Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Hospital Pictures

Hi! Here is a link to the hospital pictures. It's amazing how much she has changed in a week!

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Da Bath...

:-) Hannah's first sponge bath... no surprises...




Now she is clean...






Hey Kid! You're new around here, huh?

If you know what's good for you, you'll stay ON the towel...





Grapes!! MORE Grapes!!!


You! Over there!! Keep fanning me with the palm leaves...


101 uses for a baby swing...



Use #1

(like I was the ONLY one thinking that one... )




My new cousin Corey needed some help pulling for the right team!






Grandma/pa Newell, Grandma Bowers and Aunt Sherri




Hannah has many cousins, aunts and uncles...



Friday, April 18, 2008

Knockin' on wood...

Ok, we FULLY understand that this statement will be further clarified at a later date, but Praise the Lord... Hannah has had 2 straight nights with nothing but sleep and eat... no extra activities... We feel blessed by a good sleeper!


Hannah-CAM is up and working ON DEMAND - maybe later on schedule, but it will NOT be posted here... you can contact me or Kim via email if interested and we will let you know when we are planning to try and be up and broadcasting later... if I only had a sponsor... this could be profitable... hmm... HEY UNCLE ALLEN does P&G need a new baby on some of the labels? :-)...



Who IS that woman in the picture with my BABY!?

Just wanted to post now so that I wouldn't forget to do that... more to come...

Thursday, April 17, 2008

She'll be comin' 'round the mountain...

Well... we made it home with Hannah!


A strange series of events made our stay a little more difficult, but shorter. So, shorter is better... it's kinda the same thing you think about when you really, really have to go to the bathroom, and you're only about 20 miles from home, but you're passing a rest area... 'man, if I just deal with this pain right now and suffer, I'll be home sooner!'. Kinda...

So, on Monday morning, one of the nurses was looking at Hannah's hand and she didn't like the way the IV was making her hand curl... so she got another nurse to help while they re-taped the IV so that her hand wouldn't be in pain. Well, did I mention Hannah can bench press a truck? They couldn't hold her once the tape was off... so the IV pulled out. Have you ever seen someone trying to find a new born baby's veins to thread an IV? I have ... six times now, but I've never seen one performed successfully... poor Hannah, but daddy was there and she was calm for most of it... we discovered that she has thick skin, which will come in handy in the future...

So, once they discovered that they couldn't get the arm or leg they decided that they would try her head... I didn't object, but suggested that it didn't happen. Some say that I can be intimidating, but I did say please. ;-)

While we waited for them to figure out what needed to be done, we enjoyed Hannah for the first time without a wire hooked to her hands... she was using the IV lead kinda like a bolo (I think) where you sling this thing on a string in circles and take out your aggressor?! I think that's right.. Nip let me know... they are in those Karate movies we watch... that was nice... and she didn't hit herself either!


Then we got the news... we have decided not to put an IV back in Hannah, but will finish the necessary antibiotics via shots instead. Ok, sounds GREAT... there will be 3 series of shots with 3, 2 and 3 shots respectively. So 8 shots. Ouch! The final round will be given on Tues. around 11am and then they will want to monitor her for 24hrs and then discharge her. WOW! That's a day earlier than we expected to leave... That's great!

Well then Monday passed and Tuesday arrived... we discovered Hannah has a great vocal range during the first and second round of shots... the kinda stuff that makes your hair stand up on your neck... On Tuesday, when the Nurse Practitioner arrived, she mentioned something about the last series being around 2pm and then maybe we can be discharged.. Huh? 2pm is later, but discharged today? Ok... I didn't say anything to Kim at first because it was a maybe... and sometimes it's better not to get someone anxious, but I finally mentioned it to her when a nurse was talking about the next series being pushed back to 2pm.


And it happened... The last opera performance occurred between 1:30-2pm Tues. and then we began being discharged... The docs thought her progress was impeccable... clear xrays of the chest... this time I heard the word C L E A R...

Preparing for the journey...


