Bennett is having another good day so far.  They have decided to take him OFF the nasual cannula later this evening and see how he does, so please be in prayer for his lungs and his overall performance on his own for the first time.  He is two months old today, and this will be the first time since he was born that he has not had any form of assistance to help him breathe.  It is a huge moment in the walk across this tightrope!  We can't wait to hold him WITHOUT a tube going in his nose!

The other main issue to be in prayer about is his ability to feed.  He's doing well, but he's also pretty sporadic at times in terms of how much he eats.  He really needs to become more consistent before he can come home, so please be in prayer for this.  The other requests continue to be for his lungs, his right diaphragm, for protection from infection, and his neurological functions.

Thank you all for your prayers and concern for Bennett.  He continues to do well, and we continue to be in awe of God's amazing healing power.

Love,

Travis, Kelly, and Bennett    

Hi everyone - just a quick note to let you know that Bennett is doing well and has had a good day overall.  They reduced the pressure on the nasul cannula down to .25 (it was .5), and he has responded very well to the lower setting.  He's very close to coming off the support entirely, but the staff remains cautious and is planning to move slowly.  He took his entire bottle in his last feeding, so we are so thankful for all of this.  It has been another good day in the NICU, so praise God!

Our prayer requests continue to be for his successful feedings, for his lungs to heal completely, for his neurological development and functions, for his right diaphragm, and for the protection from any and all infections.  As always, thank you for lifting Bennett up to the Father in prayer.  We'll plan to post tomorrow from the hospital.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Love,

Travis, Kelly, and Bennett

Bennett has had another good day, so we thank God for that.  Unfortunately each night from 12-3 am he finds himself quite unhappy and fussy, so he is giving the nurses a run for their money.  We are not sure if it is an upset stomach, reflux, morphine withdrawals, or good old collic......the doctors are trying to figure it out, so we may do an experiment soon and spend the night in the NICU one night just to see if there is anything we can do to help.  Bless his heart - we have been told that he gets himself so worked up that he usually then konks out for a good 5 -6 hours and then sleeps on and off throughout the day as a result.  What fun we will be having from 12-3 am once we get our boy home.....but believe it or not, we are actually looking very forward to it.

Bennett had another massage with mommy and Aunt Lorraine today and continues to enjoy this.  The infant developmental doctor came by to observe Bennett right after his massage, and she was quite happy with his ability to follow our faces and follow sounds up, down, to the left, and to the right of him.  She was also happy that he makes such strong eye contact and engages socially (even though he routinely gives us looks like we are completely crazy when we are talking to him and babbling on.....we look forward to the day when we get our first big smile from him!).  Tummy time is a big deal for babies, and thankfully Bennett loves being on his tummy and his neck is very strong - he happily looks ALL around to see what is going on inside and outside of his crib.  We will meet again with her in a few weeks, but until then we are extremely grateful that she is so pleased with his development thus far. 

When talking to a nurse today we were reminded that this final stretch of the NICU journey can be incredibly draining and/or frustrating......for the past several weeks, after God saved Bennett from the grip of death, things have been happening somewhat quickly with improvement after improvement occuring almost daily.  Now the days may start feeling like the same thing over and over with little improvements/changes occurring as we work towards the big D word - DISCHARGE day.  We are praying for patience and praying that God will continue His work in healing Bennett completely.  We received an encouragment card recently with these words from Max Lucado, so I wanted to share them as they have served as an inspiration to us:

No, we don't give up.

We look up.

We trust.  We believe.

And our optimism is not hollow.

Christ has proven worthy.

He has shown that He never fails.

That's what makes God, God.

Love,

Kelly, Travis & Bennett

We had another pleasant surprise today......Bennett was moved from level 1 on the nasal cannula to level 0.5!!!  God continues to be so good as He heals Bennett more and more each day - we are blown away by how amazing God is.  Bennett has responded very positively to the change, so he will most likely stay on 0.5 for a few days and then hopefully the respiratory support will be turned off......what a miraculous moment that will be.

