Drews News

2009-05-07T23:54:00.001-07:00

2009-05-07T23:53:00.001-07:00

2009-05-07T23:51:00.001-07:00

It's Been A While:)

2009-05-06T23:59:00.000-07:00

Drew boy is growing up so fast. He has obviously kept us pretty busy, so busy that we couldn't update our blog:) We are excited now that winter is finally over. Drew was getting anxious to explore outside and get out of the house. Today we went with the Cooks on their new boat to Utah Lake. It was our first time on the water this year and the water was FREEZING but it was a blast. Drew was born for the water, he loves the boating life. This is going to be an awesome summer trying to keep our eye on the little guy. He is a professional crawler and is pretty quick. We are working on walking but he prefers all fours:) When he crawls in the grass, he wont let his knees touch the ground. He crawls around on the grass with his hands and feet just like a little puppy. It is so cute to watch the way he interprets the world. Drew is interested in every little thing that he sees. He is also getting pretty good at copying a lot of what we do! This spring has been extremely busy for our family. Eric's brother Mitch came home from his LDS mission and he got to see Drew for the first time! Eric's two brothers, Brandon and Jason each got married in March. Drew now has two new wonderful Aunts(Christi Anne and Kenzie). Drew is beginning to make a lot of sounds and he has even learned a few tricks:) He has graduated from a one trick pony to understanding quite a few commands. We made sure to teach him some basic sign language. Eric's favorite is the sign for "milk". It is pretty funny to watch Drew's serious face stare at his hands while he squeezes and relaxes his chubby fists. As you can tell, Drew has provided us with a lot of entertainment and it just keeps getting more fun every day.

2009-01-01T14:07:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T13:05:00.000-08:00

Wow we cannot believe that Drew is already 1 year old! Last month on November 16th, we celebrated Drew's first Birthday. It was an awesome day, but also a little emotional for us. With the busy days that we have had since Drew came home in March, we had not really had a chance to truly reflect and talk about the day that our son was born. On his birthday we read some of the things that we wrote when Drew was born and looked at the first pictures that we took of him. The emotions of that day filled our hearts and it was an experience that is difficult to describe. We were extremely happy, and grateful yet there was a solemn feeling. One of our good friends told us this past week that nobody is immune to adversity and that it is a part of this life to strengthen us and at the same time humble us. We hope that the feelings and emotions of Drew's birth will never fade and will continue to carry us. Here are a few words from something Eric wrote on the day that Drew was born, "today I became a Father. today I came closer to Jenn than ever & together we took a giant step closer to our Heavenly Father. Weighing only one pound four ounces and measuring almost 13 inches, Drew James Towner has touched so many hearts & forever changed our lives. Drew is a very powerful and sweet boy, we love our son." Drew now weighs around 19 pounds and he is doing really well. His laughter seems to make time stand still and we couldn't imagine life without him. As you can tell from his pictures, Drew insists on NOT wearing his glasses:) We are trying to keep them on more, but he is very determined to win the battle. Thanksgiving was another kind of emotional day, as we could remember exactly what was going on during the hard stages of Drew's life a little after he was born. It is really weird to think that this time last year Drew was in the isolette (incubator) and on a ventilator. We will always be thankful for our little miracle. Time flew in December and Drew enjoyed every minute of the Christmas season. He crawled all over the house pulling down decorations and tried to eat the pine needles off of the tree:) He is at a very fun stage right now and it is a lot of fun to teach him new things, such as turning on and off the light switch. It was fun to watch Drew play the "baby Jesus" part in our traditional Nativity Scene. Eric was one of the sheep! Drew went sledding for the first time and of course Eric wanted to take him down the hill and over a little jump. So they went down and instead of ramping off of the jump they plowed through it and snow flew up all over Eric and Drew:) Drew got a little scared and started to cry but he got over it quickly. We all joked about how Drew looked like the little brother from the movie "The Christmas Story" all bundled up in three snow coats! On Christmas day Drew was spoiled by his Grandparents and Aunts & Uncles with more toys and clothes than he knows what to do with. We had a wonderful Christmas with our little guy, he can always put a smile on our face. This was an extraordinary year filled with a lot adversity, tears, laughter and joy. Every time we see our little Drew boy we are reminded to put things into a grander perspective. He reminds us to think of what really matters in this life. He inspires us to strive to be a little better.

Fun Fall

2008-11-14T12:17:00.000-08:00

Drew has been having a blast this fall. He loves going to his Uncle's high school football games. For Halloween Drew dressed up as a lobster:) It was so cute, he kind of picked out his own costume. When we were at the costume store he got really excited when we showed him the lobster costume:) Drew is a really happy little boy. His favorite tv show is sponge bob! Ya, he really does like to watch sponge bob for a couple of minutes, especially the opening song. He learned to scoot around on his tummy a couple of weeks ago and now we can't leave him in the room alone. He can army crawl across the family foom now and he seems to get into everything that he is not supposed to. It has been a little difficult to keep his glasses on him, hopefully he will start to leave them on soon. On Sunday Drew will turn 1! We cannot believe how fast this year passed by. We love our precious little guy so much.

Sweet Glasses

2008-10-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

Drew boy has some new bling on! He was prescribed glasses to help correct a minor lazy eye and near sightedness. Both of these conditions are common affects from the laser treatments that he received while in the NICU. He is so cute with his glasses, it really makes him look a lot older which is kind of sad. Sometimes we wish that we could just stop time for a little while or atleast slow it down. As you can see in the pictures, it is a lot of fun trying to keep the glasses on his face and out of his mouth:) Hopefully he will get used to them soon. This Summer was a lot of fun for our family. Drew loved our trips to Lake Powelll and he had so much fun hanging out at the pool. Drew has been doing well with almost everything and he is starting to move all over the place. He hasn't quite learned to crawl yet but he rolls all over the house. He loves to eat his baby food and he is so interested in what we eat. He is extremely curious and wants to check out everything he sees, and of course put everything in his mouth. Jenn took Drew to Gardner Village to see some pumpkins and to take some pictures, he decided it was a good opportunity to lick the pumpkins:) This past weekend we had a blast carving pumpkins with Jenn's family. We think Drew enjoys Halloween, we'll see how long he lasts in his costume. Tonight was Monday Night Football for the Broncos and Drew was pretty sad that they got destroyed! He doesn't really like it when Dad yells at the TV so this season will be a little more mellow in our house:) We enjoy every day with our little guy, he bring us so much joy.

Fun Summer

2008-08-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, we have really dropped the ball with the blog! Well Drew has had a very fun summer. Drew now weighs almost fifteen pounds and he is doing awesome. It is impossible to forget what we experienced when Drew was at the NICU, but it seems like such a long time ago. Everything seems to be fairly normal now with our little guy. We are still a little cautious with him, but for the most part we are just enjoying taking him to all of our favorite places. For the fourth of July we took him to his first Salt Lake Bees baseball game and he really enjoyed the fire works afterwards. We put little baby ear plugs on his ears and he just stared at the fireworks with a curious look on his face. Drew loves boating, golfing, and hiking. We took him to the Champion's Challenge Golf tournament at Thanksgiving Point where Drew got to watch Jack Nicklaus, Annika Sorentstam and Deron Williams play golf. The highlight of our summer was swimming with him at Lake Powell. He loves exploring and experiencing new things. We cannot imagine life without him; he has brought us so much joy. Drew's uncle Ryan came home from his mission and Drew was so excited to see him. Drew was also excited to attend his Uncle Tyler and Aunt Rachel's wedding! This summer has been a lot of fun for our family and Drew has made it so joyful. In a couple of weeks Drew will have another eye checkup, so we hope that will go well. Drew had his first little cold last week and he got an ear infection also:( Other than being a little grumpy he handled it pretty well. Drew is working on sitting up and is trying so hard to scoot on his tummy. He lies on his tummy and kicks so hard and then looks around but he hasn't quite learned how to actually move anywhere:) He has had a lot of support from various specialists who work with his development. We are still amazed at his progress and grateful for everyone who has cared for our sweet son. Hopefully this week we will find some time to take him to go see all of his nurses and friends at the NICU!

