A Long Awaited Update

I am not sure if anyone even really checks this blog anymore, but I am going to post an update for you anyway. I don't have lots of details for you... but I'll give you what I've got!!
**Carly (for the Greens)
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Logan is doing well! This past weekend he took his first big road trip while his dad spent the weekend at the Masters tournament in Georgia. NO, he didn't make the trip all the way there! He spent the weekend with Grammy Carol and Grandpa Bob in Dayton. He did really well on the drive down to Dayton, in spite of all the rain. His first big foray into the outside world was at Grammy Carol's favorite stop.. the Goasis for Starbucks! Meghann drove him back to Cleveland on MOnday and he did great once again.

The whole family is now back in Cleveland. THey will be walking (along with some other people) as part of Team Logan for the March of Dimes Walk America. HOpefully Logan will be "participating" that day too... weather permitting. (If you are interested in finding out more about the walk, try this link to Grammy Carol's page: www.marchforbabies.org/Nick5.)

Logan will be traveling back to Dayton on May 3rd for his baptism. He is awaiting his next surgery in early June when he will have his eyes operated on and maybe his last hernia. He will celebrate his first birthday on June 16th!

That's what I've got for now! THanks so much for praying!

A Long Awaited Update!

It has been a long time since an update has been made here and I know a lot of you have been faithfully checking the blog and hoping for news on how Logan, Meghann, and Lance are doing. I don't have as many details as she would, but I got some information and thought I would post it for you so you can have a better idea of how things are going at home!

-Carly (Meghann's sister).

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Logan did indeed come home in early December. He came home with none of the tubes or machines from the hospital! Truly an answered prayer! (Thanks to all of you who faithfully pray!). He has been doing ok but still seemed to be in some pain. He spent Christmas quietly at home with Meg, Lance, and the Bogey (who is glad to finally have everyone home!).

Meg has worked it out with her (wonderful!) employer to work from home most of the time, so although she doesn't always get a lot done, she is home with Logan almost every day.

On January 17th Logan went back to Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital for surgery to repair 2 of his hernias. Although there was a lot of concern about his breathing and recovery, he did wonderfully and was released to go home the next morning. He will most likely have another surgery in the summer to repair another hernia (but one that is not causing him trouble right now.).

Since surgery he has been doing very well and eating a lot more. He is getting 2 teeth which has made life interesting... to see a baby so small cutting teeth! He visited the surgeon yesterday for a check up and was found to have none of the issues or problems common to the surgery. He continues to defy the odds!

In the coming weeks Logan will continue his physical therapy (his right side is weaker than his left, but the therapist has plans to help him get stronger!) and continue to eat and grow. He is weighing in at 9 pounds 14 ounces... as his parents like to mention... SO CLOSE to double digits!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. They are what get the family through these days and they continue to be amazed by God's gifts to them and Logan.

Below is the only digital picture I have of Logan. It was taken as he was getting his coat on to leave the hospital after his surgery.

HOME

LOGAN IS COMING HOME TOMORROW!!!!!!! We are a big mixture of emotions right now...happy, relieved, excited, scared, nervous and just a little sad to leave our wonderful caretakers (aka Logan's girlfriends) behind. He is coming home on nothing at all. No feeding tubes, no oxygen, no monitors! There were a lot of days early on in all of this that we didn't know if this day would ever arrive. We are so very grateful for all of the thoughts and prayers. God works in his own way and his own time. Logan is definitely going to be a handful. He still takes a very long time to eat (about 1 hour to take 3 ounces) and gets fussy during his feed, but he can do it. He just has some problems he needs to outgrow. And even though we could never have received better care than we did, what he needs now is to be home with us since we can provide the care and attention that he so badly needs. He will be 2 months corrected age on Friday, so he is ready to start playing. He is very social! His girlfriends will all miss him (and we will miss them) but we all know it's best for him.
We will keep you updated on his progress, although the updates may be fewer and further apart. We apologize in advance for that! Please continue to pray for Logan as the winter season approaches and we do everything we can to keep him out of the hospital.
Much love,
Meghann, Lance and Logan

Go Bucks!

Not really a whole lot new to report on Logan. The most exciting thing for both him and Dad was that they got to watch Logan's first OSU/Michigan game this past Saturday. Logan wasn't nearly as interested in it as his dad would have liked, but he did look adorable in his OSU gear(his shirt says "Poop on Michigan" by the way. Sorry uncle Chris!) . And since OSU won, Dad was happy for the rest of the day and that is always good!

