Here's Looking at You Kid

Max gives his crowd a little wink!

The last couple of days have been pretty eventful for little Maxwell. He was doing so well that the doctors decided to take out his nasal cannula (the little tubes in his nose) and vapotherm. So basically he was breathing regular air just like you and I. However, after a couple of days he got a little tired of not having his extra air and was put on a very low dose of blended air and oxygen. He is now much happier and breathing much better.

He has now begun to steadily increase his weight each day, but some days he may lose 10-20 grams. Max is staying pretty steady above his birth weight of 1220 grams, which now stands around 1280 grams or roughly 2 lbs 13 oz. As expected he lost a little weight after birth, but the doctors are happy with his current increase.

I have been doing my best to time my diaper changes when Max won't have a No. 2 to change. Luckily I can kind of gauge when this will happen based on when his last feeding was. I'm not afraid of changing those dirty diapers, I just would rather let Colleen do it, haha. So when Colleen went to change his dirty diaper at night, which included a No. 2, Max was being pretty active. So active that when Colleen was not looking evidently he swung his arm into the danger zone and got a little "stuff" on his tiny little fingers. So when he went to touch his face he got his very first natural facial wash. Luckily Colleen and the nurse noticed the small amount of residue on his face and immediately cleaned him up. After we gave his little face a wash Max gave us a little wink. Which is his way saying, "you guys ain't seen nothin' yet".

Max getting his face washed

We found the guilty hand...

The best decorated room in the NICU

When Colleen and I first arrived at the children's hospital in Nashville we were very disoriented and just wanted to find Max's room. The NICU is setup with 8 or 9 different pods, and each pod contains about 4 private rooms for your preemie. After the front desk lady explained the enter and exit procedure for entering the secured NICU area she then told us Max was in Pod I, which was later termed "iPod" by my mother. Since I stayed in Madisonville with Colleen after Max was first born, we were not the first people to enter Max's pod and room. As we entered the pod we noticed that most of the rooms had special signs and decorations for their specific patient. I remember thinking as we approached Max's room, "I wish our room could be decorated like this". Lo and behold a little elf (thanks mom/grandma) had gotten to Max's room and made his door decorations the envy of all the pods.

Kim straightens the newly cut border

Almost there...

One piece left, phew

Ahh, the final product brought to you by "Kim's Kreations"

Little dog watches over Maxwell

Max has had a great week and is quickly approaching his two week birthday! Most of the problems he has had this week seem to have been corrected by the decision making of the doctors and the great nursing care he has been receiving. He has made great strides with his heart and lung development. His eyes even opened for the first time this week! Max actually has blue eyes right now, but we are told the color could change throughout the next year.

Max says, "Hello World"

Our Daily Milestones

Everyday Colleen and I wake up and prepare ourselves for a roller coaster of emotions and hope. We feel thus far we have been very lucky, because Max has been so strong willed as each day brings its own set of progress and milestones. When we arrive at the hospital early in the morning hoping to catch Max's team of doctors we try and ask as many questions as possible. We are starting to learn more medical terminology, but half of the stuff that Colleen writes in her notebook everyday, as we interrogate the doctors, we have no idea what it means. It just makes us feel like we are doing the best job in monitoring and taking care of our little boy. Luckily the doctors are very patient and thorough with every question and concern we ask, but I think Colleen has a head start on her question asking due to her endless obsession with Grey's Anatomy. She likes to reference the "fiction" television show whenever I ask about the doctor lingo or hospital hierarchy. But lucky for me none of the doctors are akin to Dr. Sheppard's looks.

One of the main issues with premature babies of Max's age is the "gut" working properly. Basically what I mean by gut is the process of feed and other fluids getting transferred through the digestive system. His "No. 1" process has been working just fine, as noted in a previous entry (Colleen getting her hands a little wet while changing his micro-diaper), but the "No. 2" action was yet to come. That was until recently. Colleen and I had been sort of rotating who gets to change the diaper. And so it was my turn to do the diaper change. When I opened him up expecting to just do the routine pee diaper change, I was a little panicked when I saw this tar like substance (which is normal--called meconium) in his diapers. I would not recommend a google search on meconium, unless you are prepared for it. So I immediately bailed and called for backup--Colleen. She swooped in there and cleaned him up and had changed his diaper right away. Glad she has the motherly instinct, because before Max was born she would have gotten a little queasy at the sight of something this grotesque.

About to bail this diaper change!

The happy mommy after an eventful diaper change

Starring Colleen as Captain Kangaroo

The biggest event to happen in the past few days is called “kangaroo care.” Since little Max is so used to being near his Momma, it is highly beneficial for him to receive skin-to-skin contact with her. So Colleen has had a few opportunities to hold little Max. Today he decided to have the hiccups when she was holding him. They were awfully loud noises for such a little man. When the doctors came in to do rounds it made it hard to concentrate on what they were saying because he just demanded all the attention! We love our kangaroo time because it gives us a chance to bond as a family. Between songs, reading books, and just touching our son, it is the best time of day.