Bennett had a good day today and his tummy issues seem to be improving, so thank you SO MUCH for all the prayers lifted up.  The doctors are treating Bennett for reflux as well, so hopefully he will only be more comfortable going forward.  Bennett got the RSV vaccine today which entailed a shot in each thigh - bless his heart.  We are told he gave nurse Amy a mean look before he broke out wailing and then proceeded to ignore her once he settled down....he is so expressive, sensitive and opinionated - I (Kelly) wonder where he got that from!?!?

Bennett is continuing to have physical therapy each day and we continue to work on his feedings.  His endurance to feed is building up slowly but surely, so we are extremely thankful for this and pray that he grows to handle all feeds.  Our other prayer requests right now are that Bennett would be protected from any/all infections looming in the hospital, that his paralyzed right diaphragm would heal and resume full activity, that his lungs would continue to heal and strengthen, and that his neurological challenges will be minimal.  We fully trust that God's will for Bennett's life is perfect and we can't wait to see what God has in store for our sweet boy.

Bennett got lots of snuggle time with mommy today and daddy tonight, so our hearts are full of thanksgiving.  Thank you for your prayers and cheers of encouragement along our tight-rope journey.....the light at the end of the tunnel is becoming more and more visable - praise be to God.

Love,

Kelly, Travis & Bennett

We had a pleasant surprise today - Bennett was moved down from level 2 to level 1 on his nasal cannula....praise be to God!!!  He tolerated the change wonderfully today, so we are incredibly thankful to God for the miraculous healing he continues to do in Bennett's lungs.  The doctors will watch his numbers for the next few days and then we might move to .5 before he is OFF the nasal cannula.  Since we have only ever seen our baby boy on the nasal cannula, CPAP, or intubated to receive breathing support, we are thrilled at the thought of him breathing on his own with no assistance.  God has truly moved mountains and we are forever grateful.  Bennett's lungs will continue to be healing from the damage that was done when they were initially so badly infected and we will still pray that his right diaphragm will heal so that he has more room for the right lung to expand; but for now we just can't stop thanking God for his mercy and healing.

Bennett's tummy continues to be upset and he vomitted a few times last night and today, so the doctors are working to get the right formula of "extra" calories.  They still feel like he needs these calories due to the extra effort it takes for him to breathe (especially while feeding), so we are trusting their judgement and praying that Bennett's tummy is more comfortable ASAP.  He did have a really great bottle feeding at 5 pm tonight, so we pray that the feedings continue to be good through the night tonight, tomorrow, and the rest of the week.  The more endurance he can build up towards taking each full feeding every 3 hours, the sooner we can take him home :).  He even had a sleepy breast-feeding session at 2 pm and enjoys his pacifier on and off throughout the day, so thankfully he definitely is getting lots of "sucking" practice.

Bennett is going to start getting his 2 month vaccines this week, so we hope these are not too irritating for him.  We have heard they can be pretty sore and possibly cause a fever after he has received the vaccines, so we are praying that he bounces back quickly.  We have also learned that Bennett is approved for the RSV vaccine (RSV is a virus that can be extremely harmful for preemies and babies with serious lung issues), thus he will be getting that vaccine as we head into the RSV season.  Since we were planning on locking him up in the little blue house all winter long, perhaps we will now allow some ventures to the outside world.......

So that's the latest and greatest for the angel boy.  We cannot express our full gratitude for all the prayers and acts of love and kindness being shown to us.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Love,
Kelly, Travis & Bennett

We are happy to report another good day for our angel boy.  His tummy was pretty upset last night and he gave nurse Ashley quite a time, but once he got to sleep (around 3 am), he basically slept all morning and into the afternoon, so Bennett and mommy had lots of snuggle time today.  He did take some good feeds from his bottle this afternoon and evening, so we were happy with that.  He had a bath with mommy and daddy tonight, got another massage, and then was sung to sleep by daddy, so over-all it was a great night and we just love being the parents of Bennett Mitchell.

More good news~ Bennett had a really good blood has this morning and did not require any oxygen assistance all day today!  We have been told if his blood gas on Thursday is good too, they are hoping to move down from level 2 to level 1 on the air-flow pressure of the nasal cannula....this would be huge!  Please pray that Bennett's lungs continue to strengthen, that he is protected from any/all infections, and that his blood gases will continue to be good.....we won't know what to do with our baby once he is not connected to his respiratory support!

