Christmas 2008

Things are still GREAT!!

Well..it's been awhile since this has been updated. It's been very busy...but it's all good. This summer, we spent some time down in Maryland/DC area for a conference that Pilar went to with some teachers from her school. It was a great time!

Then, we returned to NH...and Abbie's surgery was the following week. She did awesome!! Surgery on Friday, home on Sunday night, and couch bound for 3 days...and then, like a light switch...she was up! Really...not much complaining...other than the left over stickies from the tape holding the cath to her leg and the epidural to her back. Anytime mommy tries to take it off...the tears come and, "no tape" comes out of her mouth.

Now...we're just playing our hearts out! Trying to jam pack as much fun in as we can, before Pilar goes back to work! Andrew...well, he's decided to be a big boy all of a sudden. Rolled over and sitting up on his own, all in the same week! Thinks his sister is the funniest thing around...tonight, as we were going up the stairs to put Abbie to bed (yes, that is a bed, no more crib as of last week!)...he was watching her take each step...and CRACKED UP!!! Have no clue what was funny, but he and Abbie were busting a gut with each other.

Now, Abbie and the potty training...I think we missed our window...it's just been so busy. She definitely wants to do it...for example, yesterday, we changed her diaper, and 5 minutes later, it's off, she's holding it and informing Josh that she pooped. As he came in to check on her, she so nicely held out the diaper and peed on the hardwood. Ahhhh...Abigail. We love you!

Here are some pictures and hopefully a video....enjoy!!!

Things are GREAT!!

It has been a while since we have posted anything, becuase we are just having so much FUN!!! The weather is getting nicer, which means we LIVE OUTSIDE these days! Abbie keeps us running from swing to slide to sandbox, and Andrew is such a good sport about it. No complaining, just happy to be with his "Big Sista" (as Abbie would say). Andrew continues to thrive. He's got to be at least 11 pounds now...we're starting to put him in his 3-6 month clothes! He even started sleeping better at night! He goes about 7-8 hours now!!! Yea!!! Recent pictures are posted below! ENJOY!!

Another Day at Children's Hosptial - only this one was planned!

Hey all.

Thanks for your prayers today. We are home from Children's Hosptial at Dartmouth after a long but productive day. Abbie did awesome with the sedation. Watching her ‘fall to sleep’ was sort of overwhelming for me (they administered the sedatives while in my arms), but she did great with it – ensuring me that ‘I brave daddy.’ J The VCUG test confirmed that she continues to have grade 4 reflux in her left kidney – only now add to that - grade 2/3 reflux in her right kidney. The doctor seemed to indicate that the reflux on the right side was probably present on the last VCUG, but because of a 20% false negative rate, it did not appear.

Basically what this means is that because there has not been much progress to speak of in the past year, it is unlikely that she will grow out of the condition. Thus, she is now a surgical candidate. We feel good about this determination. Certainly no one desires for their child to endure all that surgery involves, but we have a great deal of confidence in our surgeon and the procedure. Abbie will most likely be scheduled for the surgery in July. Since school will be out of session, this timeframe will allow Pilar the flexibility to be home with her in the days that follow the surgery. We are told that the she will have about a two night hospital stay and approximately a one week recovery at home. If you know Ron and Amy Richards, their daughter Becca had the same procedure and we’ve had the joy and comfort of watching her heal. It has helped us know what to expect and feel a certain confidence about everything.

So that’s the latest on Abbie. Now on to Andrew. He also had a VCUG today to rule out any hereditary traces of reflux. His test came back perfectly normal – no kidney reflux to speak of! SWEET! Finally a victory for our little man!

Thanks again for all of your prayers. We are tired tonight, but hopeful!

Happy Easter

It's been a beautiful Easter...we hope you all enjoyed this wonderful day as much as we did. It was quite for us...just the four of us. We were able to go on an Easter walk...the sun was shining, but it was chilly! All is well and we continue to stay healthy and grow! This week is a big week for our family. We have some big appointments up at Dartmouth Hitchock in Lebanon. Abbie and Andrew have VCUGs scheduled. Abbie's will most likely tell us if and when she will need surgery. Andrew's will tell us if he has the same condition as Abbie. We're praying he was spared...he's been through enough! We'll let you know how it goes. Enjoy the pictures...posted below.

Home, again!!

Well, after another 2 week stay in the hospital, the Peigh family is home together again. For those of you who may not be aware, Andrew developed RSV and pneumonia on Feb 24. Back to the hospital we went...with another ventilator tube placed. We were transported to Boston Children's and called it home until Monday the 3rd. Then, we were transferred back up to Elliot to the Pediatric floor until he was good enough to come home. That was Thursday night!! All is well, and we are so thrilled to be together again. Grandma and Grandpa Romsos flew out to help with Abbie...who has been so patient through all the chaos.

We will post pictures soon...just wanted to thank everyone for the prayers, love, and support. Prayers have been answered!!!

Media Added below

Scroll down for new media! Video and Pictures!

New Slide Show

Many of you have been anxious for new pictures. If you will scroll down to the bottom of the page, we have posted a new slide show with pictures from as recent as tonight and going back a few days before we left the Elliot NICU. Andrew is amazing, changing everyday! I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Home...Enough Said!