Logan is still off his oxygen all the time when resting. He is starting to not need it during feeds either. He really loves life off of the cannula so he gets really upset when we put it in his nose. He is still having a really hard time with his feeds. The volume he takes has gone down over the last few days which has been frustrating to say the least. It is obvious to us that something hurts him when he eats, so it is painful for us to try to feed him because we know he is in pain. We had really hoped that by this point he would be done with pain, and it never gets easier to hear him cry. They started him on medicine for acid reflux, even though his case is mild right now. He is also on medicine for thrush, which is sores in his mouth and throat. We are not convinced that this is the what is causing his pain, but at least we are being proactive about a possible problem. His hernias seem to be a growing problem because they hurt him all the time and he always seems so uncomfortable and unhappy. We are supposed to be talking to the surgeons this week about possibly operating on the hernias in the very near future. If this happens, hopefully he will be more comfortable during feeds and therefore start eating more from his bottle.

Please continue to pray for Logan's feeding and pain - whatever the cause may be. We just want him to be happy and comfortable. And most of all, we want him to come home to us soon.

Love,

Meghann, Lance and Logan

No more oxygen...well, while resting!

Logan was taken off his oxygen today when he is resting! It still gets turned on when he is eating, but the rest of the day, he is breathing room air for the first time in his life. He will be 5 months old (well, 5 months alive anyway!) next week. We are still holding out hope that he will be home for Christmas, especially since it is taking him so long to eat. His eating is the only thing keeping him in the hospital, especially since he is not on oxygen all the time anymore. He is starting to take more out of a bottle, but he is still a long way from taking everything like he needs to. There was some talk about sending him home with a feeding tube, but we are not interested in that at all. It is just not something we feel like we would be able to manage. Logan is defenitely getting much bigger. He is about 6 pounds, 13 ounces and about 18 inches long. He's still short and chubby (well, chubby for Logan!). His rickets have resolved themselves, and the eye doctor thinks is eye disease may be starting to resolve itself as well. Most of his medicines are gone now too, which is nice because he was on so much medication. Logan has definitely started showing even more of his personality lately. He loves his bouncy seat and seems to be all right with his swing (as long as mom and dad aren't there to hold him instead!). He also loves the physical therapist who comes in a few times a week to work with him. He follows things with his eyes and has great head control. He is also starting to explore things with his hands and grab onto a few things. He especially loves to grab onto our clothes and Meghann's hair! He still loves to be read to and really likes listening to his music. The only problem with all of this (other than the eating!) is that because he is doing so well, it is so hard for us to leave him at night. So we have been spending even longer hours there than we were for awhile. We usually get there around 5 and get home about 11. It all makes for a very long, tiring day. But we love being with him so much that it is all worth it. He has been more than worth everything we have been through.

Please continue to pray for Logan's feeding so we can get him home sooner rather than later and really be a family. Bogey is very eager to meet whatever it is that he smells on us every night after we leave him alone for so long! We know he will love his little brother - it is impossible not to!

Love to all of you,

Meghann, Lance and Logan

Step Down Unit

We are officially out of the NICU. Logan was moved to the stepdown unit at Rainbow Babies and Children's on Wednesday. He now has his own room, complete with a bathroom and shower, TV and refrigerator (all for mom and dad of course!). It is a much quieter, calmer environment and he seems to be responding to it very well. He actually sleeps now, which is a change from his sleepless days and nights in the organized chaos of the NICU. He misses his girlfriends of course, but he is making new friends with the new nurses. And his old girls come to visit when they can, so that has helped. Logan is now 5 pounds, 1 ounce. He is actually filling out his preemie clothes, and we think it won't be too long now before he is in the next size up. He is four months old today, and we hope that he doesn't spend too much more time away from us. He has gotten even cuter if that is possible! He now has real fat on his little body - we especially love his chubby cheeks!! In order to come home, he has to be completely off the feeding tube, and we have some work to do before that happens. He takes about 12 mL twice a day, so he is trying. We pray for patience every day. His nutrition is starting to go in the right direction also. His rickets are not as bad as they were, so that is encouraging. He did have to have more laser surgery on his eyes last Saturday. The eye doctor is optimistic, but we will not know anything more about it for awhile. Hopefully we have seen the last of the laser surgery! The new prediction for bringing him home is about 8 weeks, so that would put him home around the beginning of December. We were hoping to have him home for Thanksgiving, but since he has his own room, we will just eat our dinner with him there.

