5/31 6pm

What a boy. I stole Ashton from mom while she prepped to give him his second full breast meal today. It is always amazing to just hold him.

At 11a and now at 530pm he is eating 100% from mom. A great step forward. Between meals he shows signs of being hungry which is very important.

After almost 48 hours of no A's&B's he has had two today. The seven day clock starts over every time. So, I can safely say we will still be here next Sunday.

today his yaiyai Michelle got to hold him for the first time, which I think made them both smile (and maybe one of them cry...)

I spent the day trying to finish what seems like the longest painting project in history. A few more hours and I can call that project complete and can help finish organizing Ashton's world in prep for his homecoming.

Overall things are well.

We'll talk with the NP in the morning to figure out the next steps to development and what he may need next, hopefully at that point we will have a better idea of time frame. Living at the hospital is being tough on us all. Some time this week we will start him on a bottle between Amie's feedings. Hopefully we can do away with the tube feedings within a few days.

Amie's very tentative plan is to work this week; saving her leave time for when Ashton comes home, although dependent upon his feeding schedule it may make more sense for her to reside in the NICU with Ashton. He begins each meal 3 hours apart and takes 30-45 minutes to eat which doesn't leave much time for non-eating. We'll see....

Sunday night finds Amie and I at the opening night of Red Butte Gardens summer concert series w/ Neko Case performing. Next summer expect to see Ashton dancing in the aisles at the Red Butte shows.

I hope you have all had a great weekend. Thanks for reading and being interested and concerned about our little boy. I can't wait for you to meet him.

Z
Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/30 6pm

Ashton continues to do well. No A's&B's all day! Is eating well and looks great.

We got here about 5pm and he woke up and started to smile at us and make all sorts of very funny faces. They had him in a blue hat that looked very cute. This kid is super mellow, expressive and cute as can be! I know, I am biased, but really I know you will agree once you meet him!

Prefeeding weight 1994 grams, post feeding weight 1998 grams. 4grams = roughly 10% of his meal, so this one only counts as an appetizer.

He is slightly over 2oz below birth weight and gaining about one ounce each day.

He was very happy to meet his aunt Peggy and uncle Scott this afternoon. (And I think they liked him too.

We're taking the rest of the night off, more tomorrow

Z
Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/30 1230pm

A beautiful saturday.

Ashton is doing well. Pre-eating weight (with all tubes, diaper etc) =1990 grams, post feeding = 1996 , a gain of6 Grams or an estimated 1/2 of a normal feeding.

Bilirubin to 8 ish, down from 11.1 yesterday. Phototherapy suspended hopefully forever.

He is very awake this morning and was happy to see his new friends Katie and Dave. I really think he is smiling at us even though 'they' say babies don't smile.... I will put some new pics on the website later.
Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/29 530 pm

All you can eat sushi scares me, all the breast milk a baby can consume is a good thing!

Ashton had probably 2x his standard food quantity this afternoon direct from mom. He just kept eating and eating. They say one of the hardest skills for these kids to acquire is breathing, sucking and swallowing at the same time and in rhythm. It appears at 6 days, 22 hours old our little man figured it out. Of course, he now slept all afternoon in a "food coma" but everyone is celebrating this huge milestone. At 3pm he had a slightly smaller meal, as he was still full from lunch. We'll see what he does at 6:00.

Since 7am two A's&B's which they still assure me is normal and that he will grow out of it. The good news in terms of development time "growing out of". Could mean hours or days as they are still developing so fast at 34 weeks (out of the typical 40 week pregnancy).

Bilirubin was 11.1 at this morning's lab draw ( a pin-prick to his heel) down from 13.0 yesterday morning. If tomorrow morning is under 10 they will hopefully take away his spotlights for good.

Amie and I have scheduled a discharge baby CPR class for next week in hopes that he is waiting on us, but let's not get too optimistic or hopeful here.

Happy Friday! I hope your weekend is great!

Z

Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/29 930am

Ashton and dad are alike - mornings are tough some times... He woke up briefly but not enough to eat much. The good news is he seems to understand the concept of breast feeding, but not enough to get a full meal.


He is super happy when he does wake, and seems to be smiling at us. Very cool!