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

Daddy had a wonderful first Father's Day today! Drew has the best Daddy ever! Eric is the best dad and we love him so much! He is such an incredible guy and we are so blessed to have him in our lives! He is truly amazing!!! Two weeks ago Drew had his hernia operation and everything went really well. We stayed over night at the hospital just to make sure that he recovered from the anesthesia. It was really weird to see him with IV's and hooked up to monitors again. Drew was really tough, he healed fast and it seems like he is a lot more comfortable now. This past week has been a lot of fun with him. Drew had his first experience boating and swimming! Well not really swimming, he just dipped his feet in the water and splashed around. It was so much fun, he is really starting to enjoy being outside. Drew also learned to roll over from his tummy to his back this week! He has kind of been giggling a lot lately and he really giggled loud today when we kissed his cheeks. We are enjoying every day with Drew, when he wakes up in the morning we get so excited to get him out of his crib and play with him. He brings a lot of joy to our family.

One More Procedure

2008-05-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

Drew is really getting fun. He has is own little routine with everything and he makes sure that we keep it consistent. Today he started to giggle a little bit, we get so excited everytime he does something new. His favorite thing to do continues to be staring at his right hand. He makes a fist and then just stares at it, it is so funny:) It is a lot fun to take him out now, we have taken him to a few restaurants and Drew also went to his first movie! He loved watching the new Indiana Jones movie, we just had to keep his ears covered. On Friday Drew will have what will hopefully be his last visit other than check-ups to the hospital. He is finally getting his hernia repaired:) We get to stay with him over night and hopefully take him home on Saturday. He has overcome so much, hopefully this will be the last time he sees a hospital or doctors office for the rest of the summer.

6 Months Old!

2008-05-19T21:30:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been a while since we have posted an update about our little Drew boy. He kind of takes up all of our time:) It has been so much fun to watch him grow these past few weeks. Last week Mommy got to celebrate her first Mother's Day as a new Mommy. It made Jenn feel a little old, but it was a very sweet day. Mommy got a card from Drew and she was surprised with some cute pictures of Drew that her parents had taken. Drew had his 6 month check-up with his pediatrician yesterday and he is doing awesome! Drew weighs 11 pound 11 ounces and he is over 22 inches long! That puts him around the bottom 2 percentile for a 6 month old baby, but for his adjusted age of 2 months old he is right in the middle average for weight and height. His pediatrician keeps saying that even though Drew will face some challenges, we couldn't have hoped for a better outcome! Today Drew went up to have a check-up on his eyes for the r.o.p.. His ophthalmologist said that his eyes have fully recovered from the laser treatment and that the r.o.p. is completely gone! Drew is at risk for some side affects from the treatment such as near sightedness, but it is amazing that they were able to efficiently treat him and save his vision. We feel very blessed for everything that he has been able to overcome, Drew has been through a lot and it looks like the most difficult challenges might be behind us. Drew will meet with his pediatric surgeon this week to decide what to do with his hernias and then hopefully we shouldn't have to take him for anymore check-ups or treatments for a couple of months. It is nice that the warm weather is finally here and that RSV season is over. We have had a lot of fun taking Drew to some low key restaurants and on walks to the park. Recently Drew has started to smile a lot:) It is incredible to watch him interact with us and smile. He has also found his right hand. He will make a fist with his right hand and just stare at it for while and then start sucking on it. We wish that we could know what he is thinking about, he is getting really curious and it is so funny to watch him bat at his toys and kick around. It is hard to believe that he is 6 months old, it is impossible to imagine life without our little Drew boy. We love him so much.

Big Boy

2008-04-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

One week ago Drew weighed 10 pounds! He is growing so fast, we could never have imagined that he would do so well. It seems like it was such a long time ago that Drew was in the hospital, almost like a dream. We are excited for it to start warming up so that Drew can go outside, and visit his nurses! We are fortunate that he hasn't gotten sick or had any problems since he left the hospital. His eyes are doing really well and the doctor is confident that they will fully heal and mature well. Drew will probably have his hernia operation soon and then hopefully the rest of this year will be pretty uneventful. Drew loves to throw his little fits if he is being ignored or doesn't want his diaper changed, but he quickly calms with some attention and his binky:) We love him so much, and we are cherishing every second with him.

Almost Nine Pounds!

2008-04-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

Drew weighs a whopping 8 pounds 15 ounces now! It is hard to remember how small he was just a month ago. Since coming home Drew has gained 2 pounds 9 ounces, he weighs 40% more than he did four weeks ago! He has also gained an attitude:) He knows that all he has to do is let out a little whimper and someone will rush over to pick him up and entertain him. Drew loves his little stuffed animals (an elephant and his bear), he loves his bottle, binky, swing, mobile, mirror, boppy pillow, car seat, and he loves to be on his tummy. Pretty much Drew loves everything except for sleeping in his crib or getting his diaper changed. We love everything about our little guy, he is so much fun!

Three Weeks Home

2008-04-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

Drew has been home for three weeks and he is doing great! He is still pretty much in control of his own schedule and we love tending to his every need:) Last week Drew had his eye check up and it went really well. His right eye has completely recovered and his left eye is looking good but hasn't fully matured. Drew has another check-up in two weeks to see how his left eye is doing. We just keep praying that he will not have any major long term difficulties with his vision, so far Drew has been very fortunate. Drew has been working really hard on keeping his head up. He loves laying on his tummy and doing his push ups. He also love his swing and loves to be held almost every minute he is awake, which we love too. He has brought us so much joy, we still get excited to feed him and bathe him and play with him as if it was our first day at home with him. He has given us a more meaningful purpose to our lives and we look forward to watching him grow.

Getting Big

2008-03-21T23:51:00.000-07:00

Drew has been home for more than a week and he is doing awesome! Today Drew had his second check-up with his pediatrician. Drew's doctor said that Drew is doing as good as anyone could hope for a baby born at his gestation. He is gaining weight pretty quickly now. He came home weighing around 6 pounds 7 ounces and now he weighs 7 pounds 5 ounces. Drew is loving his new home, but he still requires us to follow the schedule that he was on at the NICU:) Drew also misses his nurses and we are looking forward to seeing them soon so that they can see how big he is getting. Drew has an eye check-up scheduled next week, we are praying hard that the ROP has subsided. It has been a lot of fun to spend so much time with him, better than we could have ever imagined.