I had noticed over the week that 'things' kept accumulating in our room... I shoved and pushed and crushed many bags to keep things out of the way, but it was overtaking us sure as can be. A few days back, I went to the house and cleaned up and changed some clothes out and while I was there, I grabbed a moving truck on wheels... our biggest piece of luggage... I told Kim and she thought aloud, why?, I have plenty of room in my suitcase still... Ha. I said, OK and brought it anyway... left it in the truck just "in case"...

"In case" occurred and I wish I had a picture... it was something like when Bill and Hillary left the white house... Anyway, there were several nurses that picked on us on the way out, but it was endurable... I was thankful that I had the big suitcase...




We stopped by Grandma and Grandpa Bowers' house on the way home so that they could visit with Hannah. Grandpa has been laid up in bed after foot surgery, so this was their first meeting. Hannah enjoyed laying on Grandpa's bed and trying to figure him out...

Hannah is enjoying her new home and had a tough night the first night home, but night number 2 was much better... daddy was bound and determined that the little rascal would stay awake more during the day time... and she did... we all slept very well through the night!!!

So, for now, that brings you more or less up to date...

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Something special... A little wrap up...

I do have a soft side...

All is well with the Bowers Family...

Thank you ALL so much for the prayers and love shown during this time of great joy and uncertainty. We hope to see you all very soon!

God Bless you all!

Stayed tuned...

:-)

While you were sleeping...

SO! Hannah's out of the NICU and is now her Pediatrics room! Kim, Hannah and myself are able to be in the same room now for the duration of her stay. Hannah will be receiving antibiotics until Wed/Thurs to help her fight an unseen infection that was occurring during the delivery.

The O2 levels have been fine for a few days now and she is off her IV too, so all they have to do in the new room is give the antibiotics every once in a while and monitor heart and respiratory rates. Life is much better. Dr. was supposed to come around this morning with an update during rounds, but so far, no doc - it's after lunch... maybe since it's Sunday, they will be later than normal.

Now, we have a few more pics.... we also have a Hannah Cam being set up on demand. I am going to try and setup something more accessible, but so far, I have only used Yahoo before, so if anyone has any good suggestions on how to setup a free webcam private broadcast, let me know...

INTERESTING sequence of events...

Before we came to the hospital, we were eating a final sandwich preparing for the hours ahead of us without food. I remembered from Kim's shower a couple weeks ago, she had a couple balloons from the decorations left over... It's a Boy and It's a Girl balloons... Very nice. Once the balloons made it home, the It's a Boy balloon fell to the floor and pretty much stayed there unless messed with. Just before we walked out the door, I wanted to document the balloons' status just for the record... here's what I found.

Neat huh? We didn't know the sex of the baby, but we both believed it to be a boy! Well... I guess I can be wrong now can't I... :-)

Hannah and Daddy spending some time after feeding...








The night went well. Basically, getting up occasionally to rock her back to sleep and to feed. We, of course are getting only a few hours total for the evening... I think I am fairing better than mama... This sleep schedule is similar to when I am on the road traveling, except I'm the one getting up every couple hours...

And here is Kim trying to get back a her perfectly innocent husband... I can't believe the behavior... Some people's children!?!?!

Wow! I even impressed myself... it REALLY looks like my finger is up my nose... Hannah is teaching her Daddy terrible things... and the NOISES she makes!!! Atrocious!
(This is Kim's fair shot after yesterday's post!)

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Did I say Pneumonia... ?

OK... I'm an engineer... sorry, that's just me... so, when I am told 'the Xrays are 100% better than yesterday's and there is no pneumonia' 100% means to me - done - fixed - completely reversed - finito! Ok, for medical folks, that just means it's much better... sorry for my misinterpretation. I got it, no need to explain, if you were only 10% of 100% total and you were 100% better, then you are only 20%... give be absolute positioning any day... relative will ALWAYS get you lost in reasoning... try to have a pizza delivered by giving them a relative house address... or have your mail delivered... sorry for the tangent... that's me.. Tangent Man!

The doc this morning says that our daughter walks and talks like a duck and therefore has pneumonia... not really sure what the aquatic reference is all about, but hey, I'm easy... ducks ARE cute! Doc says Xrays are 100% better than yesterday... ok... with this theory, 1 x 1/2 x 1/2 never reaches 0, so my mind is spinning, when do we reach the goal... huh?!?

