October 12, 2002 - I got a call from the doctor on call over at Alta Bates NICU informing me that our baby was being  transferred to Children's Hospital in Oakland, CA because he is passing some bloody stools. It turns out that our little one has Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) a very serious bowel disorder in which a portion of the bowel wall is damaged or dies. He was scheduled for surgery that same afternoon. The surgeon told us that his intestines where very inflamed and part of his intestines where brought to the surface of his abdomen so that rest of his intestines could heal. This is known as a stoma or  ileostomy. Until he is bigger and healthier Armand would have to stool into a bag attached to his abdomen.

October 18, 2002 - Armand, Jr. has been stable all week. After the surgery he was put on a ventilator to help him breathe.  He hasn't improved nor has he gotten any better. At this point I don't think I could handle losing another child with out having a serious nervous breakdown. Our son was really in a grave situation and he needed a lot of prayers and love (which he got plenty of) from family and friends. This afternoon Dr. Mickas informs us that our son would require another surgery on his heart for a condition known as Patent (Open) Ductus Arteriosus (PDA).  Thus, our son is not getting enough oxygenated blood, pumped through his heart. If  the opening to his heart was not closed up it could cause serious damage to his heart and lungs. Like NEC, a PDA is a common condition among premature babies. One good thing that Dr. Mickas did mention was that we should actually start seeing an improvement in Armand, Jr.'s overall condition after the surgery to close up this PDA..

November 9, 2002 - Our Scooter Booter has improved a lot and he  finally got off the ventilator (extubated).  However about 5 days later he had to go back on the ventilator again. I wasn't too surprised because he was really starting to breathe extremely hard and I think his lungs just had enough.

November 20, 2002 - Armand is still on the ventilator and desaturating a lot. He is also retaining fluid which might indicate that he may be getting sick with some type of infection again. However they taken numerous test and culture and everything is coming up negative.  He hasn't been gaining a lot of weight, so today he will start getting fed breast milk through his NG tube. Also because he is still desaturating he may possibly be given a steroid to help with his lung disease. One of the side effects of the steroid drug is that it may cause intestinal bleeding! My goodness his intestines are already fragile and I can only imagine the effects that this would have on his intestines.

November 21, 2002 - Hooray! The power of prayer works. I was already apprehensive about Armand taking the steroid drug for his lungs. I went home and prayed and miraculously his desaturation levels have come down a bit.. Or maybe he just needed some breast milk. Whatever the case something is going right!  And he didn't have to take any of the steroids. His primary nurse Renda Reynolds will be so happy when she returns on Monday!

November 22, 2002 - Armand is still continuing to keep his desaturation levels down and they've also increased his feedings to 4 cc's every 4 hours! Let's see he is already weighing in at 5 lbs. 7 oz.... so  I guess all the preemie clothes that I've purchased can go back to the store.  :-)

November 24, 2002 - I went t the hospital this afternoon along with Dad and his brothers Osiris and Mizzell. When we  got there it was nice to see Dr. Mickas there. Dr. Mickas was the first doctor that we met when Armand, Jr. was first admitted to Children's Hospital. As far as dealing with parents and explaining to us exactly what we could expect with our son's condition and being nice and caring at the same time - Dr. Mickas is the man! Well anyway when he came to our son's bedside he told me that they where going to take him off the ventilator that afternoon. Yeeeaaaahhhhh! What a wonderful Sunday surprise. Now I can pick up Armand, Jr. and hold him in my arms once again. Oh how I have longed for this moment.

December 14, 2002 - Wow a lot has happened since my last update. Armand, Jr. is still off the ventilator. His feedings have been increased then decreased and then held at 35 cc's. Unfortunately he wasn't absorbing all of his milk very well which resulted in him outputting a lot of stool in his bag. Thus, for almost two weeks he was getting his bag changed at least 4 times per day! And I'm probably underestimating that figure. After experimenting with several different bag types and adding something to his breast milk/formula we are finally at a point where his bag is getting changed about once a day. Thank goodness because  I was even starting to lose it with his bag changes. I didn't know how many more my baby could endure.  Also after losing a little weight and then gaining again our son is now weighing in at 6lbs., 10 oz.  I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE HOW FAR WE'VE COME.... HOORAY!

January 3, 2003 - It's been a while since my last update and a lot has happened since then. On Christmas Eve Armand, Jr. fell ill and it turns out that he was battling two infections. A urinary tract infection and a yeast infection. When I saw Armand on December 23rd I was feeling a little weird myself and I though that I was catching a cold. You can imagine my anxiety and guilt when I found out Armand was not feeling well, but relieved that it wasn't something that I passed on to him. However I wasn't able to send Christmas with him because on that day the doctors still did not know what type of infection he was fighting. This was very sad for me because I wanted to spend Christmas son put he was sick. Well today our son is doing a lot better after being given some antibiotics, which he is still on. Armand also had his first 'haircut" at the hospital, as the nurses had to insert his main I.V. in through his scalp. There was a possibility that the one in his arm, which he's had since he was 12 days old, was infected. It was hard seeing Armand with his hair shaved off on each side, but I guess that it is small thing compared to everything else that he's been through.  Today he is weighing in at 8 lbs., 2 oz. Yippee!

January 15, 2003 - Today was a big day for Armand, Jr.! The surgeons finally reconnected his intestines. His surgery was scheduled for 10:40 a.m. so I went up there around 9:00 a.m. He is so funny! When I walked in he was just squirming and moving around. I thought he was going to wiggle his body of the warming table! It turns out that he was hungry because he was NPO'd (feedings discontinued) at 12:00 a.m. because of his surgery later that morning. Well, at least he was alert and very energetic because I was able to play with him before he went to surgery. Of course I shed some tears because my son didn't have a clue as to what he was about to go through. But, I must say that I am a lot stronger than I was during his first surgery. The surgery, to reconnect him took a little bit longer than expected. I was told that it would take six hours but it went a little over, more like eight hours. After the sixth hour you could only imagine what I was thinking... but I remained hopeful. I left the hospital before Armand, Jr. got out of surgery. It was getting late and I was starting to get a little edgy. However, Dr. Betts (the surgeon) called last night to let us know that he was doing fine. Dr. Betts had to remove some of his deaden intestine, reconnect his stoma, and remove his appendix. He would pretty much look the same, lots of tubes running from various parts of his body, heavily sedated, and puffy from the fluid retention. I was not prepared to see my son the next morning. I was afraid that it would bring back feelings and emotions of his first surgery.

January 16, 2003 - As I was scrubbing up to go into the nursery to see Armand, Jr. this morning you know the tears started coming! However, I just went ahead and dashed right in there to see my son. Surprisingly, he looked handsome. Swollen? Puffy? Yes! But, he just looked like a cute, brown-skinned, 10 lbs. baby! He had a lot of tubes (I.V.'s, catheter, etc.) hooked up to him but Armand, Jr. looked good! Renda combed his hair and cleaned him up and it just made me forget all about what he had been through. He looked comfortable (due to the morphine) and he actually responded to sounds and touching. We still have a ways to go but today, was yet another reminder that God is beside us.