Max is read his first book, Thanks Partenheimer's!

The doctors remain optimistic about Max’s progress. His main job while here is to grow, grow, grow. Thankfully, he is doing well with digesting his food and his “meals” have been steadily increasing in size. Before we know it he’ll be eating nonstop, just like his dad!

Thank you again for all your well-wishes. We may not have the opportunity to respond to each message, but each message is definitely read and appreciated.

John and Colleen begin being "Parents"

Every couple of hours the nurses perform routine care for little Max. The care includes diaper changes, temperature, weight, blanket changes and more. Colleen and I have watched the nurses complete the care a couple of times now and every time they ask if we would like to be involved in the process. It can be quite daunting at first, but Sunday we started taking baby steps to be included with his care. I picked the one task that I thought would cause the least amount of harm if something went wrong, the ever dangerous temperature reading.

Nervously prepare the thermometer

Lifting Max's little arm to read his temperature

Colleen had the duty of changing Max's diaper and blanket. She was pretty excited, because to change his blanket Colleen had to lift Max in the air while the nurse changed out the blanket. The really amusing part came when she went to change his diaper Max decided he was not quite done with the previous diaper, so her hands got a little wet.

Colleen gets excited while lifting Max for the first time

Max continues to impress us everyday, and more importantly the doctors are very pleased with where he is right now. The doctors and nurses here at Vanderbilt are top notch and we are very pleased with the treatment Max has received. Colleen and I make sure we get the real details of Max's status each morning from the doctors and they continue to have great things to say about his progress and his future. We still have many hurdles to overcome, so keep Max in your thoughts and prayers as he continues his journey back home.

Max goes to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital

Max arrived at the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital just a couple of hours after being delivered from Madisonville, KY. I stayed with Colleen at RMC in Madisonville until she was discharged late Saturday evening. She was very focused and determined to be with her newborn son after recovering from surgery only 18 hours earlier. It can be very difficult to deny a new mother anything when it comes to her son. The doctors gave her the green light to be discharged, with a list of restrictions, and we were on our way to Nashville immediately. But I will admit I am very surprised to see how good she looked and carried herself after this whole event. Colleen and myself have entered into a new realm of life. We both will continue to adapt and learn all the new tasks and responsibilities that are now required from us. However, for me right now it seems my role is to be the chief supporter, motivator and remember-er of information when Colleen is resting. All of which are important aspects of a successful journey to get Max home for Colleen's birthday in late April.

VCH was kind enough to reserve a room right down the hall from Max for Colleen and I Saturday night to actually get some much needed R&R. I can't say they were the most comfortable beds in the world, but when you haven't had real real sleep in over 40 hours anything would have sufficed.

When we came in to visit Max before the doctors came into to do their rounds, we noticed Max had left us a little Valentine's Day note. Sorry Colleen, but I think this was the best Valentine's Day gift ever!



Colleen and I are very thankful to have such a supportive group of family and friends. Thank you to everyone for your help and support. I know Max has thrown a wrinkle into what "we thought" would happen, but the quick response from our family and friends is something you can never take for granted. I know the new grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc. are very excited and look forward to watching our little guy grow.

















John and Colleen saying hi to Max













Colleen being silly

Baby Maxwell Franklin Hunt Gets a Head Start on Life

I
Maxwell decided February 12, 2010 was a better date to enter this world than the May 11th due date determined by the doctors. He sure did not give Colleen and I much notice. One moment we were returning from our "Pre-Valentine's Day Date" and the next moment we are coming to the realization that Max is coming this night no matter what.

We were all worried and praying for the best as Colleen approached the OR for the emergency cesarean section. But we all knew Colleen and Max would fight to the very end. Taking into account the circumstances the surgery was very successful. However, as soon as Max entered the world he was whisked away to the nicu prep area to ensure all his vitals were good and give his lungs a little help. Luckily Max is a strong baby even at 27 weeks and 3 days, as he was brought back into the OR for Colleen and I to see his precious face.

The birth weight for Max was a whopping 2 lbs 11 oz, which is actually in the upper tier for babies in this age bracket. Once we returned from the OR we had to make the decision where to send Max in the next couple hours. Regional Medical Center did a fantastic job delivering Max, but they are not setup for premies 32 weeks and below. We made the decision to send him to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville, TN. Our first impressions were great when one of the three medical personnel with the Vanderbilt "Angel" transportation group came up to our room after the quick drive from Nashville and explained what we would be going through in next 24 to 48 hours.

The next step was the transportation from Madisonville, KY to Nashville, TN. Max is shown to the right in his mobile incubator fitted with all the necessary monitors and safety equipment to handle the one and half hour drive. We knew he would be in good hands during this important journey. Colleen is hoping to be discharged from the hospital at some point Saturday and join Max in Nashville later that night. We have been though a lot in the past 24 hours and our hopes remain 100% positive. But we are still very aware of the uphill battle we have from here.

More pictures...


John and Max


John finger vs. Max finger


Colleen and Max


Colleen on "Cloud 9"