My First Doctor Appointment

On Wednesday the 23rd Cole and I had our first outing together. He had his first baby visit. Aunt Krista had a great idea and offered to come sit in our car with him until I could take Cole directly back to a safe room and not have to sit out in the waiting area. She met me, hopped in our car and I ran up and signed in and they said I could go get him because they already had a room waiting for him. Being a newborn heart baby, they set aside a room away from everyone for him. So Aunt Krista's call of duty was short lived, but extremely thoughtful and helpful!

We saw Dr. Cook who is one of our favorites and Cole was pretty impressed. He just layed on his blanket taking it all in. Our little peanut weighed in at 8 lbs 11 ounces! He had gained a 1/2 lb. since he came home on Friday the 18th. Before Dr. Cook came in, his nurse asked what is oxygen levels had stabilized at when he left the hospital. I told her around 92. She hooked Cole up to the O2 monitor and it read 92! I breathed a little sigh of relief (even though anything in the 80's is acceptable) because anything with a 9 in front of it right now helps us sleep a little better at night....................did I say sleep? Sorry that would be the wrong word right now, sleep no longer resides here at the Griffin house any longer:)

Dr. Cook asked how much Cole had been eating. I told him it was 120 ml. and we cut him back to 105 ml. because he was eating until he was uncomfortable. Dr. Cook said he was very pleased with everything and one last thing he said was, "I want to tell you that we don't usually see heart babies that eat this well."

Till next time...

Laura

"I Love Baby Cold"

*HOMECOMING*
As Laura, Cole, and I turned onto our street, we could see "Paw" our in our yard with the video camera. None of us could wait until Ava had a chance to meet Cole face to face...she was so excited. So much so that after we told her she could meet him after her nap, she proceeded to only sleep for a little over 1 hour (she normally sleeps for 3 hours). She wasn't this excited on Christmas morning.


As we walked into the door, Ava met us in the hallway and said "I want to see Baby Cold." When she finally saw him, she was speechless. She stood in the hallway and wanted to touch him but she was so excited that she could not bring herself to do it. Finally, she touched his head and pointed out his "eyes," "nose," and "mouf" (mouth). We thanked her for reminding us where those were.

Then, all of a sudden, she dropped her baby (doll, not Cole) in the floor and said "I want to hold Baby Cold." Those of you who know Ava also know that her baby (aka..."other baby") is the most prized thing she has and she dropped it in the floor within 5 minutes of seeing her little brother. For the next hour, we all sat on the couch together and she did nothing except kiss him, touch his hands, and hug him.

After she had a chance to get used to looking at him, I said to her "Ava, who do you love?" When asked this question, she normally launches into a list of names including "PaPa and GG," "Paw and NaNa," "Michael and 'Teba (Treva)," "Uncle Joel and Aunt Krista," "Uncle Jon and Aunt Zibi," etc...she names our entire family for the most part. However, this time she said "I LOVE BABY COLD!" It was loud and emphatic. If she said this once, she said it 5 times. It was so cool. So, as of today, it looks like we have all been replaced on Ava's totem pole of love.

She is still in the honeymoon phase with him. As I type this, she is looking at him sleep in his travel crib. What a big sister she will be.


*COLE'S CONDITION*
Earlier this morning, I spoke to one of Cole's doctors regarding his condition. He said to me "Everything looks great and I just have to tell you that we do not see babies recover this quickly from open heart surgery. Knock on wood. Even the surgeons shake their head in disbelief when she come by to check on him. We are all amazed and you just do not see recoveries go this smoothly." I told him that he has been covered in prayer since the beginning and he agreed that it must have helped. Of course it did!

One more tidbit that I thought was comical. When updating me on Cole's circumcision, the doctor said "His circumcision went very well, but there is some bruising on the shaft. The reason for the bruising is that he has an UNUSUALLY LARGE PHALLIC with large veins and bruising is normal with a large phallic." Of course, Cole's daddy had to include this story against mommy's wishes.

We will keep you all updated and in return, please continue to pray for Cole and all of the NICU Warriors.

God Bless You!

MG

From Mommy

Look at those peepers! Cole worked really hard to give you a picture with his eyes open. He loves that baby slumbering and it's so hard to open the eyes.

