The Barton Family Blog

Like the couch? It's the lovely couch in our hospital room where we ended up 4 days after being released from our 10 day-stint there!  Tuesday night (July 19) Brock was acting a little off.  Initially he was screaming and not even attempting to latch on to nurse.  He would scream and scream and scream before finally passing out, only to repeat the scenario an hour or two later. As the evening wore on, he seemed lethargic, difficult to wake up and even when we loaded him in his car seat, he didn't wake up.  We ended up in the ER around 11 pm.  They checked his blood sugar and it was below 31.  They immediately began to give him glucose orally while they attempted an IV.  After 3 attempts (2 in the hand and one on the head), they decided to check his sugar again. He had a bunch of glucose orally, plus he had nursed.  Around 12:30 pm, his blood sugar was 84!  We're not sure exactly what happened.... the pediatrician was a little skeptica...

I finally had to resort to stealing photos off of johnny's phone since my camera is STILL out of commission... They're unedited, obviously, I didn't even crop them.... but they still show my sweet little baby boy!

Mackenzie Rice of Lily Bird Photography took some beautiful photos of my sweet little man on the day of his birth. She & her mama put together a video montage of those photos.   One true media won't allow me to link the video here... they want an upgrade fee or a shorter video... so here's the link.   www.onetruemedia.com Click "login" Username: elizabeth.rice08@gmail.com Password: 123456 HUGE thanks to Kenzie for her sweet work on not only the photos but also this montage! She is a jewel!! If you EVER need a photographer, she is just getting her photography business off the ground and loves referrals! She does weddings, babies, kids, families etc! Here's here photography blog:   www.lilybirdphotography.blogspot.com You will NOT be disappointed if you use her!

I wish I could post pictures, but alas, my camera is in a funk and won't upload. I think it has to do with the 5 minute birth video Naomi took during my c-section - I think it's freezing my camera from uploading. Will work on that soon! I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all who prayed for us while we spent our long 10 days in the hospital. We are so very glad to be home and so grateful that Brock regulated on his own - w/o any more concerns, tests, possible transfers, etc. More pictures coming soon...

4pm blood sugar 66 - Turned off the IV!!!!!!!!!!!! He's free! We can walk around the room freely and we might even be able to take him to my room now:-) :-)) :-D 5pm blood sugar 84!

It's noon, Thursday.  Not much to add from yesterday's post. Here's our plan for the next few days... Brock's IV is 10% glucose. Like I said yesterday, they can't go much lower than 4ml/hr because it can have problems making it thru the IV.  At 4am Brock's blood sugar was 59.  They dropped his IV to 4.0ml/hr.  At 7am Brock nursed vigorously for 20 minutes. His best length of time nursing yet.  At 10 am his blood sugar was 69. The pediatrician came in and decided to drop his IV to 5% glucose, and up his Ml/hr to 5.  Basically if you do the math it equals out to dropping his IV another 1.5 ML, but it avoids the possibility of the IV clotting.   Brock nursed FABULOUSLY again at 10. Just much more awake and vigorous. The plan for the rest of the day is to watch his sugar, and after 2-3 more feedings, TURN THE IV OFF!!!!! and then monitor his sugars for the next day or two.  The Ped. said we might even be able to go home tomorrow PM!! ...

We want Brock's blood sugar to stay about 50.  If it drops below 45 we will be running a series of tests (I explained in yesterday's post) 1am: blood sugar - 58 4am: blood sugar - 63! dropped to 8.5 ml/hr 10am: blood sugar measured 43. My heart sank. Here comes all the labs and test. My sweet sweet nurse Jenny saw the look on my face.  She said, let's check it again.... 5 seconds later, same heal, blood sugar -50!  The little machine they use to check his sugar is not 100% accurate. Only labs are. So often times you can get a variation, up to a 10 difference.  I was just so glad we didn't have to go down the lab/catheter road! 4pm -74!! Woo hoo! 10pm - 64 (: dropped IV fluids to 5.5  The nurse informed us that we couldn't go much lower than 4.0 because they risk the IV clotting... We had no idea that we were that close to be OFF the IV. We were just so so so thrilled. The Pediatrician who has been managing Brock's plan would be back on tomorrow ...

Catching up working from Tuesday on - just so I have this documented and for anyone who's curious what happened between Monday and Thursday!  I have been blessed with at least one visitor most of the days - keeping me company and helping the time pass quickly.  I am so blessed to have wonderful friends and family who have kept me sane and balanced on this emotional roller coaster!  1am - Brock's blood sugar was 59.  5:30 am - my mom had stayed the night with me and came down to the nursery while I was showering and getting ready.  She started texting me, come now!! He's wide awake, feisty and wanting to eat!   When I came down he was wide-eyed and desperate to nurse.  He just seemed different - like he had turned a corner. Much more like a newborn and less like a sleepy preemie.  6:40 am - Blood sugar - 49 10:00 am - 73!!! 4:00 pm - 67 - They dropped his rate of infusion on the IV from 13 ml/hr to 11.5 ml/hr (: 7:00 pm - Dr. ...