Home Sweet Home

2008-03-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

There aren't words to describe what we have experienced today. The emotions were much stronger than either one of us anticipated. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye to our wonderful nurses. They have given us the greatest gift and we have become very close to them. It is impossible for us to express the gratitude and appreciation that we have for every nurse, doctor and specialist that cared for Drew. Our primary nurses especially devoted so much time and love to give Drew the best possible chance at life, we already miss our nurses and we will always cherish the time that we were able to share with them. At the hospital there is a long hall that leads to the NICU which we have walked countless times. After Daddy saw Drew for the first time he walked out of the NICU and sat down on the bench in that hall and cried for twenty minutes. Early on in Drew's life each time we walked down that hall on our way to visit Drew we never knew what to expect or what new challenges we might learn of upon entering the NICU. After our visits with Drew we would walk together just Mommy and Daddy every night 119 times down that hall leaving Drew behind and we would wonder when and if our little boy would ever leave the hospital with us. As we walked out of the NICU doors and into that hall with Drew it hit us that we were really taking our little miracle home. We felt nervous and excited but mostly amazed at what had taken place at the NICU during the past four months. No matter how many times we talked about Drew coming home it never quite seemed real until that moment when we were walking out with him. We weren't prepared for the range of emotions that came upon us, it was almost bitter sweet. Drew slept in the car all the way home, but the second we pulled into the garage and stopped the car he woke up and Mommy and Daddy just smiled. We showed Drew around the house and most importantly we gave him a tour of his new room. He has seemed a little surprised and out of his environment but as each minute passes he is getting more and more comfortable with his new place. Drew has made sure that we keep the same schedule that he was on at the NICU. He starts getting fussy about every three hours and then demandingly cries for his bottle:) We love our new life with Drew at home, our house now has bottles and diapers and baby stuff everywhere. This is one of the greatest days of our marriage. This experience has been a roller coaster of emotions and a great builder of our faith, we have developed a great appreciation for life and for the miracles that God grants his children. It is hard to imagine how we were able to get through the difficult days during Drew's stay at the NICU (fortunately most of the days were good days). We have spent a lot of time looking at pictures and remembering how little and fragile he was. As we reflect on this experience we have come to the conclusion that nobody could endure such an experience alone. We felt uplifted by each other, our family, nurses and friends. We felt strengthened by God and we believe that he placed wonderful people at our sides to carry us through these four months. God sends his children to help one another and to carry each other through trials. We hope to become the type of people some day that God can send to help one of his children in need. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your love and prayers, and thank you to the IMC NICU for the miracle of life.

Coming Home!!!

2008-03-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

Drew is coming home today!!! He has been off of oxygen now for almost three days. Last night Drew had to pass his car seat test which required him to sit in his car seat for an hour and a half without any heart or breathing problems. He did pretty good, he just got a little bored then fussy and then he went to sleep. We spent last night with drew in our own little hotel type room without any monitors. It was wonderful to spend all night with our son, Daddy got a little sleep but Mommy stayed awake for most of the night keeping watch and cuddling with our little guy:) We are excited to become real parents, this has been an incredible experience. We cannot express our gratitude enough to God and to those who cared for Drew, what a miracle he is.

No Oxygen!

2008-03-10T23:43:00.000-07:00

Drew is getting so big! Drew now weighs about five pounds 12 ounces and he is getting some pretty chubby cheeks. He took a huge step today, Drew was off of oxygen when we walked into the NICU today around 3:oo pm and he was still off of oxygen when we left at 10:00 pm!! We were so excited for him, he looks so grown up without his nasal cannula. We hope that he can last through the night without his oxygen but we are so proud of our little guy for how long he has lasted on his own, this was a nice surprise today. Drew usually likes to pull on his tubes and yank the prongs out of his nose and because he didn't have his nasal cannula in we had to find him a new toy to play with today. We went home and got him his Denver Bronco crib mobile. Drew spent about ten minutes staring at the little horses going around and then decided that it was time to try and grab them. He had so much fun reaching and hitting the horses and Drew would kind of get a proud look on his face each he was able to touch one. We are so amazed at how far he has come and we know that he still has some challenges ahead but we have been extremely blessed to watch his miraculous progress. Drew is so precious to us and we are privileged to be his parents.

Patience

2008-03-08T01:14:00.000-08:00

Drew had his eye check-up on Wednesday and they are slowly continuing to get better. There are still some areas that need to mature before he can come home. Drew's doctors believe that it could take as little as one more week but as long as three more weeks until his eyes will be mature enough to come home. We appreciate the wonderful care that Drew is receiving, it has been absolutely miraculous what they have done for our son. We have been looking at a lot of pictures of Drew's first month of life and they almost seem unreal. It is hard to believe that our little boy who now weighs over five and half pounds was once only one pound four ounces! When we think of the countless hours dedicated by nurses and doctors and the number of people who have cared or prayed for Drew, we are extremely humbled and grateful. We try to spend as much time as possible with our son, it is so much fun to play with him and watch him in his swing. Drew loves to eat and play, he gets fussy when he is awake in his crib and demands to either be held or placed in his swing:) We love him so much.

Getting Close

2008-02-27T23:26:00.000-08:00

We had to dress up Drew in his Jazz uniform for game day! He was wide awake when we got back to the hospital after the game. We like to think that he knows when we are coming:) Drew is doing so awesome with just about everything. He has become a fantastic little "big" eater. He gets a little mad after his feeding when the bottle is empty and we have to entertain him so that he will forget about his desires for more milk. Drew loves hanging out in his swing and in our arms, he is getting more and more bored with his crib and we just spoil him by picking him up every time he gets fussy. Drew's slow maturing eyes are pretty much the last challenge that he has to overcome before he can come home. Today his eye doctor decided that it would be best for Drew's eyes to have another week to mature before he can come home. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful doctors and nurses who work so hard to give Drew the best quality of life possible. It is miraculous what they do for these little babies, their love and care for our little boy will always be greatly appreciated. We are getting very excited and we can't believe that he could possibly be coming home next week! We are praying that his eyes will continue to get better and mature so that he can come home soon, but after all that Drew has been through we consider ourselves extremely blessed that he has done so well and we will happily wait as long as needed. We love Drew, he continues to bring our family so much joy.

Drew Says "GO JAZZ"

2008-02-19T22:15:00.000-08:00

We had a pretty fun day today. One of Drew's nurses gave Drew a Utah Jazz outfit from build a bear! We dressed him up for good luck and so that he could feel like he was at the Jazz game with us tonight. Daddy took a ton of pictures and he was so proud of his little all star but if Drew wants to play ball he is gonna have to learn from Mommy:) Drew is doing really well and he is doing a great job with his feedings and seems to be making slow but steady progress with his lungs. He will have another checkup tomorrow with the eye doctor to determine whether or not Drew will need a follow up laser treatment. Depending on the status of his eyes tomorrow and if everything goes right, we think that Drew could possibly be home as soon as the beginning of next week! We are praying that his eyes will show some significant improvement, but we also know that we need to be patient and allow Drew to have the best opportunity to grow and mature even if it means that he will need to stay at the hospital for a little while longer. He is getting to be so much fun and we enjoy every second that we get to be with our son.

Latest and Greatest

2008-02-17T18:01:00.000-08:00

Drew is doing really well. We weren't able to take very many pictures this past week because Drew's eyes were pretty sensitive and his lights were dimmed most of the time. So the past couple of days we have had a lot of fun taking lots of pictures and playing with him in his swing! Drew loves hanging out in his little swing with the music playing. He is doing a great job with his feedings and takes all of his bottles. He no longer has the feeding tube, and we think that he is getting close to coming home! He just needs his eyes to mature a little more and a few other things need to improve but he is doing awesome. We have been extremely blessed. Drew is such a little miracle and a gift to us from God. We are so grateful for all of the love and support that our family has received. We are getting pretty excited, we love Drew so so so much.

