Hello everyone, sorry there hasn't been an update since we brought Rowan home. It's been incredibly stressful and exhausting, but he is a brief update. We did end up bringing him home last Wednesday night. We got him hooked up to the IV (called TPN) and we all went to bed. All seemed fine except for the next day when Mommy noticed that where the broviac (his IV line) entered his leg looked dirty and that there was brown fluid in it. So she told the home health nurse that day that it didn't look right and thought maybe the dressing should be changed and the area cleaned. They told us it was fine. Well Rowan had an awful night that night, crying for 6 hours straight. Since we aren't able to feed him much milk there aren't too many options for comforting him. Over the next two days Mommy continued to try to convince the home health nurses to clean and change the dressing. Finally Friday night the nurse decided that yes it should be changed, but we would wait until Saturday night... that night came, and the skin was pink and puffy and there was a lot of puss coming out. The nurse seemed a bit concerned but felt she cleaned it well and it would be fine. Sunday morning there was already a ton of puss. So a different nurse came that day and I made her clean it again, but she was concerned and called all the doctors to see what we should do. They said to make an appointment first thing Monday morning to have it looked at. So Monday morning Rowan and Mommy went to the pediatricians office, and they called the surgeon to describe what the leg looked like. The surgeon was extremely concerned and told us to go to the hospital right away and she would have the broviac removed and put in the other leg. That was completed that afternoon, and they sent us home that night. In the night we took his temperature and it was at 101.5. So we rushed him back to the hospital and after sitting in a tiny room in ER for hours and hours we were finally admitted to the pediatric unit. There we have been ever since. It has not been very much fun. Rowan wouldn't sleep unless someone was holding him, and he was in a lot of pain from the infection and surgery. They finally transferred him to the NICU which mommy and daddy wanted all along since they all know him there and can take better care of him since they are used to more serious cases. So we just got him transferred there where he is getting a blood transfusion and more antibiotics. He will also be getting something to thin his blood and get rid of the clot. Mommy and daddy brought all their stuff back home and will go back to see him tonight. Hopefully this will be a short stay, but it will be for the best and will get him healthier quicker. Being in the pediatric unit was basically like being at home, as we were doing all of the work still, except that nurses came in every hour to check his temperature and blood pressure, and basically make him upset and in pain, so that no one got any sleep at all. We will try to keep you all updated better now that we are back home. Thank you for your continued prayers on Rowan's behalf.

There's been a slight hiccup in the plans today, but we will be bringing Rowan home by 10pm tonight. The company who was supposed to provide the iv supplies decided this afternoon that they weren't comfortable providing them for a baby. So the hospital had to scramble to find another company willing to do it. Luckily they found one, but it takes four hours to make the fluids so they will be delivering those tonight around 8 or 9. Then we can head to the hospital and pick up Rowan. We already pretty much completed everything for his discharge, so we should be in and out of there very quickly. If anyone still wants to come see him tonight please let us know! Please if you are even the slightest bit sick though, wait to come over until you have gotten over it. The nurses have told us that we need to do everything possible to keep him from getting sick since his body is already compromised by his situation. Thanks!

If all goes according to plan we will be bringing Rowan home tomorrow!!! We are staying at the hospital tonight so we can be the ones taking care of him and can ask the nurses questions on any of the care he'll need, then in the morning he'll do a few more tests and if all is well he'll come home! Sorry we haven't posted much lately. We are both so busy and exhausted we just haven't had time. Mommy had her last day of work today and daddy has started working days now. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! We know it has helped him be ready to come home. I'm sure we'll be seeing you all soon. :)

Rowan now has no tubes in him!!! We will post some pictures later. He's been doing really great, and is even being allowed to drink Mommy's milk from a bottle! They first tried Pedialyte, and he hated it! The nurses were starting to get worried since he would just spit it up and get angry. Of course Mommy and Daddy knew what he wanted and needed, but we don't get to make the decisions. Finally one day when Mommy came to see him, the nurse said oh good you're here! We want to feed him some milk but you don't have any here! So I called Daddy right away and he came over with a bunch of milk. Rowan was hesitant at first, since he probably assumed it was pedialyte, but once he realized it was something yummy that he'd been wanting all along, he gobbled it down! He's been loving it ever since. It upset his tummy the first day or so since he wasn't used to it, but now it isn't bothering him. They don't let him eat very much, but at least it is something. They are now prepping him to come home. They are making so that he will be able to have the IV off for four hours a day, so that during that time mommy and daddy can take him places without toting that along as well. He's up to two hours without it so far, and is doing great. They have started to teach us some of the things we'll need to take care of at home, and one of the doctors today told mommy that we should be staying the night at the hospital on Tuesday so that we can take care of Rowan and the nurses can be sure we know what we're doing. The doctor said that best case scenario, Rowan can come home on Wednesday. More likely it will be sometime Friday or Saturday, but Wednesday would be great! Rowan is sleeping a lot, trying to make sure he is fully recovered. He smiles a lot in his sleep, so at least he is a happy little guy. :)