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      

Bennett had another good day and we thank God for that.  He had a good blood gas this morning and his air-flow pressure was reduced from level 3 to level 2, so we are thrilled about this.  Once the change was made it did not phase him at all, and he continued to go throughout the day requiring very little oxygen support.  These are huge leaps for our sweet baby boy whose lungs have been so incredibly sick.  The lungs are still healing and have a ways to go, but as he gains weight and grows new lung tissue to repair the damaged tissue, his lungs should only get stronger and stronger.

Bennett spent most of the day wide awake and enjoyed another mini-massage with mommy and Aunt Lorraine until a dirty diaper interrupted us.  He then spent 20-30 minutes lying wide awake in his crib looking at his new Rainforest animal mobile that plays Bach, Beethoven and Mozart music (he is already gaining an appreciation for the great classical musicians :)).  He had lots of snuggle time with mommy and practiced more bottle feeding, so overall it was a wonderful day.

We have been told that there is a strong chance that Bennett will physically be moved to "the Hilton" sometime soon, so we will keep you posted.  Since he was classified to Critical Care 2 this week, he is now considered stable and ready to start preparing to go home.  For him the biggest issue is consistent bottle feedings to ensure that he has the endurance to feed and continue to gain weight once he is home.  Since drinking from a bottle wears him out due to the effort it takes for him to breathe, suck, and swallow, we will patiently wait for his little body to build up the stamina needed.  We have been told that this will eventually happen, so please pray for Bennett as he trains for his "bottle feeding marathon". 

We found out today that Bennett's right diaphragm is definitely partially paralyzed, which confirms the doctors' suspicions that damage was done when the ECMO procedure took place.  They did an ultrasound to see how much activity the diaphragm was performing, and it was very little.  Over time it may recover and be active, or it may not - regardless, the doctors have told us that he should be able to compensate for it with his breathing as his lungs strengthen. 

We are looking forward to spending time with our angel boy this weekend and taking some more pictures - he is changing every day!  Today his hair was looking more and more red, so we may have a sweet carrot-top like Uncle Chris.  The nurses and doctors are all so happy to see how Bennett has progressed and are amazed at the strides he has taken in these 8 weeks.  We know that the strides taken are 100% because of God's power to save Bennett and heal Bennett.  Thank you to all who have prayed to God for Bennett's healing.

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Kelly, Travis & Bennett

We are home from a night with the prince.....he survived another bath given by mommy and daddy, he breast fed some more, and we had lots of snuggle time tonight.  Of course we had to leave him screaming with nurse Adele, but we have full confidence that she will calm him down and get him to sleep.  Nights from 10 pm -12 midnight are not exactly his finest moments, so we are already mentally preparing for these times once we get our sweet boy home.

Bennett had a special treat today - his great Aunt Lorraine is a massage therapist and came to show Kelly how to do infant massage on Bennett.  He absolutely loved it and was completely relaxed like jello the entire time.  Right after our massage session he had his PT/OT session and the therapist was thrilled with how "loosened up" Bennett was, so we hope to make his massage a daily event to help keep him "loose" and relaxed for his therapies.

Bennett has been having high blood pressure the past several weeks and has been put on some blood pressure medicine, so please pray that his blood pressure stabilizes.  We have been told by the nurses not to be too concerned considering his medical history, so we are hoping that everything is ok.  Tests have been done to make sure his kidneys are okay and at this point everything looks normal.  Please continue to pray for protection from any/all infection, for GOOD blood gases so that his air-flow pressure can continue to be weaned to zero, for complete healing of his lungs, brain, and right diaphragm, and for strength and endurance during his feedings.

Bennett brings such joy to us......even in our moments of complete exhaustion :).  When we look into those big blue eyes each day and night we know that he is a special little boy and we know that he is a gift from God.  We can't stop thanking God for the miraculous ways he has healed Bennett and we can't stop thanking each and every person who has prayed for healing on Bennett's behalf.  Thank you.

Love,

Kelly, Travis & Bennett

Bennett had another good day today, so we thank God for that.  Last night Travis and I tackled our first bath all by ourselves, and Bennett survived!  He probably didn't get scrubbed and rinsed as well as he gets when the nurses bathe him, but hopefully we will get better with time.  Travis got to bottle feed him after his bath, so that was some sweet time shared together.  Unfortunately Bennett later had a total melt-down and it took quite a while for daddy, then mommy, then nurse Rose, and then finally nurse Ashley to get the boy settled down.....when Bennett's not happy, NO ONE is happy.

Bennett continues to have physical therapy each day (of which he really enjoys!), and we continue to work on his feedings.  These are our main prayer requests right now as we look towards the hope of bringing him home with us once he is ready:  lungs, successful feedings (in terms of quantity and ability to breathe), his right diaphragm, and his neurological functions. 

As always, thank you all for your love and prayers for Bennett and for us.  All three of us have constantly needed them, and all three of us have constantly felt them from the very beginning.

If more updates become available tonight, we'll be sure to provide an update.  Otherwise, we'll plan to post again tomorrow.

Love,

Kelly, Travis, and Bennett

Bennett had a good day today!  He continues to work on feeding - both breast feeding and bottle feeding - and he now can drink about half of each his feedings from the bottle, so we are making baby steps towards drinking all his feedings from a bottle.  He continues to gain weight as well, so we are very thankful for this. 

Today Bennett spent most of the day receiving very little oxygen support, so this is a huge praise!  His air flow pressure setting is 3 right now, and the doctors are taking their time weaning that pressure to ensure his lungs are strong enough to do the work on their own.  We have been told that Bennett appears to be breathing slightly more comfortably without the large amount of effort that he was exerting early last week, so we are incredibly thankful for this.

Bennett may have a special x-ray done sometime this week to look at his right diaphragm to see exactly what activity is going on with that, so we will keep you posted.  He continues to be working with a physical therapist daily and she has been very positive about his response.  Since he spent 2-3 weeks lying flat on his back looking to his left while on ECMO, Bennett loves to arch his back when he is upset (or even just stretching) and looks left a lot.  We are working on bringing his shoulders in towards the fetal position and looking to the right as much as possible.  We also are working on loosening up the muscles in his hands since ECMO babies are known for keeping their hands tightened up in fists with their thumbs folded in......bless their hearts, that must be their best found coping mechanism.

Bennett's roomie Logan underwent surgery this afternoon and will be recovering from that tonight, so please be praying for him.  Both he and his family have already been through so much and our hearts are heavy for them today.

We are about to head to the hospital to see our angel boy, so we will update later if there are any changes, otherwise NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS and we praise God for that.

Love,

Kelly, Travis & Bennett