One A&B this morning but apparently none last night.

More this afternoon

Z

Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/28 930pm

Day 2 of weight gain! 1890 grams = 4lbs 3oz, just 1oz under birth weight.

Bili-lights have been on since this morning, hopefully tomorrow they go away again. At most I would guess a day or two

IV went bad again, (six in as many days) and they decided he was big enough to not put a new one in. That is a big win as you can't go home with an IV.

No A's&B's on the night shift yet. Hopefully it stays that way.

Feeding went well; even better than last night. 830 seems to be his awake and alert time. He looks around and is very inquisitive in his expression. He had a full appetizer from Amie, followed by the main course via his tube.

During the day today Amie started organizing clothes by size and age. Amazing how much 'stuff' a kid has! We are trying to get ready for him to come home and making great strides. We will be ready before he is...

Goodnight moon...
Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/28 1pm

Ashton continues to do well.

Bilirubin is up again (not surprising) so they will start the lights again today, although his skin still looks really good. He has a different NP today, maybe this one is more conservative and cautionary.

Feedings will increase volume for the afternoon.

Two A's&B's today, and two overnight. More than we want, but not too bad.

He is on his 6th IV as he keeps pulling on them. This one is back in his head. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow the pull the IV for good.

Z



Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/27 9pm

We're gaining weight!

1870 grams = 4lbs 2oz, up 30 grams or 1/2oz from last night

Ashton had a light dinner direct from his mother followed by the main course from the tube. They don't expect much for a kid his age - next week they might expect more but today he is beating expectations.

It's funny; he was sleepy at noon and didn't really want to feed, now that night is approaching he is awake and ready to play. Sounds like his father.

Bili-lights have been off all day and his skin color still looks good. They draw labs each morning so we should here an actual value then, but based on our limited observed evidence the levels are coming down.

He has had a few A's&B's throughout the day which they keep saying is normal, but really I hate to hear about and still concern me. Breathing is just so important!

A good, hopeful night.

Z

Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/27 1pm

It was great to get Ashton out of the incubator for a while. He pretty much slepth through lunch but was very content being with his mother.

A couple of A's&B's this morning, which I hate to hear about. Apparently they were minor and he caught himself.

We will keep trying to get him out and held several times each day with hopes that he starts eating more from mom than tube. At that point they will intro a bottle for feedings where mom isn't at hospital - like 3am... It will probably take a week or so for him to develop that instinct and skill.


Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/27 10 am

Ashton looks great today.

He slept well, has been feeding and is currently asleep.

They increased food volume to 25ml per 3 hours and at 1130 today we (amie) will try to give him his first non-tube meal!! A key to going home is to eat naturally. Let the education begin

Bilirubin down slightly and we turned the lights off. As long as it keeps going down they will stay off

Weight still going down, but last nights nurse forgot to write it down so we don't know a number, just that it is still lower than yesterday

He still has room air being slowly blown into his nose and still no A's&B's in over 36 hours. I guess they will keep the air for a few days just in case.

All in all we are very hopeful and excited this morning.

More after his first real feeding

Z&A
Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/26 7pm

A long day at the hospital... But in a good way.

Amie and I came to the hospital about 830 and are now on our way out in search of mexican food.

Ashton had a great day.

He was visited by our great friends Chiao-ih and Cori and is yai-yai (grandmother in greek, michelle).

No A's&B's since 7pm yesterday!! Breathing is good. If it stays this way, and we expect it to.

Ate well and digested in full each time. Diapers being well used as a result of all the food. Tomorrow food goes up again and he will start feeding directly from the source instead of always using the feeding tube.

They weigh him at night so unsure about any loss or gain yet today.

Bilirubin checked this am was 10.3, up from yesterday's 9.7 so the lights stay on.

We will be back in the morning for more...

Cheers!

Z&A
Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/26 10am

Sounds like Ashton had a great night.

No A's&B's since 7pm yesterday. They have a small amount of room air through a tube in his nose to remind him not to stop breathing that seems to be working. Rule #1 to going home is 7 days without A's&B's.

Feeding is great. Starting with the 9am meal we just gave he was increased to 20ml per feeding, up from 5ml on Saturday. He continues to fully digest each meal prior to the next.

