The End!

Madden was discharged from the NICU at around 2:45pm on Sunday December 18th.  Matt and I took an infant CPR class at 1:00, after which they allowed little Madden to be sent home with us to begin her new little life completely free of monitors.

The only thing doctors have asked us to be careful of, with this first flu season, is to try and keep Madden away from illness as much as possible.  Although her immune system is fine, if she was to catch a cold, her trachea may not handle the trauma as well.  And to think a week ago her doctor was suggesting possible surgeries she may have to undergo because her breathing was not progressing as well as he had hoped.

Thank you so much to everyone through out this past month of Madden's life.  Matt and I are definitely blessed to have such amazing family and friends!

Merry Christmas! :)  FROM MADDEN

P.S.  I will continue to add pictures of Madden throughout her first year, if you are ever interested, feel free to come back and check them out.

Home Sunday?

We have been given the tentative discharge date of this Sunday, Dec. 18th!!  We are allowing ourselves to really hope for the first time that we will be home in time for Christmas!  Thank you so much for all of your prayers, we continue to be touched by the sheer amount of people praying for her.  Madden has only one medication, Prilosec, for any potential acid reflex that typically accompanies TE Fistula babies.  She is also only connected to one machine that monitors her heart rate, breaths per minute, and her oxygen levels.  Basically, she is as good as new! :)  These last few days we are looking to establish consistency in all of her stats, so she will continue to be monitored to make certain there are no concerns before she is sent home.  What an amazing week it has been for her!

Breathing Tube Removed

The vapo-therm breathing tube in her nose was taken out today.  Yet another huge step for her!  We are finally getting glowing responses from our nurses and doctors and we are just now beginning to discuss potential discharge dates!  I can't tell you how amazing these last few days have been and how many prayers have been answered throughout the past 48 hours.  Thank you so much for the continued support!  What a ride this has been!

3 tubes - 2 tubes = 1 tube left!

Madden was relieved of her pick line (which is very similar to an IV but is placed higher into her arm) and her feeding tube today!  The feeding tube in her mouth was taken out because of its large size.  If Madden can take her full bottles, she will not need a replacement, but it is possible that a smaller feeding tube will be placed down her nose if she continues to tire out before finishing her bottle.   Finally, because her pick line is gone, Madden can now wear clothes. :)   We have had some very exciting steps in the right direction today!

Slow, Steady, and Santa

This week Madden has two pretty basic goals: The first goal is to continue to increase the amount of food she is taking by bottle.  She is currently at 40ml and needs to be at 60ml (2oz) each feeding to be considered at full feeds.  Madden is able to take most of her 40ml by bottle, but occasionally she grows tired in which case they use the feeding tube to finish it off.  The feeding tube will not be removed until she is consistently taking 60ml by bottle every 3 hours.

The second goal is to continue to decrease the amount of oxygen flow through her nose.  She started out at 3 liters of flow and is now down to 2 liters.  So far today she is very comfortable on the reduced rate.  The ideal situation would be to have her weaned completely off, but if necessary they can send us home with oxygen once she drops to a flow rate of 0.25 liters or less.

So, in order to take Madden home with us, she needs to get the feeding tube out and the breathing machines reduced.  Sounds pretty simple!  :)  There are some surgical options if Madden is unable to meet either of the two goals, but we are very prayerful that we will not need to go that route.  The best thing we have noticed is that Madden's temperament has made a complete 180 degree change.  Madden is now a content and happy little baby.  She hardly ever cries any more and she just takes everything in with her big blue eyes.  The fewer tubes she has, the happier she becomes. :)

Feedings Continue

Madden has been taking the bottle very regularly for the past 24 hours.  She is now up to 25ml and we are looking at maybe as soon as tomorrow or perhaps early next week to remove the feeding tube.  The hope is that once the feeding tube is removed, her breathing will improve.  The surgeon told us today that her breathing is teetering on the brink of being problematic.  He discussed a potential surgery with us, if she continues to labor so much with her breathing.  She works to improve every day, and we are definitely praying that she will make it without the surgery!

First Bottle

The surgeon decided today was the day to attempt a feeding with Madden.  She had her first bottle at noon with 20ml of milk (just over half an ounce).  She did her dad proud by impressing the nurse with her eating ability!  Madden took what she was offered like a champ, and would have gladly had more.  There was some question as to whether she would be able to handle eating while being on such a high flow of oxygen, but she passed with flying colors.  She will attempt the bottle again every three hours and the nurse said to be prepared that she may not always take to it so well, but what a joy to be able to watch her do a normal baby thing. :)

Continuing to Heal

Madden has successfully stayed off the ventilator (breathing tube) for over 36 hours.  She is receiving less and less oxygen through her nose and will eventually be weaned off that as well.  Yesterday she had an amazing day and made drastic improvements with her breathing, today we are on a bit of a slower pace, but bottom line she is doing well and is healing at her own rate.  The next big step for Madden will be her attempt to eat without the feeding-tube.  Depending on how today goes, we will hopefully begin that process within the next couple of days.  She is definitely a tough little girl! :)

Off the Ventilator!

Madden was taken off the vetilator Tuesday December 6th at 1:30pm!  What a huge answered prayer!  We are still very cautious about moving forward too quickly, but for now, it is worth celebrating!  Madden is still receiving oxygen through her nose, and you can see her feeding tube coming out of her mouth- But most of her athletic tape mustache is now gone! :)

Madden's Road to Recovery

Madden has spent the past 14 days of her life in the NICU where she battles every day to become stronger and more ready to breathe on her own.  We can now hold her, which has been a bigger joy than I could have ever realized, and we continue to love on her as much as we can through the bassinet in the NICU.

We are hoping this week to receive the good news that she can be taken off her ventilator and given a chance to start eating on her own.  She is currently receiving food through a tube connected to her tummy that allows the esophagus to heal from surgery.  We will keep you posted and thank everyone for the amazing support you've shown our family.  It means so much to us to know you are praying for our little Madden. :)

Madden's Birth

Madden Elizabeth Oliver was born on 11/22/11 at 5:56pm.  She weighed in at 6lbs 12oz with lots of long curly hair!  We couldn't have been more proud and more blessed to have such a beautiful child.

Soon after Madden was born we found out that she couldn't get anything through to her tummy.  She attempted to eat and instead it came out of her nose.  We found out the night she was born that she had a Trachea/Esophageal Fistula. Her trachea and esophagus were attached and the esophagus did not connect to her tummy.  Madden spent her first night in the NICU where they began to run tests to make certain she had none of the other anomalies that usually accompany the TE fistula.

On Wednesday 11/23 we received the wonderful news that Madden had no other problems that typically could occur in the spine, heart, radial bones, kidneys, and bowels.  She was rushed into surgery to correct her TE fistula at 1:00pm and came out of a successful surgery around 4:30pm.