, Wyatt needs to have 72 hours without any desats or braddy's and then pass an hour and a half "car seat test"; and he needs to be taking all of his feeds by bottle and/or breast.

Starting to Wake Up

Wyatt has been off of his nasal prongs for three whole days now! He did have one desat. over night though.

Most days, I am there for three feedings - at 11 am, 2 pm, and 8 pm. (He is on a very strict three hour feeding schedule). Today, he breastfed at all three times! He has been waking up on his own and is alert and hungry enough to feed pretty well - the nurses are all quite impressed by his breastfeeding abilities.

Yesterday, Wyatt had a bit of a fit. He was given a bottle and took his whole feed that way at 5 pm, and I guess he swallowed/gulped a lot of air. So he never really settled down completely, and by the time I got there at 7:30, he didn't know if he was tired or hungry or what. Nothing I could do was right and he kept getting angrier and angrier. Finally the nurse gavaged him, pulled out some air from his tummy, filled him up, and he finally fell into a content sleep.

There's not much very exciting to report on Wyatt today. He was taken off his nasal prongs again this morning. I was told he could go off and on them several times before he is permanently off of his oxygen. It's just one day at a time.

This evening, I asked his nurse what he now weighed. He had gained just under an ounce at his last weigh in (he gets weighed every 24 hours at midnight), and that brought him up to 5 lbs. 9.5 oz. So he's slowly getting back up to his birthweight! He also nursed well two times today. So although it wasn't the most exciting day, it was still a very good day of slow and steady progress.

Waiting...

Wyatt looked so warm and cozy this evening, I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Right now, we are in a holding phase. Wyatt is slowly gaining weight and basically all gavage-fed. The oxygen (nasal prongs) is giving him more energy, so when it's time for his feeds every three hours, he wakes up, although usually not on his own, and demands his food be given NOW! He definitely has a temper! However, as soon as his tummy is full, he is pretty content (unless he has some big burps or needs to spit up a little), and enjoys cuddling sleepily with me while I hold him upright, waiting for his body to digest some his milk, so it doesn't all come out again when he is lying down.

So really nothing is new, but at least we're not moving backwards. Now is the hardest time to be a Mom to a little one in the NICU, because there's nothing I can really do for him besides supply him with milk and give him cuddles when I can. The rest is up to God, as his lungs still need time to heal/mature.


I will probably not be posting any more daily updates unless there is a change in Wyatt's condition, or if I get an especially cute picture of him. I must say he is one lucky boy to be all toasty warm on these very cold December days!

Monday Update

Because sometimes sleep is more important, this update is a little late.

Not much change with Wyatt. He had the nasal prongs put back in because he kept d-statting. However, he did gain 2 ounces and his bilirubin levels have gone down significantly! After his nasal prongs were put back in, he was more alert yesterday when it was feeding time, and he slept more peacefully in between those times. He is not happy when the gavage tube is put in and often spits up when it comes out, but because he doesn't nurse properly yet, we really don't have any other choice. Hopefully he will start nursing more effecitvely.

Breathing on his own

So the decision today was to remove Wyatt's nasal prongs. Yesterday, they spent most of the day in his mouth, on his lip, near his eyes...anywhere but in his nose. So this morning, they came off and in the evening, the nurse removed the adhesive on his little soft cheeks. He's doing very well without them!

Tomorrow, he's scheduled for the head ultrasound and a repeat bilirubin.

The concern today is his weight loss. He has now lost 12% of his birth weight. They keep upping his feeds, as well as adding a high calorie powder when they gavage him. The first few feeds at 56 mL, he was spitting up quite often, but the last couple of feeds today, he managed to keep nearly everything down. Between that and sleeping most of the day, hopefully he will have managed to at least maintain his current weight. I'll let you tomorrow evening how everything goes.

Slow & Steady

Not a lot to report today, however, no news is still good news!

At my visit this morning, Wyatt's resps and oxygen saturations were dipping quite often. I picked him up, because he seemed a little fussy, although he was sleeping. After a few good burps, he drifted off to sleep peacefully and his alarms stopped beeping.

At my evening visit, Wyatt surprised us all and ate his full feed, and then some - 53 mL - from me! He did not need to be gavaged, something which he is fighting more and more each day. I was so pleased; in fact, I proclaimed it my favourite birthday present!

Cuddling with Daddy

Today, Daddy finally got to hold his little boy!

Wyatt's new hang out. He was moved to a bassinette today. Still in the NICU though.

Another picture of the little peanut. He has his good moments and he has some not so good moments. He seems so anxious to get on with life he overdoes it and then has to rest up for a long time.

Wyatt is scheduled for a head ultrasound on Monday. The neonatologist seems confident that there will not be anything (as in bleeding on his brain), but they are very cautious and thorough on the NICU. His bilirubin levels have increased again, almost to the point of requiring treatment. Tomorrow, they will repeat his bilirubin. He lost weight last night and so they're adding in a high calorie powder to the breast milk he gets.