This morning the dr was concerned that in the event Brock's IV failed, that we might not be able to get another IV started. They had used both hands,one foot and a wrist on top of multiple heal pricks and they were simply running out of options. They decided to put in a PICC line which would easily hold up under the stress of the high sugars going thru it. At ten thirty i left Brock in the Nicu to undergo the procedure. At eleven thirty they called me to tell me they had not even begun... They were still looking for a good vein. At twelve thirty they called to tell me the insertion of the PICC line had failed. His blood sugar was at 59. At this point I had to make a decision... Transfer Brock somewhere where a PICC line would be a standard procedure on a baby or keep him here and risk another IV failing. Not much of a choice if you ask me... I asked the ped to call up to Legacy and consult with the doctor there about what they would recommend. His phone call was very reassuring. ...

Brock's blood sugar jumped to 77! We were thrilled! The doctor made plans to begin weaning him off the sugar hour by hour starting tomorrow. Everything was looking good! Immediately after we got the news, the iv nurse realized his iv was failing. They immediately began to try to put a new one in. Four attempts and two nurses later... I was losing it. The third attempt had him screaming harder than ive ever heard him scream since he was born. It was heart breaking. I finally had to leave the Nicu. By the time i came back, the iv was in, Brock was settled and every thing was over. Two hours off the iv and his blood sugar had dropped to 45. I was worried that we'd be starting over... Back at square one with no weaning tomorrow. Luckily, thats not the case. We are still on track to begin weaning tomorrow. Praise God! Please continue to pray that his numbers stay strong tomorrow and the days to come.

Numbers up to 61 today! Praise God! Tomorrow,if numbers remain steady, they will begin weaning Brock off the sugar one ML at a time. It will be a slow process and the dr. Said today that we will be here for sure thru Wednesday... So that gives somewhat of a time frame picture. Thank you for continued prayers!

Many of you know that Brock is still in the hospital nursery/ICU here in Corvallis due to complications since birth.  Here's an explanation of what has happened since he was born... and I will attempt to add some updates as things change today and tomorrow. When Brock was born (8:06am) his initial blood test showed his blood sugar levels at a 9.  Normal range is above 50, and best in the 60's and 70's. So his was dangerously low. If a baby's blood sugar stays at a single digit for too long (days, not hours), it can cause brain damage to the baby.  Immediately Brock was put on an IV of fluids to help maintain his blood sugar.  In the minutes and hours after his birth his numbers slowly rose, to 20, then 25, then up into the 30's. It took several hours to get his blood sugar up into numbers that the doctor was satisfied with.  During this time I sat in my room, waiting and waiting for my baby. I was recovering from a c-section and waiting for the spinal to wear ...

IT'S A BOY! Brock Samuel Barton was born on Wednesday July 6, 2011 at 8:06 am Weighing: 6 lbs 0 oz Measuring: 19.5 inches *pictures taken and edited by Lilybird Photography

Last night held important significance to me, separate from our freedoms and the beauty of what the 4 th of July stands for. And I don't want to diminish the meaning of the Fourth in any way... But for us last night... and for us two years ago, the evening of the Fourth marks something else as well. And I wanted to be sure to put it into writing here before the craziness of tomorrow makes me forget the importance of yesterday! (: Two years ago, July 4, 2009 was our last night together as a family of three. We didn't know it at the time. The next day Johnny left for Arizona, and three days later a whirlwind called Shyanne & Hollie flew in our door! (: Though it wasn't for quite some time afterward that we would KNOW for sure that we were no longer a family of 3, that quiet evening in July marked a significant turning point in our lives that we never even knew was coming. And what a beautiful turning point it was! Fast forward to last night. July 4, 2011. Once a...

My girls. O my they make me LAUGH so hard sometimes. Yesterday was just one of the those days. (Hollie says, Thanks you Nonnie & Papa for my new bike! I do ride it!) We were driving... heading to a Concert Outreach at the Skate Park... I'm reminding my girls not to announce their questions outloud about everyone around us who looks "different". That they need to come up to mom and ask in a whisper if they have a question. (This comes from quite a few embarrassing incidents where they have blurted out... "MOM!!! Why is that lady all bent over and walking weird!??! MOM!! Why does that guy have his shirt like that??? Etc. While they're standing right next to the person.) I tell them that they need to whisper their questions because they don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. To which Shyanne promptly replies, "I remember when Jackson hurt my feelings". and then Hollie who ALWAYS has to add her own imaginary story to fit with the big girls.. ...

Adair Village is, I guess you'd say, a tiny suburb of Corvallis (correct me if that's the wrong word!?!) Just a little (apparently fairly conservative!) community about 5 minutes from North Corvallis. On Saturday the 2nd we met up with friends who live there and enjoyed their small-town parade and Independence Festival. It was a super nice way to pass the day and so fun for the kids! Since it was such a small parade, the kids got a bunch of candy (: (Stevee, Hollie, Gavin, Natalee & Shy) We walked just down the street to the little festival where reptiles roamed freely... pretty cool! Croc? or Alligator? Either way - it was just meandering around - weird! Shy is an animal lover I think - she was in heaven! There was a booth sponsored by Children Christian Fellowship Ministries where they share the gospel with kids. Ya know, the gold, black, red, white, green little felt books from your childhood?! Does anyone remember those? Now they have bracelets and key chains to he...