I have been going to see Cole during the day and then going back at night with Matt, aka Daddy. We go after Ava is in bed for the night so we have had pretty late nights. It's our slight introduction back into having a newborn at home and the hours we will be keeping.

I was afraid to touch him at first. I was so afraid I was going to hurt him with the incision and all. I saw how all the nurses were handling him and stood there in awe. I was comforted as a mommy to see it's ok to handle Cole like a normal newborn for the most part.

Today I got there just as he was starting to demand food. He's eating like a Griffin, he ate 4 oz. and wasn't too thrilled about having to stop to burp. His incision had not had any more new weeping and the whole time I was there there was nothing new!

*The Day We Have Been Waiting For*
Tomorrow is a big day for us. They told us today that Cole will be going home with us! We are so excited for him to be home with us but nervous at the same time. I feel sorry for Cole that he gets me as a mommy because I would have everyone of those monitors hooked to him 24 hours a day for the next few years if I were allowed. There will be much eye rolling from him as he grows up because I feel I will be quite the hovercraft. Poor Cole.

We'll post tomorrow's homecoming!

Until then thank you all for your prayers, they have held this family up, especially this mommy who has had quite the pin ball machine of emotions this last week and a half. We love all of you and your support means more to us than you will ever know!

Some Pics For Your Enjoyment

Update on Cole

*UPDATE ON COLE*

We went to see Cole last night and he is doing very, very well. The nurses told us that even the surgeons have said things like "I cannot believe how well he is doing and how quickly he is recovering."

He is currently in the Neonatal Progressive Care Unit (NPCU) and the only thing keeping him from coming home is his incision and his upcoming circumcision. His incision is still having a small amount of secretion and they are applying ointment and monitoring it closely - making sure there is no infection. Other than that, everything else is a go. He was 8 lbs, 5 ozs at birth and usually babies lose a little bit of weight before they go home, especially after a surgery. Most expected a weight loss of around 1 lb. Well, Cole is still 8 lbs, 1 oz which means he has only lost 4 ozs! More great news.

Laura had a chance to feed him last night and he ate like a Griffin - a lot. He looked around a good bit and he has pretty blue eyes. Also, his "GG" got to hold him and whisper sweet nothings in his ear. No matter which way we slice it, he is doing incredibly well and it is a matter of days before he gets to come home and meet his sister. To God Be The Glory, Great Things He Has Done!

Laura is visiting him as I type and she will post an update later with pictures.



*UPDATE ON DEANNA*

Last night we stopped by the 6th floor waiting room where Brianna had been staying/living/sleeping and did not see her there. This worried us a little and after speaking to one of her friends, we learned that DeAnna had been taken off of the ECMO machine the day before and she did not make it. It made our hearts sink to hear that, but at the same time, DeAnna is better off now because "Heaven just got a little bit sweeter." However, it has to be hell on earth for her mom Brianna. I sent her an e-mail last night and so far have not received a response. I told her not to worry about responding, but that we wanted her to know how sorry we were.

Cole is out of CVICU!

*UPDATE ON COLE*

Hello all-

Here are some pictures from the CVICU. We intentionally waited until a day AFTER his surgery to take these pics. This is a "PG 13" view of what he looked like with all of the wires, IVs, drainage tubes, and incisions. It was tough seeing him like this, but just "knowledge for knowledge sake," this is what he looked like. That last quote was for Cole's uncle, Joel, who loves to say that! :-)

We figured that if you wanted to see what it looked like, you would enjoy the pics. If the pics bother you, then please take comfort in the fact that Cole has been moved out of the CVICU and back into the NICU. He is on his way to the Progressive Care Unit and that is the last step before he comes home.

*Sunday*
Laura and I had a chance to go visit Cole yesterday and it really was the first time during this entire event where even a minor setback had occured. The nurses told us that he had sneezed a few times and that there was some excretions from his incisions. They placed him on a strong anti-biotic in order to ward off a potential infection and/or sickness. Also during this visit, Laura had a chance to feed him again and to change his diaper. This was a bit of a challenge since both of us were watching his oxygen levels like a junkyard dog while we were feeding him. While we should have been concentrating on him, we were concentrating on the machines. Then, when Laura changed his diaper, Cole decided it was time to relieve himself all over her hand. He marked his territory! I could envision him saying "move back daddy, this is MY mommy!" He then decided to perform an encore by ripping off some feces all over Laura's hand. We had heard about covering up the "unit" while changing a boy's diaper, but since he had just uninated, we thought he was on "E." We were wrong. He had a blast peeing and crapping all over her. I did managed to assist Laura by standing there with my jaw open observing. A lot of help I was!