Wyatt also suffers from a common thing among premies - sleep apnea. Apparently, his central nervous sytem is not fully developed, so his body sometimes forgets to breathe. Up to four episodes during a 24 hour period is considered normal. Hopefully, he will outgrow this within the next week or two (by 36-37 weeks, this should disappear).

Finally...a face!

Today was such a good day. This morning, Wyatt's CPAP came off. We can finally see what he looks like! He has got so much hair! I checked the other children's newborn pictures, and he is definitely the winner of the hair contest! What else...his blood cultures came back negative (again) so he came off of antibiotics (again!). His hand IV port was removed too. Right now, he has oxygen prongs taped to his face, and he is so much more comfortable without the CPAP stuck on his face.

The neonatalogist examed him at 10:30 am and decided that he was born at 34 weeks 6 days. She tested his reflexes and examined different parts of his anatomy to determine his approximate gestational birth age. He opened up his eyes wide during the exam and was not too pleased! It was great to hear him cry.

I tried nursing him in the afternoon, but he was too tired. We had a nice cuddle though. After supper, we tried the breastfeeding again, and this time, he latched on a good ten times or more. I was certain he hadn't got a thing out of me, but before the nurse gavaged him, she checked to see what was in his tummy. Three cc's of fresh breastmilk!!! Not a lot by any means, but for his first real attempt, I was so happy. (He needs 46 cc's for a full feed, given every three hours).

After he was fed, Wyatt lay there quietly on his side, looking around. He made eye contact briefly with me for the first time. All in all, a very very good day! Thank you to everyone who is praying for him and us. Today seemed like several small miracles. Please pray that his bilirubin levels will start to drop and that he will continue to be receptive to breastfeeding.

Eyes!

After a very, very, very quiet day yesterday, Wyatt decided that maybe he actually did want to be a functioning human in this world. When I saw him this morning, his respirations and oxygen levels were better and he was making newborn baby snuffling sounds. He kept wiggling around and pulling his CPAP from his nose. Yesterday, he had sneezed out several large boogers and today his airways sounded much better.

Then this afternoon, he rewarded me with a nice long look around. He was looking around slowly, off and on, for close to thirty minutes. After he was fed at 2, he gazed around peacefully some more, then drifted off into a very happy, milk-induced coma.

In the evening, his IV had been dropped because he is now up to "full feeds". I got to hold him then too. Maybe, MAYBE, his CPAP will come off tomorrow, if he continues to hold steady. One day at a time...

Two steps forward...and then some back

Probably because all of his fighting is catching up with him, Wyatt was more than a little tired today. He was very lethargic and basically, a wet noodle. The nurse who came on at 8 am seemed very concerned. So he had his 3rd chest x-ray (everything okay there), another CBC done (again, everything good). Antibiotics were again administered after another blood draw for a 48 hour blood culture and some other tests were done to determine if there was anything out of the ordinary going on. So far, everything that has come back has been normal. Even his bilirubin numbers (for jaundice) are within normal. So maybe he's just really really tired. A far cry away from two days ago when he was given sedation three times to calm him down.

At his 2 pm "do up", he had a very large poop (only newborn poops are cause for celebration like no other!). When the nurse gavaged him, he stuck his tonuge out, so she dipped a q-tip in the milk and gave him a taste. Wyatt seemed to enjoy the taste and sucked on the q-tip and raised his eyebrows and almost opened up his eyes. It was very encouraging. Mike is visiting him this evening and I am off to bed!

December Begins...

By this picture, it doesn't look as if much has changed with Wyatt since yesterday. He had a good night and a good day today. I got to hold him twice today. His CPAP was lowered to 5, then put up again to 6 because he required more oxygen. 5 is the lowest on the CPAP. So tomorrow, they'll turn him down to a 5 again and see what he does. His feeds are increasing, and he's half-way to where he's supposed to be for his weight. At his next feed at 11 pm, he'll be getting 23 cc's, and it goes up by 3 cc's every other feed. He should be taking in around 40 cc's per feed for his current weight. When that time comes, the IV will be removed. His blood cultures came back negative yesterday so his antibiotics have been discontinued!

He loves to sleep with his little hands in front of his face. You can tell in this picture that his left hand is curled up, nearly under his chin. A little boxer in the making.

Wyatt Nathaniel

Wyatt (means "little fighter") Nathaniel (means "gift of God") was born early (35 weeks) on November 28th. He is in the NICU right now, although I was discharged today. I will be going back and forth to the hospital throughout the day for several days to come. We don't know how long he will be in the NICU - it's a day to day process as his little body works to catch up on the work it has to do in order for him to breathe and eat on his own. I will try to post something here each day, but things will be just a little hectic and I may not always have time.