Back On Track

2008-02-10T23:49:00.000-08:00

Drew's laser therapy on Friday went very well. He had a pretty stressful day and had to go through a few changes that he didn't like at all. His feedings had to be stopped before the surgery and Drew had to be placed back on the ventilator because of the anesthetics that pretty much knocked him out. It was a long day for Drew and for us. Seeing him just lay there almost lifeless due to the anesthetics and back on the ventilator was a little hard for us. The laser therapy lasted around and hour and a half and the doctor told us that it went really well. We will learn more about the results from the treatment over the next couple of weeks. Drew took a while to wake up afterwards and he was pretty groggy when we left him for the night. When we came back on Saturday morning the nurse told us that Drew woke up around midnight and that he got frustrated with the endotracheal tube so he just pulled it out! Just like that he was off of the ventilator and back on the low flow nasal cannula! Drew makes us laugh, he is a determined little guy and there is no stopping him. Well last night Drew was back to normal and decided to take the entire bottle for the first time! He has taken whole bottles for nine out of the last eleven feeds!! It is hilarious to watch him wake up about fifteen minutes before feeding time and he starts screaming for his milk. We call Drew our little piggy because he kinda snorts when he first starts feeding and he goes crazy trying drink the whole thing at first. After about twenty minutes he finishes and usually falls asleep, but today he was wide awake for five hours and demanded that we hold the binky in his mouth and sing him songs. He pretty much is going to get his way with everything, we figure that he deserves whatever he wants:) Well if Drew keeps this up we are told that he will probably be home within the next few weeks and we will get to be real parents! That will be an awesome day, we are so blessed and we love our little guy so so much.

Loves His Bottle

2008-02-07T23:07:00.000-08:00

Drew wakes up every three hours and can't wait to start sucking on his bottle. Today he did so well taking his bottle, it was like a switch was turned on and suddenly Drew knew how to suck, swallow and breathe all at the same time. It has been amazing to watch him grow and learn. He is currently taking about half of his milk by bottle, which is awesome! On Wednesday Drew had his eyes examined. The eye doctor has diagnosed Drew with Retinopathy of Prematurity. Simply put it means that Drew is at risk for retinal detachment which can cause vision impairment or even blindness. It has been decided that tomorrow Drew will undergo laser therapy which we are praying will be the only treatment needed and that he won't have any long term difficulties with his eyes. Drew has had so many challenges and he has fought so hard to overcome them. We know that he will fight hard and overcome this challenge as well. Drew has been very blessed, he has also blessed so many of us who have been able to witness the miracle of his life. We just keep praying that Drew will be blessed with the strength and desire to overcome this most recent challenge and that his doctors will be inspired to perform well. We love Drew so very much, he is so precious and sweet.

In An Open Crib!

2008-02-04T23:54:00.000-08:00

Drew graduated from his isolette on Friday night to a "big boy" open crib! Mommy and Daddy were so happy to see their little guy all grown up just hangin out in his new crib. Drew has done remarkably well for a while, and we are thrilled with his progress. Drew now weighs three pounds five ounces. He is still learning to take a bottle which might turn out to be a long process but he should get it soon. Tonight he took about 6 milliliter's (which is his best yet) by bottle and then we were told that he got tired. Mommy and Daddy hold Drew every day and he absolutely loves the attention. His hair was all spiked on saturday and he was having so much fun showing off for the camera. Drew can be fiesty at times but he is so sweet that he just makes us smile and laugh. We keep praying that he will continue on his miraculous path so that we can bring him home some day.

Still Going Strong

2008-01-30T23:36:00.000-08:00

Drew has done so well and has grown so much. He now weighs close to three pounds two ounces. Drew has been tolerating lower settings on the high flow nasal cannula and seems to have tolerated his changes in medicines. Drew is no longer on pain medication and he will soon be off of hydrocortisone. Drew has been getting cuter and cuter everyday. Drew is getting very strong and his cry is so cute but getting pretty loud too. We love Drew so so much, we are very grateful for our sweet little "big" guy.

Big Boy!

2008-01-26T23:38:00.000-08:00

Drew is getting big! Well he seems big to us, he is just a few grams shy of three pounds! He is looking so cute and his personality is starting to really take form. Drew loves attention, he loves to squueze our fingers, he loves songs and loves to be talked to. He seems to get bored sometimes and he really doesn't like to be left alone. Drew recently started trying to bottle feed! The first attempt was pretty funny, he slowly swallowed four milliters and then fell asleep. It was so funny, he was exhausted. Learning to take a bottle might take a while, it is a lot for him to learn how to suck, breathe and swallow at the same time. We love watching him try new things even if he doesn't quite grasp the concept right away. We enjoy the process and the funny faces he makes when we introduce new things to him. This week we worked on doing some excercises with him, we gently pressed down on his shoulders, we moved his hips from side to side and we continue to do leg presses. Drew is so precious to us and we love taking part in his growth.

Doing Really Well

2008-01-23T23:55:00.000-08:00

Drew is doing really well on the high flow nasal cannula. He is getting bigger and stronger every day. We love holding him every day and we can't believe how much he has progressed in the past month. Drew loves his binky and he loved hangin out with his little teddy bear today. Mommy and Daddy are so grateful for Drew, we love him so much.

One More Step

2008-01-21T22:27:00.000-08:00

Today Drew was taken off of CPAP and placed on high flow nasal cannula! He is doing really well and seems a lot more comfortable. Today we were able to hold Drew for quite a while. He absolutely loves being the center of attention and we think that he was trying hard to smile and maybe even giggle a little today. Drew has grown and progressed so fast us but it almost doesn't seem real that we will have him home some day. We get excited just thinking about how wonderful it will be when he can come home, but for now we are enjoying the experience of watching our little guy grow stronger every day. We keep praying that he will continue to progress without any serious setbacks and so far God has granted Drew that blessing. We are very grateful for our son and we love him.

First Bath!

2008-01-19T17:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Drew got his first bath! Before he got wet they took out his nasal prongs and feeding tube, and they also took off all of his monitor leads. We finally got to see our precious little guy without any of the tubes or wires! He looked so cute and his facial expressions had us all laughing. He would squeeze his lips together and his mouth looked like a little cheerio. Drew loved hanging out in the warm water. He was trying hard to smile, it was the cutest thing and he absolutely melted our hearts. Drew did so well trying to breathe on his own, we held the flowing oxygen mask close by his face so that he could inhale the air that had a high concentration of oxygen. He had to work pretty hard to breathe but he did surprisingly well. Bathing him and holding him without the tubes was one of the greatest moments we have had with our son. For the first time we were able to interact with our son without any of the restraints from his life sustaining but restricting tubes. After all of the fun it was time to put the wires back on and put the feeding tube and nasal prongs back in. We weren't there when they put the nasal prongs back in but we heard that he threw a big fit:)Drew has a funny personality and he is not afraid to let you know when he is mad, unfortunately he needs those tubes to live (hopefully not too much longer). Drew is getting so strong and he is a testimony of the power of prayer. Today they were able to place him on straight CPAP. He is no longer requiring the assistance of high pressures and he doesn't need the occasional assisted breaths! We are very grateful to God for his progress. Drew has had wonderfully inspired doctors, nurses and specialists. Thank you to all who have prayed for our son, he is so precious and we love him more than we could ever describe.

Two Months!

2008-01-17T22:40:00.000-08:00

Drew had his two month birthday yesterday! He is 16 inches long and weighs two pounds nine ounces! We have grown so much with Drew, he has taught us many invaluable lessons. Drew has taught us to appreciate every moment of this precious life that God has given us. Our family will forever be changed from these experiences that we have had these past two months and we look forward to the joys that we will share with Drew in the future. He is doing well and we have been very blessed to witness his miraculous progress. We love him so so much.