Please continue to pray for Logan. Specifically, that he he does not have to go through any more eye surgery. We are forever grateful for the love and support and continuous prayers.
Love to all of you,
Meghann, Lance and Logan

As we have been promising for awhile, here is a new picture of our little miracle. Logan had a pretty good weekend. He still has his desats (when he drops the oxygen saturation in his blood) and that is what is keeping him in the NICU. We have not been given another date that he might go up to the stepdown unit. We have decided that it is better that way because then we don't get our hopes up, and we will just be that much more excited when he finally does move up. We are still holding out hope that he will be home before Thanksgiving. We have been doing this for a long time, but we constantly remind ourselves that things could be so much worse.

Logan is full term today. Meghann has had a tough time dealing with this being her due date, but we are thankful every day that we have such a wonderful little boy, regardless of the challenges we face. He is up to about 3 pounds and 11 ounces and is now 15 inches long. He has come a long way in 16 weeks. He has grown 5 inches and gained almost 5 times what he weighed! At this rate, he will be playing linebacker for Ohio State by the time he is 10! His nutrition continues to be a big challenge. His bones are still very brittle and every time they try to give him more fluids to increase the amount of calcium and phosphorous in his feeds, the more he holds onto his fluids and then has to be given Lasiks...which then results in him getting rid of all of the supplements he had just gotten. It is a vicious cycle. We have been reassured that we "will get there." He is still trying to eat from a bottle and does pretty well with it considering his size and other problems. Like everything else, this too will just take some time.

We thank everyone so much for all of the prayers. We pray every day that we can continue to be as strong for Logan as he has been for us. It is truly inspiring to watch him fight every day because we don't think that anyone ever told him that he wasn't supposed to live through this. He has given us such a lesson on living in the moment and enjoying every blessing - no matter how small it may seem. We are blessed to have him and blessed to have such an amazing support system. We have been shown an overwhelming amount of love and compassion and we can never say thank you enough.

Love to all of you,
Meghann, Lance and Logan

Moving along...slowly

We have decided that Logan just really likes to do things on his own time. He has his own adgenda it seems. He decided he was ready to be born way before it was time, and he has not stopped controlling everything around him! We were told at the beginning of the week that he would be moving to the stepdown unit this week because he is doing so well...but then he decided that he wasn't ready to leave all of his girlfriends down in the NICU and made it so they have now decided not to send him until next week. It is a little disappointing. We are very attached to the nurses in the NICU, but we are also eager to get him home. Everyone in the NICU is not talking about him leaving because they don't want to admit that he's actually going to leave either!
Logan has now been in the NICU for 101 days. Meghann's due date was this Sunday, so we are hoping he will move upstairs around that time. He still has a lot of work to do before he can come home. He is now in an open crib and still in a cannula. He is able to eat a little bit from a bottle (about 8 mL) once a day. Because of his lung issues and small size (still only 3 and 1/2 pounds) he gets really tired when he eats, so it is taking awhile. Patience is a virtue, right? We have been able to put him in the bathtub a few times, so that has been fun. He makes a lot of noise when we do it, but we don't think he really minds. Just likes to hear his own voice! He still likes to be read to and rocked. He really likes his bouncy seat and took a 3 hour nap in it yesterday! And he is now loving to be held. At night, he fusses just so the nurses will pick him up and cuddle with him (which they do of course! We are so lucky to have them). We have a feeling Meghann andLogan will be spending a lot of time in the rocking chair when he gets home... His nutrition is still a major issue for him. His bones are still very brittle, so we get a little nervous about participating in his care. But we still do everything we can with him. It is getting harder and harder to leave every night. He is getting cuter by the day. We promise to get some new pictures up as soon as we can.
As always, please continue to pray for our wonderful little boy. And thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the support.
Love,
Meghann, Lance and Logan

Goodbye SiPAP...Hello Cannula!

Logan was taken off SiPAP and put into a nasal cannula today! This is a huge step because he is now officially breathing all on his own. He is only getting a little bit of oxygen to help him out. He seems to be doing really well on it. The SiPAP squeezed his little head and made his eyes swell, so he is loving his new freedom! He is 3 months old today, and becoming more and more like a real baby. He fussed so badly last night that 2 of the nurses had to hold him and rock him all night. Something for mom and dad to look forward to... He is also using his voice more, so that is something else for us to look forward to! We can't wait for him to come home and keep us up all night!!
Logan now weighs 1500 grams which is about 3 pounds, 5 ounces. It seems like something has just clicked for him. He is still doing a great job maintaining his body temperature and may be in an open crib by the end of the week. We're not in a huge hurry for that to happen, but when it does, we will be able to do more with him.
This past Thursday, Logan had laser surgery on his right eye. He has ROP, which stands for Retinopathy of Prematurity. This means that the vessels around his retina are forming abnormally. The laser surgery fixed these abnormal vessels so that he should not have any problems with his vision. We don't know for sure if he will have to have the same surgery on his left eye or not. We are going to assume that he will have to have the left eye done too since he seems to be getting everything a "normal preemie" gets. He also now has some kidney stones because of the high levels of calcium he has been getting for his brittle bones. The good thing is that kidney stones in babies are not like they are in adults in that he will not have to pass them like an adult does. They should dissolve on their own as he grows.
Overall, Logan seems to be doing very well. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful baby and fantastic support system. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of the love and prayers. Please keep them coming!
Love,
Meghann, Lance and Logan

A Kilogram!