All things considered, Wyatt is doing well and proving himself to be a little fighter. He has a reputation for being cranky and trying to pull his CPAP (oxygen tubes) out. He also has an antibiotic IV right now as a precaution. His blood cultures will be back today and then we'll see if the antibiotics continue or not. They ended up giving him a sedative yesterday because he was fighting so much to get the machine off of his nose, and today he was doing very well, his breathing was not nearly as laboured, his respirations were falling down within a more normal range, and he was resting quietly (for a change!). I was finally allowed to hold him (I had held him only briefly for a few seconds after he was born), and he is tiny, but strong.

The First Snow Fall of 2008

The first snow fall of the year is always so exciting...for the children, at least! Actually, today was much better and safer for me than yesterday's ice. We ended up taking the van back and forth to school because it was so slippery. This morning, we walked to school.And this fall has been full of sickness. Joshua is now done his antibiotics for a chest infection, Caleb just started antibiotics for some infection - the Dr. doesn't quite know what it is; Andrew's on his 3rd or 4th cold since the start of September, and Natalee has also been sick with a cold and last night was also sick with a stomach bug. Hopefully, we'll get it all over and done with before December!

Halloween

Carving pumpkins. Andrew really enjoyed getting the "guts" out of the pumpkin.

Caleb and Joshua hard at work...for the moment. Joshua did his own. Caleb gave up.

All ready to go out trick-or-treating. Caleb dressed up as a skateboarder, so it didn't really look like he had a costume on. Joshua was a pirate, and Andrew, the Mickey Mouse firefighter...again. I found a puppy costume for Natalee - the hood was a little big and kept covering up her eyes, so we left it down.

Here are our pumpkins. Andrew's is the top left (I carved it for him). The small one in the middle on the left is the pumpkin Caleb carved at school. Joshua's is the big one in the middle on the right. And I did the bottom one too.

Cookies, cookies, cookies!

Yesterday afternoon, Andrew watched excitedly as I made over 100 cookies. In the evening, Caleb, Joshua, and Andrew helped me decorate them. I'm glad I'm not doing that again today! Here is some of our art work:
There are 2 of Andrew's cookies on the picture above - the ones with all the licorice candies packed onto them! I was happy with his attempts - I was expecting him to decorate them and eat it right away, but he didn't!

Andrew's Blanket

A big "Thank You" to my Aunt Irene who made Andrew a quilt cover! It is so perfect for him - covered in loaders, or as Andrew insists on calling them, "Low-lows". He is really looking forward to sleeping tonight! Yes, seriously! He's actually quite disappointed that he can't drag it all over the house right now, but my floors are surprisingly not THAT clean. :)

First Day of School 2008

We were happy that after days of rain, we woke up to clear, sunny skies for the first day back to school. Caleb is in grade 2 and Joshua is in grade 1. Caleb came home to say that Grade 2 is way better than grade 1, and Joshua was excited to get a new "science book" (day planner).
Andrew thought he needed to be in the picture too, and was probably quite disappointed that he couldn't go to school too.
Yay! Joshua learned to tie his shoes about a week ago...after much "teaching" and frustration on Mom's part.
And they're off! Joshua is way out in front, then Andrew, and Caleb conserving his energy at the back.
Natalee had her 18 month picture taken yesterday. Here she is pre-pictures. The real thing turned out great! I moved the vacuum cleaner away from the stairs, and now she's suddenly going up and down all by herself!

Summer 08 Recap

So I've been MIA. Wonder why? This is just a peek at our summer 2008. The boys are NOT looking forward to going back to school on Wednesday - guess we DID have fun! (Is that why I'm so tired????)

Got our first glimpse of Baby #5. Little legs curled up on the right hand side.

One of the few wading pools in the city that has waterslides. Here's Caleb!
And Andrew...
And Joshua!
Travelled out to Selkirk (twice) to the Marine Museum. The first time our trip was cut short by a sick kid. The second time it rained, but we managed to get through all the boats, more or less.

One evening we went up to "Garbage Hill" for a picnic/snack and I successfully managed to capture a half-decent group shot.
Strawberry picking. The berries were huge & yummy! Plus we got a hayride! Andrew still asks to go strawberry picking.
Andrew mowing the neighbour's lawn. We did lots of playing at home in the afternoons while Natalee slept. Fortunately, the weather wasn't too hot this year to enjoy being outside (that, and the air conditioner was a welcome relief whenever I needed a break!)
Travelled out to my good friend Shelley's farm. She was kind enough to let the boys each have a ride on her mini. Caleb seemed to have the most natural horsemanship of the boys. Maybe because he's actually ridden a horse before!
Andrew was more into the John Deere tractor at the farm. Andrew also learned how to ride the trike this summer. Joshua conquered the monkey bars - no broken arm was going to slow HIM down! And Caleb is a pretty good skateboarder now. He's also big into Donald Duck too. Natalee...well, she's been busy working on walking all summer. It's not so easy outside, but inside, it's pretty much a full-time thing. Yay!