Going Strong

2008-01-14T22:47:00.000-08:00

Drew is doing great! He is getting stronger and better every day. These past few days have been wonderful for us. After he was extubated last Thursday we got to hear Drew's cry for the first time! It was so so sweet to hear our son and although it would usually not be a pleasant sound his little cry was music to our ears. He is slowly getting stronger, they were able to lower some of the settings on his nasal IMV CPAP today. Drew is now on full feedings and he is digesting well, he almost weighs two pounds nine ounces. We are so pleased and grateful for his progress, we just keep praying that he will continue to grow and mature without any serious set backs. Drew has shown a lot personality recently and it looks like we are going to have our hands full with him. He has become very social and loves lots of attention. We love Drew more than we ever could have imagined.

One Big Step

2008-01-11T23:48:00.000-08:00

Drew is doing so well! We are very proud of our little guy. Drew has been off of the ventilator for 33 hours! Yesterday around 2:00 PM Drew had his endotracheal tube removed and was placed on nasal IMV CPAP. He is growing so strong, we pray that he will keep doing well without the full support of his ventilator. He has had his moments and has thrown a few fits but he calms down with his binky and a gentle but firm hand on his legs and head. Drew loves it when we sing and tell him stories. Today his eyes were wide open and he looked so cute. He is our little hero, we are so grateful for his strength.

First Outfit

2008-01-09T23:24:00.000-08:00

Drew is growing and getting stronger every day. Yesterday Drew got to wear his first little outfit! We couldn't believe how tiny the outfit was but it still looked huge on Drew! He looked so handsome in his little onseie and he had a wonderfully relaxing day yesterday. Today Drew did well again and he had his first eye checkup. It is great to see him growing and progressing. Mommy and Daddy get to hold Drew once a day every day! We love the time that we get to hold him and interact with him outside of his isolette. Drew is so sweet and we love him so so so much.

Baby Steps

2008-01-07T23:08:00.000-08:00

Drew has taken some big steps and some little baby steps recently. Yesterday was an eventful day for our little guy. He was given the chance to get off of the ventilator and he was placed on a high flow nasal cannula. Drew lasted for about an hour and after struggling to embrace the adjustment, it was decided to place him back on the ventilator which was a smooth transition to familiar territory for him. This was a little discouraging but at the same time we are thrilled that he is getting so close to taking that big step and getting off of the ventilator for good. Drew has made so much progress and we are extremely blessed to witness his strength and God's mercy. Drew has almost doubled in weight since the day he was born and his nutrition now all comes from breast milk which is fed to him through his OG tube that goes in through his mouth and down to his stomach. Today they were able to remove Drew's PICC line which was used as a long term intravenous access line through which he would receive his medications and some nutrition, he will now receive all of his nutrition and medication through is feeding tube! He is looking so good and Mommy and Daddy were able to hold him again today! This was Mommy's third time and Daddy's second time holding Drew. We love him and we are very grateful for the progress he is making every day.

Wonderful Day

2008-01-05T23:55:00.000-08:00

Drew is doing great! His feedings are going really well and he is even starting to get a little tummy! Today he was awake for a long time and it was so funny to see his little eyes scanning around the room. Drew still likes to throw a fit every once in a while but for most of the day he did great. Depending on how he does tonight, tomorrow might be a big day for Drew. They are thinking about trying to take out his breathing tube and placing him on CPAP, which would be a huge step for him. It is exciting to see that he is making progress and growing. We are praying that this attempt will go well and that he will have the strength to stay off of the ventilator. Drew is an inspiration to us all and we love him so much!

Getting Better Every Day

2008-01-03T23:44:00.000-08:00

Drew is a strong little guy. He is doing pretty well and we have enjoyed this nice stretch of good days. Drew is doing better with his feedings and he is tolerating some lower settings on his ventilator. He has almost doubled in weight since his birth and he looks really good! Drew's favorite night time story right now is "I Knew You Could" and his favorite songs that Mommy and Daddy sing to him are "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" by John Lennon and "Jesus Once Was a Little Child". It is amazing to see how well he responds when we sing and play with him, but he will also let us know when he is tired! Drew definitely recognizes Mommy's voice and tries to pop his eyes open when he hears her. We are so blessed to have him and very fortunate to spend time with him. His next big step will be to get off of the ventilator and breathe on CPAP. We know it will be challenging for him, but we have to believe that he can do it - even if it takes a few tries:) We love Drew so much!!!

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T22:42:00.000-08:00

Drew has a lot to look forward to this year. He is doing really well and we are so grateful for his progress. Today Mommy and Daddy got to hold him! This was Daddy's first time and Mommy's second. Drew loved every second that he got to cuddle with us, which lasted for about an hour and a half. We are praying that he will continue to grow and get stronger so that we can have more opportunities to hold our son. They have started feeding him Mommy's milk again and it doesn't look like he has an infection! We love Drew so so so much, he is so sweet.

Up and Down

2007-12-30T22:49:00.000-08:00

Over the past six weeks Drew has gained one pound! He now weighs two pounds four ounces! He had a wonderful christmas and last week started out looking really good. Drew was stable for most of the week and it looked as though Jenn was going to be able to hold him again, but on Friday Drew started showing some signs of a possible infection. He was becoming a little irritable and some of the blood tests weren't looking very good. He was also having a very difficult time digesting any milk, it would just sit in his stomach and not move through the digestive tract. Yesterday he had some more blood drawn and sent to be tested after which he was placed on antibiotics and his feedings were stopped. The tests usually take about two days for results but so far they have not come back positive with any infections. One possibility for Drew's change in behavior could be that he didn't respond well to the smaller doses of hydrocortisone, so they have increased his doses back to where they were previously. His feedings of milk will continue after they can figure out what the problem is with his digestive system - hopefully soon so that he can grow. Drew's lungs have stayed the same for the past week and we are praying that they will show some significant signs of improvement this week. He is so precious and it breaks our hearts to see him struggle through these challenges. We feel very blessed to have so much support and such wonderful nurses and doctors who all care for our son. We love our precious little guy and hopefully we can hold him this week!

Merry Christmas Drew

2007-12-25T09:04:00.001-08:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Drew is doing well and he is enjoying his first Christmas. Jenn's mom wrote a beautiful poem about our beautiful boy. "An early gift from God above was sent to us for all to love, our precious gift, our baby boy, has brought us love, faith, hope and joy." Merry Christmas to everyone, thank you all for your love we are very blessed and we love our little angel Drew!

Indescribable

2007-12-22T15:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a day that we will never forget. Jenn got to hold Drew for the first time! Mommy and Daddy got to sing and talk to Drew for almost 45 minutes while he cuddled on Mommy's chest. The feelings of love that we have for him are so strong and this experience forever changed us. Drew has an extremely powerful presence and we feel very blessed to have him. He is doing well and his lungs might take a while to fully mature but he is stable and oxygenating better every day. We can't wait until we can hold him again, we just love him so much.

Growing Stronger

2007-12-20T23:42:00.000-08:00

Drew had a nice peaceful day today. Other than the enema that helped him fill his diaper he didn't have to endure anything traumatic. His lungs are working so hard and trying to get stronger. He is oxygenating and ventilating pretty well, and because of that they were able to slightly lower some of the settings on his ventilator. We cherrish days like these, it is so much fun to play with his legs and hold his hands when he feels good like he did today. We pray that this will continue and hope that his lungs can mature quickly so that we can hold him soon!

