We have to share this exciting news - Bennett drank from a bottle this afternoon!  He did a great job and the nurses will keep working with him to increase his stamina, but at this point we are more than thrilled that he has begun Operation: Bottle.  It will definitely be a journey to get to the point where he is drinking his full feeds from a bottle, but we are confident that with the Lord's help he will get there eventually.  Please see the photos for the afternoon's fun events.

Thank you for all your prayers - God continues to blow us away with His goodness and answered prayers.

Love,

Kelly, Travis & Bennett

Some great news to report from the NICU.  Bennett has finally breastfed!  Evidently he was just really showing signs that he wanted to try.  Now, it was only for a few minutes, but our nurse told Kelly that she has never seen an ECMO baby learn to nurse that quickly.  This is a really good sign, but what may even be a more important sign is that Bennett was able to maintain a good respiratory rate while he fed (in other words, he remembered to breath AND feed at the same time) and his sats held steady in the 90s (good oxygen levels).  In fact, his oxygen levels on the nasal cannula have been in the low 20s for most of the day (21 is room air, so the longer he can maintain lower settings, the stronger and more capable his lungs are).

Anyway, we wanted to share this praise with you.  It wasn't for long, but it's a very good sign that he was able to do it, and it shows that he may be able to learn to breastfeed or drink from the bottle a whole lot sooner than they had originally thought.  All of this means that he MAY be able to come home a "little sooner."   They've also reduced how many times he receives opium throughout the day, so we'll see how he responds to not having his "happy juice" on a regular basis!

Other than that, there's not a whole lot to report (which is a good thing!).  He continues to respond well to the physical therapy, and of course he still has his "Bennett minutes" every now and then which cause his oxygen settings to have to be turned up pretty high.  But overall, "our boy" is doing very, very well. 

We were laughing with Nurse Ashley last night about all the different ways the ECMO experience may be used against us one day.  Whenever we attempt to discipline him or say "no," we can just hear him saying, "mom and dad, remember, I had to go through ECMO...can I please have this?"  Or, "mom and dad, I'm not feeling well and think I'd like to stay home from school...I think it may have something to do with ECMO." 

Any more ideas of how Bennett could use this whole experience against his mom and dad??  I guess we better get ready.

If there are any more updates tonight we'll be sure to let you know.  Otherwise, we'll plan to post again tomorrow.  Thank you all for your love, your posts and comments, and for continuing to lift Bennett up to the Father in prayer.  Bennett sends his love to you all.   

Love,

Travis, Kelly, and Bennett    

Bennett has had a good day after having a good night last night, so we are very thankful for these blessings.  His milk feedings have continued to be increased, so he is tolerating the breast milk well and the doctors are looking for him to start gaining weight now that he has lost all the extra fluid that accumlated in his body during ECMO.  Please pray that Bennett will continue gaining weight.  Since breathing alone currently takes so much effort for him, he is burning most of his calories while breathing thus the doctors are adding some extra calories to the breast milk in hopes of "beefing" him up a bit.

Bennett had his first physical therapy session today and did very well (per the therapist).  Since he laid in one position for so long at the very beginning of his life, the therapist has told us exercises we can do to work different muscles in his legs, hips, arms, and neck; so we will start doing those when we catch Bennett during his "awake" moments.

Bennett's air-flow pressure setting is still at level 4 and we need that to come down to level 2 before we can start attempting bottle feeding, so we are currently just waiting on those sweet lungs to heal.  We cannot describe how much happier our baby boy is now that he is on the nasal cannulas - life is good!  Bennett practices sucking on his paci in preparation for Operation: Bottle.

We are about to head to the hospital for our night visit but just wanted to give a quick update on our angel boy and thank you SO MUCH for your continued prayers for Bennett's complete healing. 

Love,

Kelly, Travis & Bennett

(If Bennett continues to do well, then we will likely just be posting once a day - most likely at night or during the afternoon.  Thank you all for your love and support).

Well, after a very fussy night and morning (our apologies to nurse Kristen!), Bennett has had a pretty good day overall.  We think (and hope!) a lot of the "fussiness" was related to the withdrawal from all the sedation and pain medication he had to receive for the removal of the broviac in his chest yesterday.  They finally had to give Bennett some morphine this morning to calm him, but ever since then he has been much better.  Kelly had some good "holding time" with him earlier this afternoon.  He'd just lay in his crib and whimper and cry, but as soon as Kelly would pick him up he would immediately stop crying and just look around the room with those big blue eyes!  He absolutely LOVES being held by his mommy - especially over her shoulder.  Thankfully he was able to fall into a deeper sleep a little while ago and she was able to put him back in the crib without him noticing. 

So, overall, it was a good day with no major steps backward.  His oxygen levels have been in the 20s, and his airflow pressure level was also reduced from 5 to 4 (it was originally at 8).  This is all very good.  We don't like it when he has to go back on the pain or sedation medicines, but sometimes he just has to in order for him to be relaxed (and therefore rest his lungs so they can continue to heal). 