We have to apologize again for not being as good about our updates as we try to be. Life just gets so hectic! Especially since we can now say that Logan is doing really well and we are spending even more time at the hospital.
Logan hit a kilogram on Lance's birthday (Wednesday, August 29). He is now about 1100 grams which is about 2 and a half pounds. He is still on the CPAP and is doing even better with it. We think that he will be off it altogether within a few weeks. The broviac (the line in his chest) was taken out last week because it had caused an infection. So right now he is on antibiotics for that infection. But other than that, he has not had too many bad days. He did have to get another transfusion (number 15 we think...we've lost count!) last week because he was anemic and having a harder time breathing on his own. He stopped breathing a few times, and we think he was just checking to make sure Mom's tear ducts still worked. He just wanted to make sure he could still upset her enough to make her cry (which he certiainly did!) But the blood really helped out and he was much better the next day. Logan is now stable enough that we can hold him every day. And we don't just have to kangaroo with him, we are actually able to hold him like a real baby! And he is wearing clothes! He has a bunch of preemie clothes that we bought him, and even though they are WAY too big on him still, he looks really cute in them. We were able to hold him yesterday and today for about 4 hours each day. The only bad thing about that is that it is now harder than ever for us to leave at the end of the day. He is just so darn cute! He is starting to really get even more of a personality. Now that he doesn't have the ventilator down his throat, he smiles all the time. He loves when daddy talks to him, and that is when he seems to grin the most. He also likes to smile at the pretty young nurses who take care of him. He has more girlfriends than he can count. Every nurse who has him is absolutely smitten with him. As are we (and he'll get all of you too when he meets you!) The other big step forward he has taken is that he is no longer in an incubator that keeps him warm. He is being weaned off of that and is being challanged to maintain his own temperature. If he is able to do so while still growing and breathing on his own, he could be in an open crib soon. We are still looking at the beginning of November as a possible time to bring him home.
Thank you all so much for the love and prayers. The miracles we have witnessed take our breath away. Our little boy is such a blessing to us and is really the highlight of every day. Even the bad days no longer seem so bad because we love him more and more every day. We have made friends with another couple in the NICU and if you are praying for Logan anyway, maybe you could say a prayer for their little boys. They have twins who are about Logan's age and are having a tough time with their respiratory status. We know they would appreciate the prayers just as much as we have.
We promise to be more diligent with our updates!
All of our love,
Meghann, Lance and Logan

2 Months Old

We apologize again for not being as timely with our updates as we try to be. Things get crazy, and Logan definitely puts us through a lot on a daily basis!
Anyway, Logan turned 2 months old on Thursday. We would like to tell you that he is also over 2 pounds...but he is still working toward that goal. He is about 852 grams or 1 pound 14 ounces. He is about 13 and 1/2 inches long, so at least he is growing. Slowly, but he is growing. He is also still off the ventilator. He has been off the vent for 10 days and about 8 hours. We know that because of his size, there is still the possibility he could go back on the vent, but we are praying every day that he doesn't. He is still getting 10.5 mL every 2 hours. His breastmilk is now fortified with Vitamin D, Potassium, Calcium, Phosphorous and a Human Milk Fortifier. It looks similar to the consistency of a strawberry milkshake. We were told on Saturday that he is so low in phosphorous that the calcium is getting drawn out of his bones and he is now at an elevated risk of rickets which is (we think) when the bones become brittle. So everyone has to be much more careful with him so his bones don't fracture. Hopefully his phosphorous levels will start to come up so we don't have to worry about that anymore. He is starting to get his voice. We feel bad because we like tol hear him cry so we always listen to how cute he sounds and let the nurses worry about what's wrong with him! That will have to change when he comes home, but for now, we just appreciate that he has a voice.
Please keep up the prayers. We are amazed every day at what the prayers and love have been able to do for our little boy.
Love to all of you,
Meghann, Lance and Logan

Back off the Vent!