The main other prayer requests are strength for Bennett as he continues to work up his endurance for his bottle feeds every three hours.  The doctors are working to figure out what type of "extra" calories that he can tolerate best to be added to his breast milk, and at this point they have all made his stomach pretty uncomfortable.  We are praying that he is free of discomfort VERY soon because after all the boy has been through, the last thing he needs to be dealing with is cramps and constipation (!).  His high blood pressure is being treated with medication, so we also ask for prayers that the medication will help to lower his blood pressure.  Once again, we have been told that babies who have been as sick as him tend to have high blood pressure and we are thankful that his heart and kidneys appear to be just fine, so that is a huge praise.

Bennett loves to look around and see what is going on around him - he is always looking over our shoulders to see who is walking by his crib, and he loves to stare up at the lights and ceiling to see what is going on up there.  Grammie and I were talking today about what it will be like when we get to walk out of the hospital with him and he will be able to look up and see the sky and trees, hear the birds, and feel the wind on his face - our curious baby is just going to love it and we look very forward to that day.  Thank you so very much for all your prayers and encouragement for Bennett along our journey towards that wonderful day.

Love,

Kelly, Travis & Bennett

We are happy to report another good day for Bennett - thank you Lord.  Bennett has continued to take his full feeds sporadically, so we are incredibly proud of our angel boy.  He does better taking his full feed from the nurses than he does with mommy and daddy - with us he tuckers out sooner and just wants to snuggle, so of course we give in!  I think he knows with the nurses they mean business, so he cooperates :).

Bennett is being given extra calories with the breast milk to compensate for the extra energy he expends to breathe, and unfortunately these extra calories have been upsetting his stomach with gas, constipation and some vomitting last night and today.  The doctors are going to monitor whether or not he still needs the extra calories since his breathing has drastically improved, so we are praying that a decision will be made that will ease up the strain on his belly.

Bennett got another massage today with mommy and Aunt Lorraine and he was loving life - he especially loved the head and face part of the massage......that put him right to sleep, and mommy was completely relaxed as well by just watching him doze off to sleep.

Bennett is next in line to be physically moved to "the Hilton" even though he is already classified as a Hilton habitant (Critical Care 2).  Since we have grown quite attached to several nurses in the Critical Care 1 nursery we are just fine staying there as long as we need to......they have been so good to us and we will be forever grateful for the amazing care, love, and kindness they have shown to Bennett and his family.

Bennett's roomies Logan and Brandon are both doing well following their surgeries, so we are so thankful for this.  Please continue to pray for them and their families - Brandon has been there since early July and Logan has been there since early August, so they have been experiencing the roller - coaster of the NICU for quite some time.

We are heading back to the hospital to see "our" boy, so we will update more later if we need to.  Thank you for your continued prayers and the amazing support you have given to us - we are humbled beyond words. 

Love,

Kelly, Travis & Bennett

Hello everyone, we're up at the hospital now and Bennett is sleeping soundly on his tummy.  He loves sleeping on that tummy.  He's on room air, his sats are great (in the 90s consistently), and his blood pressure is finally lower.  But what may be the best news to share is that he drank his entire feeding from the bottle for the first time last night and early this morning!  No wonder he's out like a light in his crib!  In fact, he slept so well after the first feeding that they didn't want to wake him to feed again early this morning, so they just gave the next two feedings through his feeding tube.  He drank his second complete feeding from the bottle this morning, and he's been out ever since.  His next feeding comes up in a couple of hours, so we'll see how that goes. 

Anyway, we just wanted to share this good news.  Who would have thought that we'd be so happy about our boy's feeding stats!!

The rest of the updates are pretty much the same as the ones in Kelly's post from last night.  Overall, he continues to do well and to improve.  Baby steps in the right direction.  We are so grateful.

Our love to you all, and we ask that you please continue your prayers for "our" precious little warrior.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Love,

Travis, Kelly, and Bennett