Bilirubin still high, they don't have an updated value yet, but he still has two spotlights. It's like he is already on stage...

No new weight, hopefully it is increasing.

More this afternoon
Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/25 10:15 pm

Damn, I want this kid to come home. He looks so perfect and content...

They increased his food to 15ml per 3 hours. 3x what it was the first day.

He is maintaining temp well. I guess he gets some heat from the bili-lights, but they have had to open his incubator because he gets too hot.

The nurse was talking tonight about moving him to a crib in a few days provided he can get out from under the lights.

His weight has dropped to 4lbs 2oz, but that is normal. With increased food intake hopefully that number starts increasing tomorrow.

No other changes or updates. Back tomorrow morning for more.


Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/25 1:00 pm

We decided to get some rest and missed the 9am feeding, instead slept until 8, I took a run and we had a slow morning at home.

Ashton is doing well. Last night they had to move his iv to his head, as he keeps pulling or biting on IV in his hands (one has failed in each hand). I hate looking at the IV in his head, and am grateful the put it in while I was not in the building.

He still has the occasional apnea which in turn decreases his heart-rate. He seems to be catching himelf and remembers that breathing feels good and should be continued. I keep telling him that in scuba diving the first rule is to never stop breathing and the same goes for life in and out of the ICU - never stop breathing. Apparently caffeine helps you remember to breathe (have you ever seen a non-breathing barista @ starbucks) they may add caffeine to help if it keeps up today. Hopefully not; caffeine started means a minimum of 2 weeks here. He has had 4 total episodes since 7am today, less than the 15 he had in the previous 24 hours. A rule for getting out of here is 7 days without having A's&B's

Eating is still good. 10ml every 3 hours. The NP says they will increase it today. So far production exceeds consumption and we have inventory.

They still have him on an iv that has TPN, a nutrition product as well as liquids that help with bilirubin.

Bilirubin level this morning are unchanged from yesterday so he remains under the phototherapy lights to work on that situation.

The thought is that with the IV liquids, the lights combined with eating more should bring those levels down.

When he has normal bilirubin and if he continues to allow increased feeding then he can move from incubator to crib, but he needs to be off the lights and IV first.

Amie was able to hold him and 'practice' feed for a while at the noon feeding which is really cool. He is very comfortable in Amie's arms.

We are very happy that to date there has been no bad news or issues and that all problems Ashton is going through are minor and 'normal'. We can only hope that it continues this way. There are so many kids here smaller and sicker than Ashton; we are tremendously lucky.

We will come back tonight for his 9pm feeding and will try to update then.

Enjoy your holiday Monday.
Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/24 930 pm

The 9pm feeding went great, ashton was out of the lights for about 30 minutes. We are trying to keep him in as much as possible as he is quite red in color. He loves to be in his mother's arms. During the feeding he was very alert and was staring at the two of us as we talked to him. Very cool.

He has eaten consistently all day and seems to be digesting nearly 100% of the previous meal each time.

Ashton weighs 4lbs 4oz, same as yesterday, but 4oz less than birth-weight.

All is well from here, surely the story continues (and improves) tomorrow.
Zack Clark
Mobile-801.244.4849

5/24 330pm

So far a great Sunday;  we had a lovely brunch with Shauna, and made it home from the hospital a few minutes ago.  I am trying to get Amie to rest, but so far it isn’t working.

 

Amie just spoke with Ashton’s Nurse to get an update:

 

They decided against the caffeine as they think a cause for the A&B’s is the high biliruben.  I guess it makes them irritable and tired, which causes the other.  They have added a 2^nd light to help decrease biliruben and asked that we leave him under the lights for a while.  It is hard to stay away, but we are going to let them.   We will go back and try to feed around 9pm.

 

His food portion was increased to 10 ml from 5, which is a good sign.

 

More to come later

 

 

 

 

Day 2

Sunday morning finds us back at the hospital. Amie slept here last night, and surely did not get the most restful sleep possible. I slept at home, took a long run this morning and met Amie at the hospital around 8:30 so we could feed Ashton his 9am meal.

