4 weeks old

Hello! Well....Lainey is still in the hospital at Egleston. &Today she turned 4 weeks old and has been in the NICU at Egleston for 24 days. We are not exactly sure when she will be coming home. A few factors have been keeping her there, such as the t-tube (in her intestines), feedings, weight gain, enzymes, and stools. Today they took her t-tube out, so we are grateful to have one less thing on our list that is keeping her there! Since people with Cystic Fibrosis have a difficult time gaining weight, the doctors are fortifying the breast milk she is drinking. On Friday she had 30+ stools indicating a problem with either her milk, her enzymes, or both. After several stool samples the doctors have decided to go from one capsule of enzymes at each feeding to one half at each feeding. They have also changed her formula fortifier to a more sensitive formula that they are adding to the breast milk. Although she is eating well, she is losing most of it due to the high number of loose stools she is having each day. Hopefully this change in the enzymes and fortifier will do the trick. Once her stools and weight gain are normal, she will get to go home. We have given up on asking when they anticipate her going home ~ they will no longer tell us when, rather they say it is up to Lainey! Please continue to pray! We need prayer for regular stools, finding the correct formula fortifier to create regular stools, determining the correct amount of enzymes at each feeding, and WEIGHT GAIN!!! For all of you trying to lose weight, just send it to her!!! Thanks again for everything you have done. We are hoping to have our princess home soon.
Love,
DeAnn, Sid, Logan, Liam, and Lainey Smithson

Lainey is getting to EAT!

Hello everyone! I just wanted to update everyone on Lainey's progress. She is now 13 days old, 11 of which she has spent in the NICU, 9 of the 11 days have been at Egleston. Thursday she finally pooped! Yeah! Her first few poops, although not much, were completely on her own without help from irrigation. They began irrigation Thursday afternoon with the help of Mucomyst in her t-tube (the tube in her stomach.) After the Mucomyst irrigation, the real stuff began! All of the meconium that had blocked her intestines was finally coming out. Yesterday the nurse took her og tube out (the one in her mouth that was cleaning out her stomach.) This was awesome because now she was able to cry and it was one less tube coming out of her little body! Today she made even more progress. At noon she began feedings of 5 ccs of breast milk every 3 hours. Although 5 ccs is only 1/6th of an ounce, it is still food...which she has not had since she was 2 days old! They also moved her to her very own room! Now we have to make sure she can digest the milk and continue to poop. Each day they will increase the amount she can eat as long as she shows progress! It feels great to be able to report good news to everyone. I know it is possible due to the amount of people who have been thinking about and praying for Lainey and our family. We truly appreciate everything! Please continue to pray for us and hopefully my next email will say that we are bringing her home!
Sincerely,
DeAnn, Sid, Logan, Liam, and Lainey

POOP!!!

YEAH for POOP!!! Today Lainey pooped for the first time and without any help from irrigating her bowels! She was much more alert today! I got to play with her a lot and I got to change a few poopy diapers! Around 3:00 they began the Mucosa Myst to irrigate her bowels. It was already clearing things out by the time I left at 4:30! We are truly blessed to have so many people praying for her. We have been praying for poop, and God answered our prayers! Thank you and please continue praying for Lainey and our family ~ it is making this difficult time in our lives a little more bearable each day. We are looking forward to many more poopy diapers and hope to soon begin feeding her!

Love,

DeAnn and family