Logan got his second try on the SiPAP today. He was scheduled to be extubated yesterday, but he had an eye test that was pretty traumatic for him so they decided to wait again. So far, he is doing well off the vent. We try not to get our hopes up too high, but it is encouraging and we hang onto every good day we get. We really hope that we have seen the last of the ventilator. He is also off his IV fluids and is getting all of his nutrition from his feeds - 8.5 mL every 2 hours. Mom's milk is fortified and also has potassium and sodium added to it. His incubator area in the nursery looks so different without all the equipment around it. We like it! Now it just needs to stay that way... We also got the results back from the labs they drew looking for infection, and there is not one right now. They thought he might have had an infection because his white blood cells were up. But so far, so good on the front.
Our major concern right now is keeping Logan on the SiPAP and off the vent. Your prayers are, as always, very much appreciated.
Much love,
Meghann, Lance and Logan

Logan is getting another shot at life off the ventilator. They are looking at extubating him tomorrow (after 3 days of trying to decide). He is on the lowest settings he can be on his vent and the tube seems to be causing a lot of problems for him. The nurses think it is gagging him and causing him to drop his oxygen saturation and heart rate more than normal. We will see when he gets onto the SiPAP. He got another blood transfusion today - number 13. We're hoping that is the last one as he will be able to start getting a drug to help his body create its own blood. He is also getting checked out for infection again because his white blood cell count was high again. Hopefully he is still infection-free! A second eye test is planned for tomorrow morning. It probaly won't show anything yet, but they will do the tests weekly until they are able to see something (or nothing if we are lucky!). He is up to 8 mL on is feedings which is the most they can feed him until he gains some weight. As of Monday night, he was down to 780 grams or about 1 pound 11 ounces. Gaining weight is really his biggest challenge. He's good at eating and cuddling...it's everything else that is hard for him! Mom got to hold him again last night for about 3 hours. He does amazingly well while kangarooing - and it is good for Mom's spirits as well!
For now, we could use the extra prayers that we have seen the last of the ventilator. That would be one big obstacle out of little Logan's way.
Thanks for the love,
Meghann, Lance and Logan

Logan is back on the ventilator. By Monday night, he was just too tired to continue breathing on his own. Although we were disappointed, he did make it off the ventilator much longer than anyone thought he would. And even though the vent is causing quite a bit of lung damage, he needs to be on it so he can grow. Right now, the most important thing is that he grows because he is still so very small (about 1 pound 9 ounces) for being 31 weeks gestational age. And when he is off the vent he uses all of his energy and calories breathing and not growing. So for now he just needs to eat, sleep and grow. We told him that this is the only time in his life when everyone will tell him to eat as much as he can, sleep all day and gain weight! He had is first eye test today. His eyes are still too small to be able to see anything so he will get eye tests every week for the next few weeks. We're really hoping that the eye tests don't show anything and that will be one less thing to worry about for once. Dad got to hold Logan for the second time today. The two of them took a nap together and seemed to enjoy themselves very much. Logan just loves to cuddle! Logan is also almost back up to full feeds (7 mL every 2 hours) so he is getting almost all of his nutrition from his breastmilk (along with a few supplements they will add).
Meghann started back to work this week. Although she is getting worn out from getting up and going every day, she has said that she needs a distraction from everything that has been happening. Plus she needs to be able to take time off when Logan is able to come home.
As always, thanks for the continued prayers and love. Keep them coming!
Love,
Meghann, Lance and Logan

Off the Ventilator!!!

Logan was extubated on Friday afternoon! We are SO excited! He was put on SiPAP which helps him keep the pressure in his lungs and also helps with his oxygen. But he is now doing all the breathing on his own which is a huge step. He seems to be doing pretty well with it so far, although he wasn't too sure about the mask at first because it covers part of his face. But the tube is out of his throat and that is what we care about. The ventilator did damage parts of his lungs and have caused them to collapse a little, so he is not out of the woods yet. There is a chance he could be reintubated within a few days to a week. But if he makes it 7 days, he shouldn't have to go back on the vent. We keep our fingers crossed that he will continue to do well. The biggest concern now is that he needs to gain weight He lost about 120 grams when he was sick and following his surgery, so he really needs to put some back on. He is eating again and is getting 4 mL every 2 hours. His urine output is still not as good as they would like it to be which is a continuing concern. They give his diuretics pretty often, but the ones they give him can cause some hearing problems with long-term, continuous use. Mom got to kangaroo with him again today (she's having a hard time sharing with dad!). And we got to see his whole face with no tape or tubes or anything. He is SO cute. We'll get some new pictures up soon.
Please continue praying for our little boy. We are so thankful for the good days we have had lately, but we know we have a long way to go.
Love,
Meghann, Lance and Logan