When we returned home, we were both a little anxious about the possibility of having Cole at home and not knowing how to deal with all of this. Needless to say, it was a rough night.

*Monday*
Well, JOY came this morning! Laura went back to visit Cole this morning and as soon as she got there, they were "taking the handcuffs off" or unhooking him. They informed her that he was doing so well, that they wanted to move him straight into the Progressive Care Unit, but that there was not an available bed at the moment. Instead, they decided to send him back to the NICU just so he could be monitored. None of us minded that, because that meant that he would maybe get to see Debbie Morgan, who is a NICU nurse and a Godsend for Cole. She took care of him like one of her own the first time around, and we had requested her again. Today she had a different baby, but she is signed up to watch him tomorrow, IF he is still there. We are all hoping that he will be in the Progressive Care Unit by then.

Since we mentioned Debbie, we would be remiss if we did not also thank Sarah Love, who is our next door neighbor and who recommended Debbie to us. They both are truly appreciated by us and there is really nothing that we can do to repay them for what they have done for our family.

Laura was able to hold Cole for a long time today and sang several praise songs to him. He ate like a champ and looked into her eyes when she sang. I just thought that was awesome and wish I had been there to see it.

We are going back tonight and might post another update this evening/tomorrow morning.



*UPDATE ON DEANNA*

Since the previous update on Brianna (mom) and DeAnna (baby girl), we have been getting questions on how they are doing. We spoke to Brianna last night and she said that DeAnna has not gotten any worse, which is good news. She is still on the ECMO machine and needs to get stronger. Please continue to lift her up. Right now, every extra minute for her is a gift from God.

Cole's first meal takes a back seat.

Tonight Laura and I had the chance to visit Cole and feed him his first meal. More on that in a second. What is really on our hearts tonight is a conversation we had with a young lady at the CVICU. The story is long but worth it in my opinion.

THE LADY
Wednesday night around 10:30 pm, Laura and I were snooping around the Levine Children's Hospital trying to find the waiting room where we would be the next morning. The only person is the waiting room that night was an unforgettable lady. She was VERY friendly and looked up from her laptop with a big smile and said "hello" as we were trying to slip out unnoticed. We chatted for a bit and she informed us that Dr. Watts and Dr. Baird were operating on her 2 month old little girl at that moment and had been for over 10 hours. She was about 5 feet tall and probably would not weigh 90 pounds soaking wet after Thanksgiving dinner. How she had a baby only 2 months earlier is beyond me. She was very sweet and upbeat....very encouraging....the type of person that makes others feel good about themselves. I remember thinking that night that I wish everyone had the same demeanor as this young lady. Anyways, I must confess that I thought to myself and actually mentioned to Laura something that I am ashamed to admit now.

My selfish, scientific mind took over and I said "Wow, that is not good. If Dr. Watts and Dr. Baird are STILL here at 11 pm tonight that means that even if they finish up the surgery before midnight, by the time they scrub up and get home, they will not get to sleep before 1-2 am. They are supposed to be here at 7 am to begin surgery on our little boy. That means they would probably be arriving at the hospital around 6:30 am to scrub up (Pre-Ops), which puts them leaving their houses at 6 am and getting up around 5 am. So, if they get to bed at 2 am and have to get up at 5 am, that is only 3 hours of sleep. I do not want someone operating on our little boy on 3 hours of sleep. This is not a college exam, this is a life and death situation. Surely, they will delay Cole's surgery, right?"

Well, they did not delay Cole's surgery and everything went picture perfect. Come to think of it, after Laura and I saw Cole first thing after his surgery, we saw another baby girl in the room next to him that looked like her chest had been ripped open and she had been bleeding all over the table. Laura and I both saw the mom slumped over the bed and we looked away quickly before we could determine if this was the same girl or not. We both agreed later that it was. Later on we found out that the baby girl had been placed on the Heart/Jung machine.

