Please welcome Rohen Mathew Zuniga to the world...the real world!

We finally got to take our baby home! It has been so great enjoying him in an environment outside the hustle and bustle of the NICU. We were welcomed with a pleasant surprise Friday morning when the Neonatologist came to take a look at Rohen and told me that I could take him home. My eyes filled with tears of joys to hear those words. It has been fun adjusting to life here at home. Rohen is so sweet, and he rarely cries. The only time we hear a peep is when he's ready to eat. I think that he is making up for lost time. He gulps his milk down like it is going out of style! We just went to the pediatrician this afternoon and he said his is in top shape. He is still a little guy, but he's now an astounding 7lbs. He's gained 7 ounces since he's been home with us. I think he likes it here :). The road doesn't end here, we've got plenty of follow up appointments with neurologists, physical therapists, developmental specialists, etc, etc...but we are expecting the best. To us Rohen is just our baby, he looks and acts like any other baby and that is how we are going to treat him. Thank you again everyone for your kindness. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives. I will continue to update the blog and post pictures so you can all see our little Rohen in action. Who knows, maybe I'll keep this blog going until he's 21! Love to everyone

Look Ma...No TUBE!!

So what I thought was going to be a horrible start to the day yesterday turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After I fed Rohen at 6am his feeding tube got caught in the chair, and when I stood up it ripped right out of his nose. I felt so bad, even though he didn't really seem to mind that much. Well rather than put a new tube down his thoat the nurse said she would give him a chance to eat on his own for 24 hours to see how he did, and guess what?....he's been eating ever since!! This is the most amazing news, because now that he can eat on his own he can come home! I am filled with so much joy right now that my little baby boy is going to be coming home very very soon. It looks like he can come home as soon as tomorrow if things continue to go well through out today. So much has happened in the last few days. God has blessed us with a little miracle baby, and he has listened to all of our prayers and yours. Thank you for continuing to support us and pray for us each day. This has been the longest 2 and a half weeks of my life, but thanks to all of your prayers my Rohen has come so far. When we came to Emanuel on the 25th with a limp baby with little to no brain activity, we feared the worst. However we never gave up hope, not even for one second. God gave us the strength to get through each day, he blessed us with an amazing support system and with a strong little boy who fought each day to learn and grow. We are so excited to begin our life outside the hospital. Stay tuned for news on Rohen's homecoming.

Big Boy

This has been a good couple of days for Rohen. He graduated to a big boy bed (AKA a clear plastic box on a rolling cart) because he no longer needs to have his tempature mantained by the warmer. This new bed is more like a crib, and he still looks so sound while he sleeps. We are still working on the feeding aspect, but I'm proud to say that he finished his first full bottle this morning! That was wonderful for me to see. Now I just need to get him to do that every time. I feel like I'm the coach and he's the player. I give him the game plan, and I tell him "just half an oz more...you can do it, you can do it!!". I think he likes the pep talk :)
He is growing before our eyes. He's been gaining weight and is up to 6lbs 10 oz, which is 9 more than his birth weight. He's still a little guy though. All of his clothes are so big for him, but we make them work. I can't wait for you all to meet him. He is such a good baby, and when he wakes up and stares up at me it makes my day so much better. I love him so much!

Baby Steps

To Rohen's fan club; sorry that I haven't had a chance to update in a couple of days. It has been a lot of back and forth to the hospital and to visit my sister at a different hospital who just had her baby Chandler on Thursday night. He is in the NICU as well recovery from infection, so please send positive thoughts their way as well.

Rohen is doing better every day. He is much more alert, and is opening his eyes to look around the room. They have changed the time they give him the Fina-Barbital (seizure medication) to earlier in the evening, which makes him sleepier at night and more awake during the day. This gives us a chance to spend more awake time with him while we are here. We have met with several doctors and all of them are happy to see improvements. We are still trying to get his muscle tone up and get him eating. He started sucking and has been able to eat a little on his own. I'm going to keep trying until he gets it! We have freedom now to pick him up and hold him whenever we want, and that feels good. I spend a lot of time holding my little guy and rocking him back and forth. Matt and I both hold him skin to skin since he missed out on that the first week of his life. He looks so comfortable curled up on Matt's chest. We have met with a physical therapist and they are giving us tips on some ways to get his muscles moving, and help keep him alert during feedings. I'm trying to learn as much as I can to help him do what he needs to get home. I'll keep you posted as more things happen. Love to everyone!

