Timothy James

I was admitted to the hospital on Dec. 8th because my amniotic sac was leaking and I had begun to dilate. I was ordered to lie flat on my back until the baby came ( I was due April 2nd!). Well, on Dec. 17th my water broke at 7:15pm and Timothy James decided to come early. He was breech and already on his way out, so the doctor did an emergency C-section and at 10:20 pm he was delivered. He went straight to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and has been there ever since. Timothy was only 25 weeks along in his development (a "normal" pregnancy lasts 40 weeks) so he still has a lot of growing to do.

Timothy's condition in his right lung has gotten worse. It has been diagnosed as cystic BPD (brochopulmonary dysplasia). In this condition, some portion of the lung has been damaged by the ventilators and oxygen he has needed. The lung has become rigid and lost much of its elasticity. Because of this damage, his lung is not functioning as it should (inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide). He is not able to exhale the carbon dioxide efficiently so it is collecting in his lung.

Prayer:-that the lung would begin functioning correctly soon
-that as new lung tissue develops, it would help the elasticity of the lungs over time, so he will eventually be able to breathe on his own
-for the doctors to find just the right type of ventilator and settings to aide the situation without further damage

Weight: 3lbs. 1 oz.

Timothy remains fairly stable. He's still breathing with the help of a ventilator, but the doctor is gradually going down on his settings, making slight adjustments each day as he tolerates it. Since there's not a lot of new info today, I thought I'd bring some of you up to speed on the first few weeks of his life.

Since his birth 7 weeks ago, Timothy has been on lots of medications for various conditions (sedation, blood pressure, infection, & seizures to name just a few). He has also had numerous blood transfusions (over 15) and 3 surgeries. The surgeries all happened within the first 3 weeks of his tiny life.

Surgery #1 was performed to remove a section of his small intestine which had been damaged by some of the medications he was given early on. The surgeon cut the intestine, removed the damaged part, and then brought the 2 parts up through the abdominal wall out through the skin. This is called an ileostomy. The functioning section of intestine (stoma) empties into a little plastic bag attached to the skin. We lovingly refer to this as his "diaper bag" :). When he is more stable (several months from now) another surgery will be performed to reconnect the 2 parts of the bowel.

Surgery #2 was performed because of internal bleeding. They discovered when they went in that the source of the bleeding was his liver. They packed some special material around the liver to help stop the bleeding. The material eventually dissolves and is absorbed by the body.

Surgery #3 was performed because the liver had begun to bleed again.
The surgeon was able to stop the bleeding once again. Thankfully, it looks like the bleeding problem has been corrected, although, the liver has had difficulty recovering and functioning correctly. It is a regenerative organ, however,so over time it should mend.

The incision area is healing well and free from infection.

Well, that's all the update for today. Thanks for your continued prayers.

Prayer: -healing of the right lung
-continued development of the lungs
-create and maintain an acceptable level of platelets in his blood (these help in clotting, an important function so he doesn't bleed to death)
-health and strength for mommy & daddy :)

Weight: 3lbs. 3 oz.

Thank you to all of you who have been visiting the site to learn of Timothy's condition. We believe in the power of prayer and that prayer should be specific. You will see that some of our requests are continual and some change from day to day. We will try to keep you updated on his condition and ways we see God working. Your prayers are carrying him through and they are a great encouragement to us. Thank you.

Prayer: - healing of his right lung
- wisdom for his doctor as she makes decisions regarding his treatment

Weight: 3 lbs. 3 oz.

Timothy had a great day of rest today. He spends most of the day sleeping, which is good since this is the best time for his body to heal and develop. His right lung is a little overinflated right now so he spends a lot of time on his right side to try to help that situation.

Prayer:-continued lung development
-pain-free rest (as he is no longer on a continual sedative)

Just a note: I know many of you have asked about pictures and we are planning on getting some up by next week. Keep checking the Links column.

Weight: 3 lbs. 2 oz.

Timothy was resting very well tonight. For the past several weeks he has been on a lot of continual medications for blood pressure and sedation. He is now off all of these continual (IV) medications! He still receives nutrition intravenously as well as medication for his yeast infection but they are only given at intervals throughout the day.

He has also begun receiving breastmilk on a continual drip through a special tube that goes straight to his stomach. He receives 6cc's per hour which means that in a 24 hour period he receives 144 cc's which is equivalent to almost 5 ounces (30 cc's = 1 oz) .

Prayer: -continued stability without medications
-continued development of his lungs
-maintenace of acceptable platelet level in his blood

Weight: 3 lbs. 4 oz.

You may notice that Timothy's weight varies by several ounces from day to day. That is quite normal for his situation. Because he has been fighting an infection, he has some excess fluid that needs to be processed so some weight loss is ok and actually good!

Prayer: that his lungs would continue to heal and develop