Now that I have laid the groundwork for this story, fast forward with me to tonight. Laura and I were making our way into the CVICU as we talked about how well our son has been doing when we ran into this same girl. I asked her how her baby was doing and she just shook her head slowly. I am not sure why, but I felt compelled to ask her more so I turned and faced her and said "so, what is up, what is going on?" Her answer made we wish I did not ask. She said "my baby girl is fighting, she is just in there looking around at us....she is on the "ECMO" machine (a type of life support machine) and the doctors have told me that if her muscles do not get stronger, that there is nothing more they can do." I felt like someone had mule kicked me in the stomach. What do you say to a stranger whose 2 month old bundle of joy is about to die? Laura broke down and started to cry while this lady hugged her and encouraged her. "It's ok, don't cry....it's ok, don't cry." That is all she kept saying. That trumped anything that happened tonight and it makes me realize how fragile life can be. A baby can be doing well, and then one thing goes wrong, and bang.....they are gone.


COLE
After we composed ourselves, we went in to see Cole and he is doing so well that it makes us feel a little guilty. No matter what stage of this we have been in, we always see someone worse off. His oxygen levels have been between 95 and 80 (out of a possible 100) and were around 85 when we arrived. Anything north of 70 is good for him considering that he is less than 24 hours removed from heart surgery. He is totally off of the breathing machine and has been breathing on his own since 8:30 Friday morning. At least 3 nurses have said things to us like "he is doing so well" and "I cannot believe how well he is doing and how quickly he is recovering." Laura was able to feed him his first meal out of a bottle. He drank just over 1 ounce of Pedialyte and drank so fervently that his breathing slowed down. It was not a big deal because once we pulled the bottle away, his oxygen levels returned. One other cool thing was that she leaned over and put her head right up against his and sang him a song under her breath. Her voice was heavenly. I know she thinks she cannot sing, but I love to hear her sing and to watch her sing to our little boy hit me like Hiroshima. Anyways, he is doing GREAT.

Please continue to pray for Cole, but also life up the NICU warriors and especially this little girl that might die tonight. As we were leaving the hospital, we saw about a dozen of this girl's family showing up. Family arriving at 10:30 pm on a Friday night with heavy hearts....you do the math.

Anways, that is about all my fingers can handle tonight. Thanks for listening.


SATURDAY NIGHT UPDATE on "the lady"
Her name is Brianna and her little lady's name is Deanna. The doctor's gave her baby another 24 hours to be on the heart/lung machine and the baby's heart rate seems to be improving. She still needs to either get stronger but any improvement is great news. Please keep praying for her, and please put her above us on your prayer list. I know that sounds weird because you guys do not know her, and I know we all have requests, but her situations seems to be dire. Thanks.

Cole is doing well.

Aunt Krista, Laura and I had a chance to go into the CVICU and visit Cole around 12 noon today and he looks great. He is doing very well. Basically, the best way I can describe it is to imagine a baby boy sleeping on a table...then imagine about 20-30 wires/cords hooked up to him and extending over to a wall of electronics. There is a small drainage tube that drains the excess blood off of his heart but there is very little blood in it meaning that his internal bleeding is minimal. Laura and I had previously toured the CVICU and had seen other babies hooked up in a similar fashion and that helped lessen the shock of seeing Cole "wired up." Others would probably break down if they were to see him like this, and we might have also if we had not seen what it would be like beforehand.

He still looks handsome - a very soft looking face with nice sized arms and legs. Compared to the average baby they see, he is 30-40% larger. Even the nurse had to comment that he was "a beautiful baby."

Please keep praying. More updates as we get them.

Surgery Successful!

Dr. Watts and Dr. Baird made the skin incision at 9 am this morning and the shunt was successfully installed. There was very little bleeding and Cole only needed 30 cc's of blood cells ("very little" according to the Docs). There is a small tube in his side to allow some of the fluid to drain out and he is on a ventilator right now but will be weaned off over the next day or so. He is en route to the CVICU and we should be able to see him soon. They said that everything went very well and that they were completely done at 10:30 am, but monitored him until 11:30 am just to make sure. To God Be The Glory!

More updates as we get them.

Surgery Going Well

The Doctors have sent word to us that the surgery has gone well so far and that they are closing him up as I type. We are in the 5th floor waiting room at the Levine Children's Hospital. The technology is so great here that we are tracking Cole's surgery on a flat screen LCD display. More updates as soon as we get them.

