The NICU

The kids were taken across the street to the NICU at East Tennessee Children's Hospital. As I was mainly unconscious the first week, I have to rely on their discharge papers for most of the info I'm about to share with you.

Jonathan Carl

Due to respiratory distress and possible infection, Jonathan was considered critical and unstable when he first arrived at the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 3 hours, then a CPAP for 6 hours. After that he was on room air and stable consistently. Test results showed that there was no infection, so he received no antibiotics. His cranial ultrasound was normal. He received phototherapy for one day. He started taking bottle feedings June 26 and fed exclusively from a bottle after the 27th. Jonathan was circumcised on June 30. He was discharged from the hospital on July 6th.

Zachary Franklin

Zachary had the same prognosis as Jonathan upon arriving at the NICU. He was on the ventilator for 2-3 hours and then on room air and stable. He also had no infections and received no antibiotics. His cranial ultrasound was normal. He received phototherapy for 1 day. He started feeding from a bottle exclusively on June 25. Zachary was circumcised on June 30 and discharged with Jonathan on July 6th.

Reagan Leanne

Reagan was also considered critical, but unlike J and Z, she was stable. She was on hood oxygen for 2 hours and then on room air doing fine. She had no infections. Her cranial ultrasound was normal. She received phototherapy for 2 days. She began bottle feeding on June 25 and was discharged on July 6th with Jonathan and Zachary.

I was able to go and see them every day for at least a little while. I was never able to stay very long because I was so weak myself.

Thomas is a separate post. Since he had more issues, I'll talk about him later. These three came home together. They were 16 days old. My parents had come to Knoxville the night they were born and stayed until I seemed on the mend, returning to Memphis on June 25. They had come back to Knoxville on the 30th when I was discharged from the hospital, and were still there when these three came home. Aunt Jodie and Cousin Kinley, who had also come and gone when the babies were born, flew in from Memphis on the 6th to welcome the kiddos home too, so Jim and I had lots of help, thank goodness! More on all our help and visitors later!

Welcome Home, Jonathan, Zachary, and Reagan!