Well after 14 days in the Elliot NICU, we are now officially home! Andrew is lathered in kisses from his big sister and soundly sleeping in his own crib. We are ecstatic! Thank you for your many prayers and loving support. You are very dear to our family!

Blessings,
The Peigh Family
Josh, Pilar, Abigail and Andrew

Heading home...soon!

So I am thrilled to share with you that tonight we are doing our "sleep in" as a family here at the NICU in hopes that we will be discharged tomorrow morning! Andrew will head home free and clear of all respiratory support! He has been breathing steadily and comfortably on his own for about 48 hours so far! The doctor is very encouraged and feels we are ready to head home! We are very very excited about this! We are really looking forward to life outside the NICU and having our family under one roof together!

2/2 Update

More good news from the Elliot NICU. Andrew continues to do very well, or as the docs say here..."fly." Yesterday was a monumental day...Andrew was completely removed from oxygen. He is now breathing entirely on his own! One amazing benefit from this is that he no longer has anything attached to his face...he is free and clear showing off his little boy face! I'll try and post some pictures later today if I am able to get to an internet connection that will allow me to upload photos (the hospital blocks such functions).

We have not yet spoken with the doctor this morning, but we are hopeful that we'll be heading home in the next couple of days...we'll wait and see - you'll know just as soon as we do!

1/30 Update: Good News!

Good news to report from today! Andrew received a new bed - he is now in a big boy crib!!! Dr. Franzek is very pleased with his progress and has reduced his oxygen flow (what comes through the canula) from 1.5 liters to 1.0 liters and will continue to decrease as he tolerates. Right now...he's doing fine on 1.0 liters.

His feeds have also been increased to 2 ounces! This means we are getting much closer to discontinuing his IV fluids. They have been doing blood sugar level checks throughout the day, and so far each one has come back in great shape. We are hopeful that if one more comes back positive, there is a good possiblity that his PIC line will probably come out tonight!!! We shall wait and see!

1/29 Update

So today makes one week in the NICU. It amazes us that a week has come and gone. It still feels like we've been her only a matter of hours. Time really has no boundaries here. Some times a day goes incredibly fast and then other moments seem only to crawl by...

Andrew had a pretty good day today. His breathing has slowed down considerably and his oxygen levels are doing well. We are hopeful that he will continue to make progress in this way. We're learning to not make too many predictions from one day to the next, but these are positive trends nonetheless.

We will see what tomorrow brings! We continue to thank God for your faithfulness in prayer!

1/28 Update

Tired tonight. More tired than most nights actually, but it was another good day! Andrew had a rested well throughout the day and had a string of successful feeds with Pilar again. He is off of the photo-therapy, and with it one additional sensor came off today as well (that means one less cord running through the isolette). Everyday he is looking more and more like a little boy and less and less like a patient. The doctor has decided not to reduce any of his oxygen levels/therapy today. She would like to see him adjust fully and maintain before encouraging any additional progress. We continue to be advised that the road before us may be a couple more weeks long, but all in all, we are encouraged.

In addition, we were finally able to take a family picture. Abbie was very cute with Andrew this afternoon, full of hugs and kisses!

NEW SLIDE SHOW ADDED...so for your viewing pleasure, I've uploaded some additional photos from the past two days...just scroll down and click the slide show below...

A New Day!

Well, what a difference a day can make. As I updated yesterday, Andrew was transitioned off of the ventilator yesterday and onto a cpap. However, by around 10:30 pm it was evident that he was not too happy about this transition. For a few hours he really worked against the cpap and tried more than once to pull it out! (Strong boy!). It was necessary for him to stay on it, despite his efforts otherwise. Nonetheless, early this morning the doctor felt the support it would provide, it had provided enough, and he has now been transitioned to a 'two pronged cannelure' (this is the oxygen line that runs into your nose that most of us are most familiar with - the kind of thing you often see in public when someone requires additional oxygen support). Anyway, this is another great step and important benchmark. So far he seems to be taking to the cannelure well.

In addition to that, the doctor decided it was time to see how well Andrew would feed on his own. So around 11:00 am this morning, Pilar was able to provide his feeding. He did GREAT! Again, this is another very important benchmark. He will need to have a well coordinated suck/swallow without any respiratory distress before we can begin thinking about home. On the first try though, he ate well and maintained pretty good breathing patterns all the while. His breathing definitely remains too fast, but it was a thrill to see that he could handle feeding with Pilar. So it looks like that will be the new pattern! While he was out of the isolete, I was able to spend some snuggle time with him as well. He is very warm and cuddly! Thanks so much for many heartfelt prayers and hope filled support!

A little progress...