Update on Surgery, Housekeeping, Prayers

Hi all-

This is Cole's daddy writing and I will lead off with a warning that this will be a LONG blog entry. It will contain a lot of information and answer many of the questions that you all have been asking as he gets ready to have surgery. I will try to help you navigate through this entry by using some subtitles so that you can only read the part that that you have an interest in. Also, we love the comments and will respond to questions asked in these comments. This is the best way to contact us and ask us questions.


HOUSEKEEPING
Please be aware that all of our immediate family has been overwhelmed with the outpouring of love, support, and caring that you have expressed and we continue to covet your prayers. Our friends and family are very important to us and we LOVE each and every one of you very much. Thank you all for everything.

With that being said, we created this blog for a couple of reasons. First, we wanted to give everyone a medium that they could check at their own leisure for updates on Cole's delivery, surgeries, and recovery. Second, we wanted to try to reduce the abundance of calls, e-mails, etc. to us and our family members. So far, the blog has only helped with the first issue. We need to ask for a reprieve at this time from phone calls, e-mails, etc.

Just this morning Laura and I had a chance to visit and hold Cole in the NICU for about 30 minutes. It was great, but I got 5 phone calls on my cell phone in those 30 minutes. My mom informed me that she got 27 calls just yesterday alone, while my sisters are averaging 15-20 calls/e-mails per day. I know everyone is concerned for us and cares for us and we appreciate that. It means the world to us that we are loved this much, BUT at the same time we all do not have the time nor the energy to speak to everyone individually and that is why we created this blog.

Please understand that we can no longer field the staggering numbers of phone calls and e-mails that continue to arrive on an hourly basis. Due to the immediate medical urgency, the initial blog updates were delayed but we anticipate a more frequent update on Cole going forward. We appreciate every call, prayer, and e-mail but please do not expect a return phone call during this time. We will keep everyone updated on this site and will call you folks if we need anything. Please do not take this request as us "not caring" or anything like that. Thank you for understanding.

Obviously this would not apply if we forgot to e-mail you the blog site or if you do not have a PC. I know that there are some extenuating circumstances for some of the calls, but this is the minority.

SURGERY
As most of you know by now, Cole has several congenital heart defects. The first defect is that his septum (the part of the heart that separates his left ventricle from his right ventricle) is not formed thus allowing the blood to "mix." Also, the 2 "great vessels," the aorta and pulmonary artery, are transposed and his pulmonary artery is completely closed. This means that if nothing were to be done, blood would not be able to flow from his heart to his lungs and thus would be fatal. However, through a series of surgeries called the "Fontan Procedure" they can fix this problem my rerouting some of the plumbing in his heart. This allows his heart to function as a single ventricle heart.

The Fontan Procedure is a series of 3 surgeries. The surgeries will take place when he is 2-5 days old, 3-4 months old, and then finally 2-3 years old. Well, his first surgery is scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday) morning at 7 am and should be over around 11 am. Dr. Watts and Dr. Baird will be performing the surgery at CMC Main in Charlotte, NC. A "shunt" will be installed in his heart and will take the place of his defective pulmonary artery effectively allowing the blood to flow from his heart to his lungs. This will happen tomorrow. He will need 3-5 days to recover from this surgery and will be placed in the Levine Children's Hospital CVICU (Cardiovascular ICU) with 1 on 1 supervision during this time. Then, once he has recovered from that, he will move back into the NICU where they will begin teaching him how to eat so that he can gain weight. Lastly, he will move into the "Progressive" unit where they will prepare him to come home. Babies that have this procedure done usually spend about a month in the hospital before coming home but because of his size and strength, they are estimating Cole can come home within 2 weeks.

COLE THOMAS
As you all see, Cole is a beautiful little boy. How could he not be? He is, after all, my son. :-) He has chubby cheeks that feel like cashmere and a perfectly round head. His hair is dark and very thin on top, but thick and curly around the sides and back of his head. Almost like a man with male pattern baldness - it is so cute! I could go on and on about him, but I think that the pictures posted here are worth more than my words will be.