First Try To Breathe

2007-12-19T22:53:00.000-08:00

Drew had an eventful day today. He started out doing extremely well and his lungs had even showed some pretty good signs of improvement, which gave the doctors some hope that maybe he could breathe without support from the ventilator (breathing machine). Drew has been on the ventilator since the day he was born and the doctors would like for Drew to get off of his ventilator as soon as possible. Drew had also outgrown his breathing tube and the nurse practioner as well as the physician decided that today would be a good opportunity to see if Drew can breathe without the ventilator. They took the breathing tube out of his trachea and placed him on the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) which forces air through small tubes that fit into Drews nostrils. Immediately Drew decided that he didn't really like the change and began having difficulty oxygenating well. They intubated him again with a larger endotracheal tube and placed Drew back on the ventilator. Through all of this Drew was kicking and swinging his arms, he is a little fighter but wasn't quite ready for the big change. It took a little while but Drew returned to his happy self and we spent the rest of the night taking pictures of him in his hat and booties that our nurse brought for him. Drew loves the camera and we love taking lots of pictures of him. We love Drew!!!

Wonderful Day

2007-12-19T00:18:00.000-08:00

We Received really good results today from the head ultra sound that they did yesterday! We were really excited to hear that the bleeding in Drew's left ventricle has subsided and that he is slowly breaking down the dead cells without complicating the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. The nurse practitioner explained that the bleeding Drew experienced early on shouldn't have any long term affects on his development. This was great news to us and we know that Drew has been extremely blessed. We are aware that he has many more hurdles and that he is at risk for complications due to his prematurity but we feel that Drew is doing well and we are grateful for his progress. His lungs are still very immature and it is going to require some time and patience for his lungs to improve. Drew has started on Mommy's milk again, they had stopped feeding him due to some motility difficulties but he seems to be digesting better now. We love Drew so so so much, he is our little miracle.

One Month!

2007-12-16T21:55:00.000-08:00

Drew is one month old today! We cannot believe how fast this past month has gone by. He now weighs 1 pound 13 ounces and is 13.75 inches long! In his first month of life Drew has had to miraculously overcome many challenges. In these beginning stages Drew has faced more trials than many of us will ever have to confront. Today at church we discussed the humble circumstances under which our Savior was born as well as the incomprehensible agony that he endured during his life. We can be assured that Jesus knows of Drew's difficulties and that somehow his atoning sacrifice has had a large affect on Drew's life. It is such a joy and a privilege to spend time with our little guy. Today was a good day. He is doing well and his lungs are even showing small signs of improvement! We were excited to be able to play with his legs and hold his hands again today. After we changed his diaper and took his temperature Drew decided to wake up and play. He was awake for about an hour and he loved pressing his little feet up against our hands. Drew has brought us so much joy and we are so grateful to have him in our family.

Getting Better

2007-12-15T23:50:00.000-08:00

Drew has been doing pretty well for the past two days. Yesterday his only problem aside from his lungs was that he wasn't urinating at all, but the nurse said that today he has been "wizzing like crazy!" We believe that he is overcoming the infections and that could be why he is doing a lot better. Drew looked really peaceful and happy today. We took some good pictures with him yesterday and today. We think he loves getting his picture taken, and we know that he loves it when Mommy and Daddy sing and read stories to him. His lungs seem to be doing a little better and we hope that they will continue to grow and strengthen. He has overcome so many challenges and we know that all of the prayers in his behalf have uplifted him and our family. Thank you so much to everyone for your support and mostly for your constant prayers. Drew is so blessed to have so many wonderful people who care so much about his well being, and we are so blessed to have Drew in our lives. He has taught us so many priceless lessons and has brought our family closer to one another and closer to God.

Hard Day

2007-12-13T23:13:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday Drew was doing pretty good. He was oxygenating pretty good and it seemed like he was getting over his infection. Yesterday started out pretty good but Drew had a difficult night. His lungs are not getting better and he was having a hard time oxygenating as well as ventilating out the co2 from his blood. Today was a tough day for Drew. He has a new infection and his lungs are really struggling. We are amazed at his toughness and strength, but he is in need of a lot right now. Drew is on a lot of antibiotics and they had to switch his ventilator (breathing machine) tonight because he was really struggling with the jet and drager ventilators. He is doing ok on his new ventilator the oscillator. We pray that his body and the antibiotics will quickly defeat these infections and that his lungs will do better on this ventilator. Despite these challenges Drew is fighting hard. He needs lots of prayers for his lungs. Thank you everyone for your prayers and love.

Getting Better

2007-12-10T23:41:00.000-08:00

Drew had a good day today! He did very well all day and it is apparent that the prayers and medicine are working. One of our nurses explained to us that he had done some tests on Drew that weren't scheduled until six hours later but he felt inspired to do them immediately. It turned out that the prompt treatment Drew received as a result of those tests saved Drew from some serious complications! It was a real testimony of the power of prayer as well as a confirmation that Heavenly Father is in complete control. Drew is starting to feel a lot better, he oxygenated very well today and his sense of humor is back! Drew loves to kick and play, Jenn and I spent 45 minutes tonight playing and talking to him while he was awake. It was so funny to hold our hands up against his little feet while he would push against them like doing leg presses. Each time we would pull our hands out he would start kicking and squirming so we quickly put our hands back in and he would start pushing against them again. He was also sucking pretty hard on his breathing and feeding tubes so we gave him his binky to suck on for a while. It really is the cutest thing to watch his little mouth suck on the binky while he has his hand holding it in place. Time goes by so fast when we are with Drew, we love every second we get to spend with him. We pray that he can have another well deserved good day tomorrow.

Roller Coaster Continues

2007-12-09T23:10:00.000-08:00

This was a rough weekend for Drew and for us. Drew confronted a variety of challenges but he is doing a lot better tonight. On Saturday morning Drew wasn't tolerating any of the routine cares and check ups. His lungs were not oxygenating very well, his lungs were not ventilating CO2 very well, he was dehydrated, his kidneys had some difficulties resulting in an increase of total body acid as well as lower urine output, his adrenals were not supplying a sufficient amount of hydrocortisone which plays a complex role in regulating normal body functions, his feedings of milk were stopped and all liquid in his gut was sucked out, and his TPN (nutrition fed intravenously) had to be replaced with sugar water. Drew has to be the toughest little guy in the world to fight through all of these challenges. All of these complications led the doctors to believe that Drew had contracted an infection. They took a few blood samples to be cultured and started him on two types of antibiotics last night. His blood cultures showed this morning that he has a bacterial infection and will need to stay on the antibiotics for around ten days. He is also on hydrocortisone and he is well hydrated again. Drew was put on a different ventilator (breathing machine) last night. The new machine is called the Bunnell life pulse high frequency "jet" ventilator, it works in tandem with the Drager ventilator and Drew is responding really well to his new ventilator. His lungs looked a lot better in the chest x-ray today and he is oxygenating as well as ventilating CO2 extremely well! We were so impressed with his recovery and we are so grateful for his desire to keep fighting. We know that he can feel the support from all of the prayers from his friends and family. We will find out this week if Drew will have any long term complications from the challenges he faced this weekend. We keep praying that Heavenly Father will bless him and help us to trust in his will. Our family continues to grow closer every day and for that we are very thankful for these experiences.

First Binky!