We do have some progress to report from today! Andrew started the day same as the past few, on the ventilator but trending in positive directions. About mid morning the doctor decided to remove the ventilator and put Andrew on a ‘C-pap.’ This support is similar to the vent in that it provides necessary oxygen to Andrews lungs, but it is administered via the nose and throat instead of the mouth and throat. The meaningful difference between the two is that where the vent was providing much of the pressure to Andrews lungs, now he is doing the pressurizing on his own and the C-pap provides the oxygen. This is a good benchmark to cross. Because Andrew is off of the vent, he is also able to be held a couple times a day as well! Pilar got some ‘kangaroo’ time today as a result! In addition to all of this, his bed has changed. He is now in an ‘isolette’ – or what most of us would call an incubator. It’s a more stable home for him for the next several benchmarks – it will also allow them to administer some photo-therapy to reduce some jaundice that flared up this afternoon. So today brought some new changes but certainly some great progress!

On the home front, Pilar was officially discharged from the hospital yesterday evening. So we slept at home for the first time last night. Leaving the hospital without Andrew was probably the most difficult thing we have ever had to do. Honestly, it was an awful feeling. But after a good nights rest and some positive progress today, we are regaining some focus and perspective. We are also beginning to formulate some plans on how to make sure Abbie gets some much needed attention from Pilar and me. Today we started the day at the breakfast table with her and came home in time to have dinner with her and to share in her bath/bed time routine before heading back to the hospital to finish the night out with Andrew. I can see this is going to be the most challenging aspect of the next couple of weeks. Our hearts and love are in two places – and we don’t want to miss any activity in either place. We will continue to evaluate what works best and make decisions from there.

Love you all a ton and appreciate your continued prayers and support!

1/24 Update

Hello all. Just wanted to post a quick update. Andrew remains about the same, continuing on the ventilator and making slow gains on his breathing patterns. Last night they entered a 'pic' line for future iv fluids and nutrition. This line follows a vein in his arm to a larger vein in his chest which will allow them to introduce more concentrated nutrients for a longer period of time. A pic line is good for about three weeks or so versus a normal iv line which has to be relocated about every three days.

Pilar had a more difficult day yesterday. About mid morning she developed a very severe spinal headache, a residual of the spinal block from the c-section. This resulted in an Anesthesiologist performing a 'blood patch' - similar to an epidural, which balances the spinal fluids and relieves the headache. Good news is today she is back up on her feet and seems to be feeling remarkably better. We are told, that should be the end of that problem.

So all this to say, we are well, doing our best to keep things in their proper perspective and hopeful that Andrew will continue to make gains throughout the weekend.

More as it develops. Love you all.

Pictures of Andrew

Hey all! Just wanted to let you know, we finally have some pictures of our new little guy up on the site. If you scroll down the bottom, you'll find a slide show of several pictures that we have taken over the past few days. Enjoy!

Arrival...

We wanted to update you regarding the birth of our little boy, Andrew Christopher Peigh!

Andrew was born at CMC hospital in Manchester on January 22nd at 1:06AM (6lbs. 12oz; 18.5 inches). Pilar is doing well and recovering after the c-section, but Andrew encountered some complications at delivery. Because he came three weeks premature, his lungs are not fully developed. For this reason, we were transferred to the NICU at Elliot Hospital. Pilar was transferred shortly there after as well. Andrew is receiving ventilated breathing support and treatments for his lungs. With some time he will be able to breath on his own. It really is just a matter of time, but the timeline is uncertain. For now everyone is well - it's been a long couple of days with some emotional moments, but Andrew is so incredible, with a head of hair, good color and plenty of personality! We love you and will keep you posted with updates they develop.

How about a picture? If I am able to run home at some point, I'll upload a picture to the site so that you can see how cute this little guy just is! So check back often for an update!

The Baby is COMING!!

Hey all. Well, things are pretty interesting here at the Catholic Medical Center. Pilar and I came in today at 2:00 for what we thought would be hydration after she came down with the flu, and well, we’re going home with a baby! Pilar has labored well and consistently all night long. Moments ago our doctor said we’d be heading toward the O.R. sometime after midnight! Baby Peigh #2 is definitely on the way now! The most unbelievable piece of this whole thing is that tomorrow, January 22nd, IS ABBIE’S BIRTHDAY!! So it appears we now have twins…officially two years apart! Wow!!

I will keep you posted as more develops – and of course whether we are welcoming a baby boy or baby girl into our family!

Love you all!

Crazy Week

So it's been a crazy week around the house. Work schedules are nutty and Abbie took ill last night...a stomach bug that had us up all night long...yuck!!

I guess this is practice - getting us back in shape for the all-nighters of days gone past. We were fortunate with Abbie that she started sleeping through the night at about six weeks old (don't hate us, please...). Who knows what this child's sleeping habits will be. We fully expect to get our fair share this time around, but you can always hope! Right?

Go ahead and buy the card!

So for those of you who have been contributing to the poll question, "When do you predict Baby 2 will be born?" - if you voted "before due date," you are officially correct!

Don't worry, Pilar has not gone into labor just yet! During an OB visit last Thursday, our doctor highly recommended that we plan for a scheduled c-section. So after a quick look at the calendar, it was decided that Baby Peigh #2 will join our world on February 6th, 2008. Well, that is Baby Peigh #2 will not enter our world any later than that date!

So the poll question has changed - "Do you predict Baby Peigh #2 will be born on or before February 6th, 2008?

Vote now! - according to my calculations, you only have 23 days left!!!!