Welcome Home!

LIAM IS HOME!

Our little guy has shown us that he has the heart of a champion and was released to go home on Friday afternoon, a full three days ahead of what the doctors said would be a best case scenario of sometime Monday.


We had an idea Thursday night of how well Liam was doing when his nurse came in and informed us (with a smile) that she had just received orders from his doctors to “unplug” him from his IV’s. He was ahead of schedule on his prescribed feeding schedule, and was keeping everything down, so they also chose to discontinue the feeding regimen and allow him to commence an “on demand” schedule…and he became demanding (according to Casey), a very good thing. I never thought I’d be so happy over something as ‘normal’ as a hungry baby!

On Friday we were given the great news that, based on all his test results, Liam would probably be released as early as Sunday. The doctors evidently jumped the gun with that announcement; they didn’t have all his test results quite yet. When all the results were in they decided why delay the inevitable, let’s go ahead and discharge this healthy boy tomorrow!

Liam spent that night with his Mom and Dad in the Parents Room and not in the nursery…a long night according to Jeff and Casey who, I’m sure, listened to every breath he took. They were discharged Saturday, July 28th, and are now at their home in Chehalis, along with big sister Hailey, enjoying a whole lot less drama in their lives…and a healthy, happy, vibrant baby boy.

Thank you to all of you who have been such a support to our family over the past ten days. Your prayers have made the difference. I’ve been continually amazed at the numbers of people that we’ve never met before who have mentioned their knowledge of and prayers for Liam. This grandpa can never express to all of you how much I appreciate all of your love, concern and prayer for Liam…this is what life is all about. God is good, and so are His people.

I hope you can all meet our miracle boy someday soon.

With eternal gratitude to all of you,

Ron

--Once I get down to Centralia, I will get some updated photos of Liam for you.

Mas fotos

...for all those spanish speaking readers.

We finally get to hold Liam!!!

A couple more pictures

Continued Improvement

Liam continues to improve. As you'll see in the attached pictures, the
doctors have removed all the various IV lines and ports from his head and
hands and replaced them with one central line that runs from his right ankle
to his heart. That line will now be the sole means of delivering his IV
nourishment and drugs. They can also draw blood through this line for his
daily blood tests. He looks so much better now, especially with the IV no
longer in his forehead!

As of this morning, the doctors have chosen to start him on oral feedings.
His stomach x-rays indicate no apparent anomalies so he had his first 3
cc's. this morning...so far, so good. Casey said he "Hoovered" (as in
Hoover vacuum) it down...and it stayed down. The plan is to keep him on 3
cc's every three hours for twelve hours, then, providing all goes well,
increase his intake by 3 cc's every 12 hours until we get up to 50 cc's.

The medical staff presented their proposed course of treatment to Jeff and
Casey this morning which essentially keeps Liam in the hospital for another
week, if all goes well. They have been able to stay in a "Parents Room"
within the Intermediate Care nursery so they are not having to commute back
and forth between Tacoma and home every day. Let's pray the room remains
available to them for the duration.

We appreciate all of you; your continual prayers and your endless support.

Update from Papa Ron

Liam continues to make very slow progress but we’re grateful for any progress. The doctors have upgraded his condition and allowed him to be moved out of the NICU and into a mid level nursery. His organs appear to be functioning normally (as evidenced by “good” diapers) and he’s finally started to “cry like a baby”…hallelujah! His blood count is now within normal ranges and it appears that his body is producing the proper blood components on its own.

Our concern now is for his tummy: nothing is passing through his stomach and into his intestinal track. He remains on 100% IV nourishment but vomits mucus and any liquids that enter his stomach. The doctors have placed a suction tube into his stomach to eliminate the vomiting but won’t allow Casey to nurse him until normal function commences. He needs the nourishment that only his mommy can provide so please pray that his stomach heals sufficiently to allow him to eat. The doctors best guess is that his stomach is still recuperating from the traumatic blood loss and they expect it to heal without their intervention…just how long that will be remains a question.

We continue to celebrate the “baby steps” that Liam is making toward full and complete recovery and health, and appreciate all the prayers that have been offered for him. Please continue because they truly are “Priceless”.

Liam's day-two

Liam is looking much better today!