2007-12-07T23:27:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday Drew got to suck on his first binky! He absolutely loves it which is a good indicator that he should be able to eat without too much difficulty when the time comes to remove his feeding tube. The binky looks huge in the picture but it is the smallest little binky we have ever seen, it is so cute! Today we had a care conference which is a meeting with the neonatologist, physical therapist, speech therapist, case manager and a few other specialists. The conference was setup to clarify Drews status and progression. We learned a lot about the long road that lies ahead of Drew. His lungs remain the main area of concern as they have not progressed very much in the past week. The main complication in his lungs is a condition called atelectasis and the treatments they've given have not helped much. While his lungs remain the main area of difficulty he is still able to oxygenate well which is very good and we pray that his little lungs will mature quickly. Next week Drew will have another head ultra sound and we should know the full extent of the intra ventricular hemorrhaging (brain bleed) that drew had two weeks ago. The doctor seemed fairly confident that the hemorrhaging that Drew experienced was minor and will not have a long term affect on his development. Overall aside from his lungs Drew seems to be doing well, he is growing and now weighs one pound eleven ounces! He is so sweet and has received so much support from so many wonderful people. We love our little guy.

New Room

2007-12-05T23:03:00.000-08:00

Drew moved into a new room today. He now has a window view so that he can look out and see the world! His old room was placed next to the operating/delivery room where they admit new babies into the intensive care unit. Apparantly they are expecting a high number of preemies to be admitted into the intensive care unit and they need the beds that are closest to the operating/delivery room. Yesterday was a bitter sweet day for us and Drew. We found out the results on the most recent head ultra sound which showed that the bleeding in the left ventricle is gone and the bleeding in the right ventricle is breaking down and subsiding! It was a huge blessing to hear that wonderful news. The bitter part of the day was when Drews lungs took a step back and he required more oxygen from the ventilator in order to oxygenate his body. His chest x-rays showed his lungs getting progressively worse throughout the day. During the night they tweaked the settings on the machine and tried various techniques to better suction out his lungs. Thankfully he is doing better today and we think he is loving his new room with the window. He has a long way to go before he will be able to breathe on his own but we hope that he will progress from this moment forward. Tomorrow we will know about the results from the heart echo which will tell us if the medication (indocin) helped to close the artery near his heart. When that artery closes completely it should help with his circulation and overall oxygenation. We miss him every night when we have to leave the hospital but it is so wonderful to spend time with him and we are so blessed with amazing nurses and doctors who care so much about our sweet son. We love Drew!

Eyes Wide Open!

2007-12-03T22:15:00.000-08:00

Well maybe not wide open but Drew is trying so hard to get his precious little eyes open wide enough to see his Mommy and Daddy. We were so excited to be there today when he was awake so that we could look into our little guys eyes. He is still doing well and we are so grateful for these good days. The artery by his heart that should have closed at birth has re-opened which is causing some circulation problems. They started him on the same medication that they gave him earlier called indocin which should help to close that artery quickly. Drew's little lungs still have a lot of fluid in them and they are still very immature but we believe that they are getting better. We have been very blessed to spend a lot of time with him and he is looking better every day. We love our little Drew so so much!

16 Days

2007-12-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

A little over two weeks ago Drew joined our family and time has gone by so fast. He has gained five ounces since his birth and now weighs one pound nine ounces! Drew has been very stable for the past five days, and we keep praying that each day he will get better and better. His immature lungs remain one of his main complications. He has a hard time consistently maintaining his oxygen saturation levels where they should be and his little body can't circulate the fluid out of his lungs. We know he is fighting so hard and we pray that his lungs will mature quickly. We had a special moment today when Drew opened his right eye almost all the way! It was incredible to look into his eye as he gazed back at us. It was amazing to watch as he would try harder and harder to open his eyes while Jenn would keep encouraging him. The highlight of every day is when we are at the NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) spending time with our little guy. It is so hard to leave him at night but we are very comfortable with the nurses who take care of him. We have been blessed with wonderful nurses who care for Drew like he was their own and we are very grateful for them. We are very blessed and grateful for his progress, thank you everyone for your prayers.

On A Roll

2007-11-29T23:48:00.000-08:00

Drew had another fairly good day. He is kind of in cruise control and not regressing but not improving a whole lot either, but we are thrilled that he is doing well! He still has some difficulties with his lungs which we believe could take a while to mature. His tummy remains his favorite position and he was pretty calm all day. They have planned to do another possible head ultra sound on Monday to make sure everything is still going well. He loves when we hold his hands we think he has a big sense of humor because he likes to pee on the nurses! Tthank you all for everything, we keep praying that little Drew will continue to progress.

Drew Is Doing Well

2007-11-28T23:58:00.000-08:00

Another good day for our son! Today was a fairly uneventful day for Drew, he is stable and doing well. They did another heart echo to see whether or not the PDA (open artery that should close at birth) had closed off. The results show that it remains slightly open along with another area in his heart that is also supposed to be closed. They believe that these holes will close on their own and because they are not causing too much trouble they will wait to see what happens. His lungs are still full of fluid and there are still areas that show collapse on the x-rays, so they have been tweaking the settings on the ventilator to see how Drew reacts. The lab work that they did on his blood today also showed that he was having a little difficulty with ventilating the co2 out of his body and that he is having a hard time maintaining consistent levels of sodium. They believe that with a little fine tuning of his nutrition and ventilation (breathing machine settings) that he will find stability in these areas as well. So that is all that really happened today, the nurses said that boring days are good days! So we just hung out with our little guy and once again sang to him and held his hands before we said good night. Mommy made Daddy change two diapers today and each time it took Daddy forever! Thank you all again for everything, and most of all thank you Drew for coming into our lives! We love our special little guy.

Two In A Row!

2007-11-27T23:08:00.000-08:00

Two great days in a row! Drew is continuing to amaze us with his strength and desire to live. We know that he has felt uplifted by the countless prayers offered for him, and we would like to thank everyone again for all of the prayers and love. Sometimes in life we feel like we are being carried by angels, and these past twelve days have been amazingly peaceful for us. We realize that there is a long road ahead of us and we look forward to continuing to witness the power of the priesthood and prayer. Drew is still at risk for infections which cause setbacks and his lungs still need to mature quickly. One area of concern is the small risk of hydrocephalus (blocked circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid). This can occur due to blood clots from the intraventricular hemorrhages (brain bleeds) that Drew experienced. Hydrocephalus can cause the ventricles and other areas to swell and apply pressure to the brain, which we are praying that Drew doesn't have to encounter. The nurse practioner felt optimistic that Drew would break down the cells from the intraventricular hemorrhaging normally and that this wouldn't be an issue. Yesterday little drew started to get his first taste of real food...milk from Mommy! They start with only one CC of milk every twelve hours which is not very much but it helps to get his stomach working. Although he doesn't get to actually taste it due to him requiring a feeding tube, we think that he is excited to have something other than water in his stomach. He is still very funny and loves his new position on his tummy. He is developing some funny facial expressions which make us and the nurses laugh pretty hard. We love visiting him and singing to him while we touch his little hands. Drew brings us so much joy and we love our little boy.

Answer To Our Prayers

2007-11-26T22:56:00.001-08:00

Today we thank our Heavenly Father for a wonderful day with Drew. The nurses said that he has taken a step in the right direction and that Drew is the most stable that he has been for a while! We were told to celebrate because Drew is doing great in comparison to a couple of days ago. His Head ultra sound came back as stable which means that he hasn't had any further bleeding in the ventricles and that the previous bleeding is subsiding which we pray will break down without blocking the normal flow of spinal fluid. He is oxygenating really well today but his lungs are still full of fluid and they need to heal and mature quickly. While Drew still has many challenges yet to face we are remaining optimistic and confident that God is ultimately in control of the outcome of our son whatever that may be. We are extremely grateful to everyone for the prayers and fasting for little Drew and our family. We have felt uplifted through this experience and we know that your faith and prayers are carrying us, thank you all for your support and love. Drew loves to sleep on his stomach now just like his mommy and he loves to squeeze our fingers with his little hands. Today the radiologist was trying to do a kidney ultra sound and Drew kept kicking her hand! He is starting to develop a funny personality and he is trying so hard to open his little eyes. We love spending time with him, he radiates a powerful spirit that has inspired us to focus on the truly important things. Life is so precious and we are grateful that Heavenly Father has answered our prayers and allowed us to be with Drew for another wonderful day.