They are letting us take him out of his bed and feed him / hold him two times each day which of course to us does not seem like enough, but I suppose the experts know what they are talking about.

Last night we fed him at 9pm and he did really well. I think this kid is going to be a great eater once as he is practicing quite well. They give him the bulk of his food through the tube in his nose every three hours, but it definitely is a great experience for us to have him out and practice feeding twice a day.

This morning he was too tired to eat because they had changed out his IV which really made him mad. Too much crying makes a baby tired. Amie did get to hold him for about 20 minutes after I changed his diaper.

The doctors will see him later today, but all indications are that he is doing well. Still having the "A&B's" every few hours; they may give him caffeine today to help stimulate him to not forget to breathe. Amie is drinking a latte from Starbucks to see if that helps too... or she just wanted a latte.

Amie will be discharged from hospital later today and is really looking forward to getting home, but not leaving Ashton behind. We will likely feed him again at 3pm, then go home for a few hours.

I hope you are enjoying a beautiful Sunday morning, and recovering from whatever transpired Saturday night...

Z

First full day

27 hours into life, and things are looking good.

Amie spent last night in the hospital, and will do the same tonight. She is recovering well and has slightly caught up on her rest. I think another night of quality hospital sleep will do her well. Tomorrow she will come home.

The nameless boy now has one: Ashton Jeffrey Clark. We told him his name earlier today but he did not seem to care.

Ashton moved from room 1 to room 2 in the NICU, kind of a graduation from 1:1 patient care to 3:1 patient care. He did not love the move and the stress of being messed with during that process. He cried so hard that when he stopped and calmed down he also forgot to keep breathing, which caused his heart rate to slow. They call it "A &B's" which means Apnea and bradycardia which means low heart rate and stopped breathing. Apparently this is relatively common with kids this size. He still breaths only room air, and recovers well as this has happened 3-4 times since moving. Some babies need to be reminded to breath. So far he reminds himself that it doesnt feel good to not breath and therefore starts breathing again.

Around 1pm today he had his first 5ml of breast milk. Baby's first meal. Now he is on a 3 hour interval feeding schedule starting at 3pm. They are feeding him through a small tube in his nose, but 2x per day Amie is going to the NICU to practice what natural, non-tube feeding would be like. He instinctally knew just what to do. I think with a couple of practices he will be feeding on his own, which is a HUGE step in being able to gain weight and come home.

Visiting here is tough. They restrict to only 2 people, one of which always has to be the parents and asked us to keep visitors to a minimum. Not sure how that is going to work when there are so many people who are dying to see this kid. When he comes home we hope all of you will come visit. For now we will update this blog a couple of times per day to hopefully give you the answers to all that you are looking for.

If i can figure out the technology it will auto post to his website: http://www.ashtonclark.net

If i dont figure it out, and any of you reading this are more of a geek than i, please help.

It's a Boy!

After a very challenging few days it seems all is well.

Ashton was born at 2:20 this afternoon weighing in at 4lbs 8 oz, 17” long

Amie went into active labor – the kind you see on TV – the pushing, sweating etc about 12:30pm and I can tell you she worked very hard to bring this little boy out to play…

Amie is in her room at the hospital, has eaten dinner and looks like she is ready to crash for the night. She feels good and seems very happy. Amie will likely stay in the hospital until Sunday afternoon.

He is in the NICU and doing well. There are a few concerns w/ babies born this early. Chief among them: Breathing and Eating. Immediately from birth he was breathing “room air” meaning that he needed no assistance to do so. A great sign. He will try his first meal tomorrow. I guess the stomach of a baby is smaller than a marble, so it wont be much of a meal, but a true indicator. I have asked a dozen NICU nurses, NP’s and Dr’s about how long he will be there, they all give me the same standard line, but the story goes that when he is over 5lbs, and breaths and eats on his own, he can go home. They always say that the standard is to stay until due date – hopefully he can figure a few things out earlier than that.

Amie and I can visit him basically 24 hrs a day, and will likely see him multiple times each day. As we visit and have updates to him we will likely blog about it and will provide you that info so you can keep up with his development at your leisure.

Thanks for all the kind words, thoughts, prayers and love that you have always shown to Amie and I, and will surely be shown to our son.