Caleb's NICU (and Beyond) Timeline

Thought I'd write up a little timeline of Caleb's story thus far...


June 6, 2007 - Dr. decides we should do the c-section today - Caleb is born!
At 28 wks. gestation (three months early), he weighs 1 lb. 6 3/4 oz., measures 12 in. long and is intubated immediately

June 14 - Mommy holds Caleb for the first time - ten minutes

June 16 - Isaiah meets his baby brother for the first time; Caleb is fed for the first time through a tube

June 28 - surgery for PDA ligation (closing a flap in a blood vessel near the heart)

July 10 - excess fluid removed from abdominal cavity in attempt to combat side effects of enlarged liver - doctors can't figure out why liver is enlarged; Caleb's weight is 2 lbs. 10 3/4 oz.

July 15 - Daddy holds Caleb for the first time

July 20 - wears clothes for the first time

July 27 - transported to another hospital's NICU to see if their liver specialists can figure out why Caleb's liver is so large

August 4 - doctors find a mass on Caleb's liver while reading an ultrasound

August 8 - MRI to get more info about the liver mass; Caleb is 9 wks. old and weighs 3 lbs. 15 oz

August 10 - neonatologists tell Mommy that the mass is most likely a hepatoblastoma, a rare liver cancer

August 20 - surgery to remove liver mass; surgeon believes it is not hepatoblastoma, but a hamartoma, a non-cancerous tumor consisting of liver tissues that basically didn't grow the way they were supposed to; hamartoma is confirmed several days later

August 31 - Caleb is now taking 11 ml of formula per hour through a tube in his nose (30 ml = one ounce)

September 4 - Caleb is off of the ventilator after almost three months and now receives extra oxygen through a high-flow nasal cannula

September 6 - Caleb is three months old and weighs 4 lbs. 9 oz., measuring 15 in. long

September 13 - as a first step towards bottle feeding, Caleb gets to taste a few drops of formula on his pacifier

September 14 - Mommy gives Caleb his first bottle feeding - he continues to be fed through the NG tube by a pump and we work on bottle feeding each day; transitioned to a regular flow nasal cannula for supplemental oxygen

September 22 - laser eye surgery for ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity); has 800 laser "zaps" in one eye and 900 in the other

September 28 - Caleb takes the majority of his feedings from a bottle

October 5 - NG tube for feeding is removed- all feedings are from a bottle; Caleb has no IV pole in his room now and his only "attachments" are the nasal cannula for oxygen and the heart rate/oxygen saturation monitor

October 8 - Mommy gets a phone call while grocery shopping: Caleb can come home this week

October 11 - Caleb is discharged from the hospital and goes home for the first time; he is just over four months old and weighs 6 lbs. 10 oz.

October 23 - Daddy convinces Mommy to go on our first family outing - we pack up in the van, oxygen tank, monitor and all, and head for the SONIC drive-in for lunch, never leaving the van, an extension of the "bubble" that we live in

November 6 - Caleb is five months old, weighs about 8 lbs., sleeps in the swing at night to help fend off reflux, eats about 3 ounces every three hours, and SMILES

December 6 - Caleb is six months old, weighs about 9 lbs., works on holding head up

December 18 - Daddy and Mommy leave Caleb at home with Grandma for the first time, about two hours, to attend Isaiah's school Christmas program

January 6 - Caleb is seven months old, weighs just under 10 lbs., reaches out for toys, uses legs to kick and scoot on his back, eats about 4 ounces per feeding, takes two types of breathing treatments for reactive airway disorder/wheezing

February 6 - Caleb is eight months old, weighs just shy of 11 lbs., and tastes his first solid baby foods; makes buzzing sounds with his new-found lips, has "tons" of hair, according to his brother, and loves to feel Daddy's scratchy whisker face

March 6 - nine months old, about 12 1/2 lbs., wears size 2 diapers and 3-6 mth. clothes, chews on everything, eats about 5 ounces at a time

March 13 - first trip outside as we take a walk at the park

March 15 - fever sends us to urgent care and leads us to diagnoses of RSV and ear infection; back on oxygen and breathing treatments

Today, April 18, 2008, about a year after we found out that our baby was at risk of serious health problems and would have to be born very early, Caleb weighs 13 1/2 lbs., wears 6-9 mth. clothes, needs no supplemental oxygen, takes only two medications, and eats about 5 oz. per feeding. Daddy and Mommy have recently been on their first date night since Caleb came home from the hospital six months ago. We are excited to be a family of four, getting stronger in many ways every day.