12/31/04
Welcome to Gavin's official website! Now instead of sending out emails when we add new pics to snapfish, you are welcome to check out this site whenever you want. Gavin's first Christmas was wonderful, and he enjoyed spending so much time getting to know his relatives. He was very spoiled and now doesn't want to entertain himself at all! We had our 4 month check up on Tuesday the 28th, he is up to 10 lbs, 8 1/2 ounces! He is also 21 1/4 inches long. The doctor said we could try giving him infant cereal....we have tried a couple times but I think he is not quite ready. We will keep trying every few days. He is still not sleeping through the night, and we really aren't making any progress, he still likes to wake Mom up every 3 or 4 hours. SHe is patiently waiting for her first solid night's sleep. Gavin's favorite new tricks are dancing with Dad, sitting up like a big boy on the couch and trying to eat big boy cereal. He went out for his first stroller walk Wednesday, Dec 29th and really enjoyed the change of scenery. He is really looking forward to meeting his uncle Chris for the first time tonight when he returns home from his semester abroad. Gavin is wishing everyone a fantastic New Year!

11/14/04
Finally Gavin gets to eat! Yesterday was really tough becuase he was feeling much better and was just mad because he was so hungry! They start with 15 ml and go up by 5 every feeding. Hopefully he does well with it so we can go home!!! He would have gone home the 9th if it hadn't have been for this surgery.

11/12/04
They decided to put a tube down into Gavin's stomach to suck out the air and saliva. It takes a while after your insides have been messed with to get back into normal working order....his tummy is quite distended with air. They can't feed him til they know things are going to move through. He is feeling a little better, he gets all his nutrition through an IV and sucks on a pacifier dipped in sugar water when he gets mad!

11/10/09
Gavin was taken into surgery today to fix his tummy. We found out about a week prior that he had a stomach malrotation. Basically all the digestive organs form in the umbilical cord and wind into the abdomen once there is room. His wound the wrong direction. The surgeon was really surprised that he hasn't had any problems eating, but the risk is that the stomach will continue to twist and cut off the blood supply, and part of the intestines will die. He also said that we are lucky, usually by the time they catch it there have already been serious problems. The scary part is that he had to go back on the ventilator, and we didn't know how long he would be on there. The great news is that he came off of it before he left the operating room! They were able to do the surgery laparoscopically so it wasn't very invasive, just three little 3 mm incisions. A camera went into one by his belly button, and long rods went into the other two, they used those to drop in tiny little operating tools and fixed everything. It turned out when they were in there that all his intestines were malrotated, not just his stomach. He also had hernias on both sides of his groin, so they had to do incisions to fix those, but you can barely see them. We waited up in his room for almost 4 long hours. There is nothing quite like seeing your little baby wheeled away for surgery. He was pretty mad when he came back, and he did have to have a nasal cannula for about 24 hours, but it was just giving him room air. We were happy that Ruth was there the day of the surgery, and then Kim was there overnight and then Ruth again in the morning, so he had the nurses that knew him best to take care of him. It was ironic that his biggest problem in the hospital was something totally unrelated to being a preemie, but we are so thankful that they caught it before there were any serious issues, plus it was nice to have it taken care of before we left the hospital. If we ever have to go back it will be to the pediatric ICU, different doctors, nurses, etc. Gavin is also the first baby to have this procedure done laparoscopically.....way to go our little pioneer!!

9/30/04
Gavin finally hits 3 pounds! Good growing little guy....all the nurses say that you will really take off from here!