All kidding aside for this paragraph... Hannah is being moved to Pediatrics today! Yeah! She will need to remain on antibiotics for 7 days total - means her discharge is tentative Thursday of this coming week. Kim gets to be with her 24/7 and we will have our own room ! Hannah will continue to be hooked up to the Nintendo machine for the duration. Why can't those things be wireless... everything else is... hmm?... my next project...

The doc also says Hannah has 'pink jaundice' and may need light therapy if it doesn't clear up.

OK... back to the humorosity...


This is Kim...


This is Kim while breast feeding Hannah...


:-) I couldn't resist the opportunity









This is Mike while Kim is breast feeding Hannah!
Notice his technique and the way he is latched on to the lid of that coffee cup!
We call this position the coffee cradle. It is similar to the cross cradle or football hold.
Neat huh?








Here is a picture of Hannah's digs while in NICU. She will be checking out today to check into her new suite!



Stay Tuned!!!
"I'm not gonna look in there, cause I, I say, I just might be in there...! "
Foghorn Leghorn
Yes, you can say it...

I ain't right....
For the latest pics....

Discharged...

Well, we are being discharged today! :-) :-( Hannah will be staying at least another day... (we'll know more in a little while...)

We have many more pics and videos posted here... I meant to have this up earlier, but it didn't happen... can't imagine why...

http://picasaweb.google.com/deepbluzx/HannahMarie?authkey=PtHqXB94PRM

So, Hannah continues to get better and she is eating well. She's had many visitors that came to see her, but only Mom and Dad are allowed in the room with her and there are no windows...

Now we are preparing to go and feed her, Kim's in the shower and loving that! I'm now on a quest for coffee.... coffee.... COFFEE!!!!

Friday, April 11, 2008

Hannah Marie

That was my fault - it's Hannah NOT Hanna...

Mike

Hannah Marie - Update

Hey All!

Hannah is doing wonderful! Off O2, Pneumonia Xray is totally clear and she's breathing without any assistance and has 100% blood O2 levels... receiving Antibiotics still for unknown/potential infections. What they believe was Pneumonia is instead most likely (TTN) transient tachypnea of the newborn. More info for you Type A's - http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/medical/lungs/ttn.html

Anyway... all is well ... Praise the Lord! More info later, gotta run - on a schedule now ya know!

Hannah Marie Bowers

Hannah Marie Bowers was born today April 10th at 7:26pm. Here are a few pics and a video (I hope) showing her in the NICU. She weighed 7lbs 13.5oz and is 21 inches.

Kim is fine - she had a fever during the delivery that seemed to indicate that there was an infection. Hannah picked it up and developed pneumonia and some resporitory issues. At first she had very poor tone - meaning that she was not moving well. They had decided to intubate her to help with the breathing, but she pulled the tube out, and was breathing on her own... they decided that she had no tone issues anymore and instead they put her on a CPAP machine which just keeps the O2 pressure up - she is stable and seems to be doing well.

I hope you enjoy the pics - there are many more, but it takes a while to upload, so check back from time to time so see the updates!










Monday, April 7, 2008

Ultrasound pics


Here are the ultrasound pictures we got last Wednesday. The first one is a profile shot. (Mike thinks it looks like 2 babies looking at each other!) The second one is the baby looking at you. He/she is lying on his/her left side. We had a hard time getting pictures because the baby had hands in front of the face most of the time. :)

Sunday, April 6, 2008

CVS Trip

I love CVS! Since there is no new baby news, let me tell you about my latest CVS trip. I paid $1.21 and got all of this....
...2 jumbo packs of diapers, 2 Johnson's baby wash, a Johnson's baby shampoo, and a bottle of Excedrin. I only paid $1.21 out of pocket and earned $11 in Extra Care Bucks as well as a $4 off $20 order coupon! This is so exciting!

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

More news.....

Today I went for an ultrasound so they could check the size of the baby since I was measuring larger than I should be. They think the baby is 7 lbs 11 oz and is in the 84th percentile in size. The technician said that the baby's belly is large and that's why it seems to be big! There are still no signs that the baby is ready to come, so we just continue to wait! :) I do have a couple of pictures of the baby, so I'll try to post those tomorrow....