Sweet Boy

2007-11-25T23:00:00.000-08:00

Drew has such a sweet spirit. Upon entering his room we can feel his love and power. We love our sweet little guy so much and we thank him every day for the powerful influence that he has had on our lives. Yesterday was extremely difficult for Jenn and me. We received the results from fridays head ultra sound and it looks like drew has another intraventricular hemorrhage (brain bleed) now in his right ventricle. Also his little lungs are struggling to consistently oxygenate his body. They are full of fluid and are beginning to tear due to the pressure that they have to apply from his ventilator (breathing machine). Basically his lungs need to heal and mature quickly or the longterm result will not be favorable. We met with the Neonatologist last night and as she explained these complications Jenn and I just tried to hold back the tears. The doctor explained that we are at a point where he will either get better or complications will quickly get worse. She also told us to prepare ourselves to let little Drew go if he starts to rapidly regress. After the conversation with the doctor, our sweet nurse decided to lift the top off of Drews isolette so that Jenn and I could kiss and talk to our wonderful boy. We spent a long time with him last night talking and singing to him. His tiny hands reached for ours and he would squeeze our fingers! Then today when we went to see him he looked really good! He still has a lot of fluid in his lungs but his oxygen levels have improved and his heart rate and blood pressure look really good as well. They say that his status will remain day to day, but we are enjoying every second that we get to spend with Drew. We love him so much and he has already changed our lives forever, we know that God is ultimately in control of Drews outcome and we trust that our Heavenly Father will do what is best for Drew and our family. We are so grateful for Drews sweet spirit and the precious lessons he has taught us. He will always be our sweet Boy.

One Week Old

2007-11-23T22:49:00.000-08:00

Drew is one week old today! It is hard to believe that our little guy has already been with us for a whole week. Today was a really good day for us and him. He is oxygenating a lot better and his PDA (the area in the heart that didnt close at birth) is almost completely shut! He responded well to the medication that they gave him and the doctors believe that it will shut completely over time on its own. They did renal and head ultra sounds today. We should get the results from the head ultra sound tomorrow which will better show the full extent of the intraventricular hemorrhage (brain bleed). We are still praying very hard that the bleeding hasn't increased. Overall we were very happy today with his progress and we thank everyone who has prayed and fasted for his and our well being, we are very appreciative of your love and support. Mommy and Daddy got to hold little Drew for the first time while the nurse changed his bedding. It was an experience that we will never forget and a feeling came over us that is indescribable. We love our sweet son so so so much.

Thankful For Drew!

2007-11-22T17:07:00.001-08:00

Today was our first Thanksgiving with our son Drew. We took a picture with a steralized baseball next to his head today so that everyone could see his size in comparison. He had a rollercoaster day. At times he was doing a great job with his oxygen saturation levels but as soon as we thought he was improving his lungs would start to struggle again. They took a couple of chest x-rays to help see why he is experiencing such dramatic peaks and valleys. Each x-ray basically showed that a large portion of his lungs are either full of fluid or they are collapsed and are not able to oxygenate the blood. They are trying different ventilators (breathing machines) and are trying different positions to see if they can stabilize his lungs better. The one certain diagnosis is that his lungs are extremely under developed which is due to his prematurity. Tomorrow they have scheduled to take a heart echo (scan) as well as a head ultra sound. This will let us know if the PDA in his heart has closed off and the head ultra sound will give us a better understaning of the intraventriculr hemorrhage (brain bleed) that they noticed earlier this week. On this Thanksgiving we realize how blessed we are and we have so much to be thankful for. We are so grateful for our wonderful son Drew! We love him so so much and continue to pray for his well being.

What's new with Drew

2007-11-21T20:32:00.000-08:00

* Wednesday November 21, 2007. Drew had a good day today! We have learned to cherish days like these. He has been given the medicine to help close the opening in his heart. The medicine is given once every 12 hours and requires three doses. So far he is responding well to the first dose. His lungs are looking a little better but they still have a lot of fluid in them. They will do another head ultra sound on Friday to follow up on the intraventricular hemorrhage (brain bleed). We are praying for a favorable outcome and that the bleeding has not increased or started in any areas of the actual brain. We are constantly reminded that the Lord knows so much more than we do and we are learning that his ways are not always our ways. This has been a tremendous opportunity for our faith to grow.

We Love Our Son

2007-11-21T20:26:00.000-08:00

Drew is fighting through some difficult challenges. On Tuesday November 20, 2007 we were told that he has some new complications. His heart has a Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA), which basically means that an area of his heart that should have closed off after birth is still open. This is fairly common in premies and is treated by a medicine that they will start shortly. He also might have a Persistent Foramen Ovale (PFO), which is another area that didn't close off in the heart but should correct itself over time. The area of most concern is the brain. He had another head ultra sound today that indicated a minor grade 2 intra ventricular hemorrhage (brain bleed). The complications of this are not very serious, however there is concern that if this hemorrhage grows or appears outside of the ventricle that he might risk more serious complications. We are praying that God will bless our son and we thank everyone who is doing the same. We will know the full extent of the hemorrhage on Friday after another head ultra sound. We love Drew so much and we are extremely blessed to have this beautiful boy in our lives.

Still Fighting

2007-11-21T20:10:00.000-08:00

Monday November 19, 2007 was a little difficult for us and Drew. We were told that this will be a rollercoaster of emotions. He had a rough night and one of his lungs collapsed but it was corrected simply by turning him onto his side. The new worry is that his lungs are filling with fluid and they have given him some medication to help dry him out. He is still fighting hard.

Another Good Day

2007-11-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

November 18, 2007. Drew spent his first Sunday celebrating the news from the results of his first head ultra sound. The doctors say that to their surprise there isn't any bleeding in the brain! That is absolutely miraculous given his intense delivery and his extreme prematurity. Aside from a few imbalances in sodium and glucose, he is doing really well. Drew started his light therapy to remedy biliruben. Daddy helped change his diaper today! We love our little boy.

Doing Well

2007-11-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

On Saturday November 17, 2007 Drew was doing extremely well. He was fighting so hard and his heart and lungs looked great. They were still concerned that this might just be what they call a honeymoon period when newborn premies do exceptionally well for the first few days and then begin to experience complications. We are amazed at the ability that these doctors and nurses have to give these special little children a chance at life. We love our son and we are so blessed to have him in our lives. We were able to touch him today and he tried to grip Jenns finger with his tiny hand!

Little Miracle

2007-11-21T16:33:00.000-08:00

On Friday November 16th 2007, our little boy Drew James Towner came into the world. He is such a miracle. He came into our lives very unexpectedly. He was born 4 months (16 weeks) early and weighed one pound four ounces. He is so amazing and we have truely witnessed a miracle. He has an amazing spirit and is truely so close to the veil. We are getting a good education about the body and the way that it works. We learn new things about Drews brain, heart, and lungs daily. He is doing good and has a very strong spirit that is fighting very hard to stay with us. We've had a lot of good days and a few difficult days. Drew is so special to us so it is hard to hear any negtive news but we are all staying strong. We pray that Gods mercy will be poured out to our little boy. We know that he knows all and we are willing to accept his will.