We're heading up to the hospital in a bit, so if there are any other updates then we'll be sure to let you know.  Our prayer requests remain the same as last night, so please see that post for the specifics to pray for.

Again, thank you all so much for continuing to bring Bennett before the Father in prayer.  We have so much to be thankful for.

Love,

Travis, Kelly, and Bennett

Happy Six Week Birthday to our precious baby boy!

Bennett had a good night and he is currently having the IV line (Broviac) in his chest removed by the surgeon, so this is a HUGE praise!  Please pray that he will remain free from any/all possible infections before, during, and after this procedure.

I am heading up to the hospital shortly, but just wanted to give a quick update on our boy.  Thank you for all your prayers, love, and encouragement.  We are forever grateful.

Also, please continue your prayers for Bennett's "roomates" around the NICU - Logan and Brandon, for their health, and for the strength of their parents.  Peter, on the other hand, is scheduled to go home today - Go Peter!!

Love,

Kelly, Travis & Bennett

Family and friends,

Bennett had a great day today.  He spent most of the day sleeping off the sedation from his Broviac IV removal, and then he awoke for some sweet time with mommy.  He was wide awake for about 30 minutes staring at me with those big beautiful blue eyes and taking in every word I spoke to him.  Travis also got to have some sweet "awake" time with Bennett tonight right before the nurse shift change at 7 pm. 

We are learning that Bennett has perfected the "fake" cry, so after wailing through his diaper changes he usually then continues with the "fake" cry until he is picked up and given a new viewpoint.  Now that all of his IVs are out, he loves being held up against our shoulders so that he can peek out at the world.  As long as he is being held, he is usually a pretty happy camper and we enjoy every second!

Bennett has come very far in one week - last Monday night he was still intubated on the ventilator, so we have SO MUCH to thank God for.  God has literally moved mountains in the life of Bennett Mitchell Speck and we want all glory to go to Him. 

Our prayer requests now going forward are:

 ~ Prayers that Bennett's lungs will continue to strengthen so that his resting respiratory rate lowers and he is less reliant on the pressure flow and oxygen support he is getting through the nasal cannula.

~ Prayers that Bennett will learn to "suck, swallow and breathe" once the doctors feel that his lungs are ready to begin breathing WHILE EATING from a bottle.  We have been told this could be a long process, especially for ECMO babies.

~ Prayers that Bennett's right diaphragm will heal completely.

~ Prayers that Bennett will be protected from any/all infection.

~ Prayers that all issues in Bennett's brain will be completely healed.

As Bennett continues to have good nights and days we will most likely be posting updates each night summarizing that day's events.  We cannot thank you enough for your prayers and support for our little fighter.  He is going to be amazed to one day learn how many cheerleaders he had cheering for him during his journey.

Love,

Kelly, Travis, and Bennett

Bennett had a great first night on the nasal cannula.  His air flow pressure started yesterday at level 8 and has already been weaned to level 5 this morning, so we are so thankful for this news.  He is requiring very little oxygen assistance as well, so praise God! 

Bennett had an IV line surgically put into his chest the night he came of ECMO and the doctors want to remove that IV line today or tomorrow, whenever the surgeon can do this.  We are so incredibly thankful that he will have one less line attached to his body.  This is a great step because the less needles that are in Bennett, the less chance of infection that exists.

We have a lot to be thankful for this Lord's day and will be singing songs of praise and thanksgiving with our angel boy all day today.

Love,
Kelly, Travis & Bennett

Good news to report from the NICU - Bennett is officially OFF of CPAP!  The staff made the decision this morning to place Bennett on the high flow nasal cannula, and so far he is doing well.  His latest blood gas was right where it should be, and they will be doing another one in a few hours.  This is a huge step forward respiratory-wise, so we are so thankful for this.  They are going to get another chest x-ray later tonight, and if the lungs look nice and black (or full of oxygen) then they will keep him on the nasal cannula.  If there is any sign of lung collapse (we are told this is a possibility because of how infected and weak his lungs were originally), then he will have to go back on CPAP (which is not unusual).  But to even have him come off of CPAP, even for a few hours, is a great step forward. 

He now looks more like a baby should look (not to mention a whole lot more peaceful and less annoyed!), so we'll plan to post some more pictures later this evening.  There are less tubes and no more "head gear" contraptions!  He remains pretty sedated, but they are only giving him what they think he needs to remain calm and nothing more.  So far, it's working well.

We hope to have some more "holding time" this afternoon, so we'll plan to post again later tonight.  One week ago today Bennett was intubated.  In just 7 days he has extubated, spent over 3 LONG days on CPAP, and is now on the cannula.  It's been a long and eventful, but great week for Bennett.  Please continue your prayers for his lungs, for the chest x-ray to show lots of BLACK (oxygen) in it, for his right diaphragm, for his neurological functions, and for his eventual transition to feeding from the bottle.

It's an absolutely beautiful fall day here in the nation's capital, but things are even more beautiful at bed 18 in the Georgetown NICU.

Love,

Travis, Kelly, and Bennett