LAURA
I have 2 heroes in my life and have always told these two people so. The first one is my dad (thanks for everything dad, I Love You!) and the second one is my beautiful wife Laura. Just to watch her give birth to our children is a blessing. I was there, right beside her, helping her count and holding her hand, but I felt like I was an onlooking angel as I watched her. Dr. Hershey, who administered Laura's epidural, is a rock star in our eyes. When it came time to push, the nurse literally had to tell Laura when she was having a contraction and when to push. According to Laura, she felt VERY little and after less than 10 minutes of pushing, baby Cole was born! This was a huge answer to prayer because when Laura had Ava, her epidural had worn off and she had to push for over 2 hours. Quite a difference! Laura is at home in bed resting. She is feeling good and as long as I can keep her stubborn tale from running any marathons or doing any yard work, I am sure she will heal quickly. What a warrior she is. Lovely, I thank you so much for our son - he is wonderfully and beautifully made and I could not ask for anything more as my wife or our children's mommy.



NICU
The neonatal intensive care unit is quite a site. If you can imagine the entire hospital as being a war, then the NICU is the front line of defense and we have our Navy Seals/Army Rangers/Marine Special Forces in there. I was told that only the best of the best nurses are allowed to work there, and I thank God for that.

Cole has quite a challenge ahead of him and he will need a lot of strength and prayer to get through his ordeal. HOWEVER, let me just tell you all that if you were to walk into the NICU and look at Cole and then look at the other babies, you would say to yourself "wow, he looks perfect, why is he here?" There is one baby that weighs 13 ounces, there is another one who was born with his intestines OUTSIDE of his body. It is horrible. There are families in the hallways crying out loud - it is TOUGH. I say this only to ask that whenever you guys pray for Cole, please do us a favor and also pray for the other babies in the NICU. We call them the NICU warriors. I find myself thanking God that my child does not have it as bad off as some of those other little angels. I know that is a bad attitude, but I am just being honest.

AVA
While Laura and I have been at the hospital, Ava's "Pa" and "Nana" have been watching her. Thanks so much for that! Ava is the most important person in our life and you guys watching her means the world to us. They have said that Ava has been incredibly sweet and understanding throughout all of this. She has behaved and cooperated for them. Occasionally, she will have a day where she acts her age (2) and because she spoils us the other 98% of the time, it is tough for us to deal with those days. Being without her mommy and daddy has been tough for her but she is excited and cannot wait to meet "Baby Brother Cold." She can't say "Cole" so she calls him "Cold."

Cole Thomas Griffin is here!

My handsome nephew was born at 3:53 pm today - January 7, 2008 at 8 lbs 4.6 oz, 20 inches long. He is doing well, as are his mom and dad. He is in NICU and breathing on his own awaiting surgery in a few days. I will let Matt & Laura fill you in on those details...just wanted to get a few photos for everyone to see. Keep those prayers coming for our little man!

"Auntie K"

Happy New Year 2008!

Well, 2008 is here and still no baby yet. We were all hoping for the tax deduction too!

Things are still going very well. I was able to take about 7-10 days off around the holidays to spend time with Laura, Ava, and the rest of our family. Laura is doing incredibly well but she is starting to have a hard time moving around. Little things like rolling over in bed or trying to give Ava a bath are becoming more difficult and more painful for her. Also, we had a little scare about 10 days ago when Laura and I attended the Panthers-Cowboys game. Due to the long walk required from the parking lot into the stadium, Laura started to have some Braxton Hicks (redneck translation: false alarm contractions). Luckily, once we got home and she was able to lie down and relax, they went away.

Now on to the size of this big fella. About 3 weeks ago, Laura and I had a Doctor's appointment when they informed us that were Cole to be born on that day, he would be 7 lbs 11 ozs. Folks, that was 3 weeks ago and they can gain anywhere from 0.5 to 0.75 lbs per week at the end of the pregnancy. Right now we are all just hoping that he is in the single digits when all is said and done. I think all involved would take a 9+ pounder and feel lucky that he was not 10-11 lbs. Although, maybe I should have let Laura type this portion. :-) Sorry honey!

As we stand now, the induction is still scheduled for Jan 7th, 2008 so we are one week away and counting. Ava was born 2 days AFTER her due date so we all think that Cole will hold out for the 7th probably......but one never knows for sure.

Well, that is all for now. HAPPY NEW YEAR and thanks for all of ya'alls prayers, thoughts, cards, prayers, gifts, prayers, etc.....They all mean a lot to us, but the prayers are what we covet.

God Bless!

MG