We had such a great day with Rohen today! His swelling has gone down so much, and he finally looks like himself. My dad came to visit, and he almost had to ask the nurse if that was his grandson because he looks so different without all that extra fluid. He looks so much like Matt, which makes Daddy proud. They took his I.V. out today, and they are feeding him milk every 3 hours. They are still feeding him through a tube in his nose, but we are working on getting him to eat on his own. So far he's not quite getting that concept. I think this is going to be our next biggest hurdle to get him home now. We are expecting another week or so at least, but the sooner the better! I can't wait to get him here. Now that he has gotten rid of some of his accessories (breathing tube, IV, head wrap) we were able to give him his first bath. He seemed to really enjoy the warm water, and I had fun spending this time with him. Once we got him cleaned up we put him in clothes for the first time. He is getting better every day. I love my little baby, and we are so blessed to have him in our lives.

Breath of Fresh Air

The C-PAP came off of Rohen today, and he is breathing all on his own! Seeing him without all that stuff around his head is wonderful. I got to hold him again today, and I loved every minute of it. Matt saw him open his eyes while he was on my chest, so I'm hoping he will open them again soon so I can see. They are increasing his food intake every three hours now, and he should be eating about an ounce at each feeding by tomorrow.
The MRI results came back, and there are no obvious signs of trauma. It is still really just going to be about waiting and watching. I felt good about what the doctors had to say though. Often times no news is good news. They still haven't given us any indication as to when he might come home. I think now that he is breathing on his own, if we can get him to eat on his own there should be no reason why he can't come home.We are seeing improvements every day.
So thankful that God is watching over him, and that he is so loved by so many.

Wiggle Worm

Today Rohen was starting to move a lot. He was wiggling around all day. It was great to see some more life in him. This morning they took off the EEG machine and they removed the little probes from his head. Matt and I were surprised to see that they were actually little tiny needles in his head...poor baby. They had each one taped down and you could tell he was getting mad when the nurse was pulling the tape off of his fuzzy black hair. She was being so gentle, but he was holding on to my finger the whole time. Now his head can breathe a little. They turned down his oxygen one level, and if everything goes well tonight he might be off of that machine tomorrow. We are hoping that is the case.
He had his MRI this evening around 7, and the nurse said that she didn't see anything that stood out. We will have to wait until tomorrow morning to get the results from the radiologist. He did really well during the MRI, and they didn't have to give him a breathing tube which made us so happy. We are going to try to get a few hours of sleep tonight, but will head back to the hospital in the morning. I miss my little guy already.

Events of Today

So today was a very exciting day for Matt and I. They took one of the EEG machines off of Rohen and we were able to hold him for the first time. It was the most amazing feeling to just sit there and hold him in our arms. Obviously we aren't doctors, but it seemed like during the time we were holding him his brain activity was better than ever. He is still really swollen, but hopefully when they get that other machine off of him that swelling will go down and he'll be able to open his eyes. He is still on the oxygen, but the levels that they are giving him are the same levels that you and I would breathe. He is doing almost all of the work on his own. They've also increased the amount of food that he is getting each feeding. It is funny, when they put the milk in his tummy he does this little stomach roll. It's pretty cute. Today is my last day in the hospital, and we are going to go home for a real dinner that Matt's mom Audrey is making us (yum)...then we will be back to see Rohen.
Tomorrow they have scheduled an MRI sometime in the early afternoon. We are hoping that this will give us some of the answers that we have been looking for. Because there can't be any medal in the MRI they will have to remove the oxygen from his nose and put in a breathing tube. It is going to be hard to see him with another thing down his throat, but whatever it takes to help things move forward.

So what happened?

So here is the basic story. I went in to the hospital Tuesday morning for blood pressure testing and the doctor made the decision to induce. Labor was going well and some time before midnight I was dilated to a 9 and the doctors were preparing me to push. Suddenly the baby's heart rate dropped and I was rushed off for an emergency c-section. When they got Rohen out he was not breathing, and the doctors began working on him immediately. Within what seemed to be only a few short minutes he began breathing on his own and his color looked good and pink. Unfortunately he had lost some oxygen and he was very lethargic. He was rushed to Emanuel's NIC unit, and I followed shortly behind him after I was stable. Because of his meek condition the doctors made the decision to do a cooling therapy that is similar to forced Hypothermia. My understanding is that this slows everything down and gives the brain time to heal. Within the first 12 hours his brain activity had improved drastically. He was crying, opening his eyes, and suckling just like any baby would do. There was however some unusual activity that looked like it could be seizures. The doctors have put him on a low dose seizure medication which he will continue to take until seizures can be ruled out. The cooling therapy lasted 72 hours and the warming process began today. Currently his temperature is back to normal. He still has the sensors on his head for the EEG tests so his face is a little swollen. We are hoping that tomorrow they will remove the bandages from his head and the swelling will go down. Once they get they get that EEG off of him we should be able to hold him. The good news was that he did get to eat today for the first time. They have put him on a feeding schedule where he gets tube fed one teaspoon of breast milk every three hours to prepare his digestive system to receive nutrients. Tonight they rubbed a little on his lips and he loved it!



We are expecting tomorrow to be a good day, and I will make sure to let everyone know what we find out. Have a great night and keep my little Rohen in your prayers.