Austin Ryan Surber on TV18

Austin Ryan Surber is now 1 year old!  And, he was featured on TV 18 news on 11/22/10.  See: http://www.wlfi.com/dpp/news/local/Comparison-of-care-at-new-Lafayette-hospitals2?ref=scroller&categoryId=20000&status=true   for details.

Happy Birthday, Austin!

Love,
Grandma Shelly

A Very Over Due Post.....

Hello everyone, I'm so sorry this is so overdue!!! There have been a few new accomplishments since the last post. Austin is now 5 pounds! He's been getting so big that they have stopped adding extra calories to his formula. He is a little over 17 inches and fills out his preemie jammies very well!! With his full head of hair and newly pudgy tummy he is just so cute!! He also has been moved out of his isolette and is in an open crib. This was a really important step for him to come home and he's been doing so well at keeping his temperature up. Austin has also started bottle feeding as well. He is currently doing 2 bottle feedings a day but will probably be doing more pretty soon. He is getting the hang of taking a bottle pretty well which is a big accomplishment for him. Right around now is when he would have just been developing the refelex in utero so he is actually utilizing it while the reflex is developing. In order for Austin to come home he needs to be taking a bottle for all of his feedings consistently so it's exciting that he's doing so well. When he very first started he only took about 2ml from the bottle. He now takes between 15 and 30 ml out of 43ml so he's getting the hang of it. He's also on 1 liter of oxygen right now. They want to wean him down to half a liter and then to a quarter before he's taken off of his cannula (turns our I've been spelling that wrong) for good. He's getting so big and doing so well that I don't think this will be too much of a problem. Hopefully Austin will be home by the end of February!! After all this time it's so exciting to think that he could be home in 4 weeks!!

Big Progress!!

As of January 8th Austin is 4 pounds now!! He is continuing to do well and his nurses are talking about trying an open crib soon and possibly trying bottle feeding soon as well!! He is just such a cool little kid, we're so excited he's doing so well!!

Still Doing Great!

Hi! I wanted to give everyone a quick update. Austin is still doing amazingly well. He's off of his CPAP entirely and is now just on the nasal kenula. He just looks so much more comfortable without the mask bothering his nose all the time. He also is continuing to keep his body temperature up on his own and is continuing to gain weight. As of January 6th he is at 3lbs 14oz so hopefully in the next day or two he will be 4 pounds. We're so thrilled that he's doing as well as he is! He's at the point now where his obstacles aren't so much medical but more so what he needs to accomplish in order to come home. He'll have time to learn what he needs to do, it's still going to be about another 7 or 8 weeks before he can come home. Hopefully those weeks pass as quickly as these first 6 weeks have. Ryan and I are getting excited to bring him home and are really looking forward to when that time gets closer!

Austin's Eye Exam

Austin’s eye exam went really well! The doctor said that as of right now there are no signs of any damage to his eyes. He will have another exam in about two weeks as a follow up since his eyes and blood vessels will be more mature. Even though today’s exam was not a final result it is an excellent sign that his eyes should be ok.

Austin is continuing to improve in other areas as well. His weight is up to 3lbs 10oz as of January 1st. The more weight he puts on the more he is able to keep his own body temperature up which is an important step towards being able to come home. Tonight the nurses switched the settings on his isolette so instead of regulating itself up or down based on Austin’s temperature it is kept at a constant setting. This will allow them to gradually lower the temperature down until he is at room temperature. Since he is able to keep his body temperature up they decided it was ok to try out little teeny tiny baby clothes!!! They are starting him with a onesie to see how he does with it before adding more on him. He looks SO cute with his tiny little onesie on!! Since Austin has been gaining weight he’s starting to fill out and he just looks so precious with clothes on! He even has teeny tiny chubby cheeks now! (They compliment his double chin well…) They are also slowly weaning him off of the CPAP. He was only on the kenula for 3 hours at a time just a few days ago but now he is up to six hours. So as of right now he is on the CPAP for six hours and then the kenula for six hours and he rotates them throughout the day. He does very well when he’s on the kenula which shows that his lungs are getting stronger. Because it’s not such a struggle for him to breathe like it used to be, his little body isn’t as exhausted anymore. He’s more alert and is able to open his eyes and look around more. It’s so cute to watch him look around trying to focus on everything!
Ryan and I were able to change his diaper today for the first time too. That was an interesting experience! Not to toot my own horn or anything but after years of babysitting in high school I feel pretty confident in my diaper changing abilities. The whole game is changed when you’re looking through a plastic lid with your arms stuck through portholes working from the side instead of at the feet. So Ryan and I teamed up and each took a side to make sure he could be handled delicately. I was in charge of lifting up his legs while Ryan was supposed to slide the diaper underneath him. As soon as I lifted up his legs, Austin let out a stream of solid waste directly onto Ryan’s hand! Oh man, it was absolutely hilarious! (Mostly because it didn’t happen to me!) Ryan got himself washed up and we finished changing his diaper together. Although even preemie poop smells too it was really nice to actually take care of him.