Saturday, July 19, 2008 before Bed

Before saying goodnight, I wanted to post a note to keep everyone updated. Christie and I have spent about the last hour with Zander. He is a miracle to be here and we thank God for the time that we have spent with him over the past few days. We both are going to have a hard time leaving him tomorrow. He is resting comfortably this evening. The Adavan and Fentinol are keeping him heavily sedated but at the end of his cycle of meds he does wake up and look around. We long for these brief glimpses of his beautiful eyes. Melting at the sight of him looking at us (especially me) is an understatement. Friends have been around and the comments and prayers can never be re-paid. Thank you to all. Sweet dreams and God Bless....He is still in the business of miracles and He has given us one. Talk with you tomorrow. Clancy

Saturday, July 19, 2008 in the Evening

It is about 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night. I am sure the women of the SETNTD weekend are getting a surprise about right now. I wish I could be there, but I know there will be many blessings in store for them this evening.

It was a rough afternoon for Zander. He is doing fine now. They tried to remove the ventilator, but it did not take. Zander can breathe on his own, but because of his 1st surgery he really uses more energy than he should. He really gets his entire body into breathing and the Nurse Practitioner said that the way he was breathing without the tube was indicative that he was still in pain. As a result, Zander was put back on the ventilator. I was able to watch them try to remove the ventilator and it was not an easy thing for me to watch. The little guy tried hard to do it on his own, but as noted above, he was working his little body to hard. They anticipate that the ventilator will be able to be removed in a few days once his body and insides have healed a bit more.

At present, he is sleeping soundly. The pictures above were taken after the ventilator was re-inserted. It is hard not being able to hold him and Christie and I were hopeful that we would be able to hold him before we left the hospital. We have not given up hope as we will not check out until some point tomorrow.

We are in the room (5078) just taking it easy. The NICU is closed for visitors between 6 and 8 in the morning and 6 and 8 in the evening due to shift change and testing.

We are anxiously awaiting 8:00 to arrive so we can get back in to see him. We only have about 45 minutes left.

Love to all...I will write soon.

Clancy

Saturday, July 19, 2008 in the Morning

Good morning everyone. We are still at Erlanger in in Room 5078. We will be here until Sunday (tomorrow midday). Houston stayed with us here at the hospital last night. We all rested well.

We have seen Zander already this morning. He looks like a new man. He has been given a bath and he has long brownish-blond hair. More tension has been added to his traction sutures which continue to pull his esophagus towards his stomach. He is still a little jaundiced at this point and they may put him under the light today for awhile. He is slowly but surely waking up as they have not given him any Adavan since about 1:00 a.m. this morning. Hopefully we will see his big beautiful eyes later this morning. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Mom is doing well. She is moving around much better. She is still taking pain meds every 6 or 8 hours for pain, but she is in good spirits.

Please know that we cannot express our gratitude for the uplifting comments, prayers and outpouring of support. I will write again later today but enjoy the pics from this morning. I especially enjoy the one of Zander holding Mommie's finger.

Peace and Grace to all!

Clancy

Friday, July 18, 2008 in the Evening

Hello all. I am sure everyone is out for the evening after a hard week at work. Zander is doing well. He is heavily sedated at this point but he is resting comfortably. They think he will be on the ventilator for a few days, but there is a chance it will be removed over the weekend.

Houston and Jackson arrived from Florida. They were anxious to see their little brother. It looks like we will be here until Sunday, but we will definitely be here through late Saturday.

We are glad that all the boys are together. Zander is looking a little jaundiced at this point, but the ICU says he does not need treatment for that at this point.

We will update you on Saturday morning. Thank you for all the comments, support and prayer. God Bless you all!

Clancy

Friday, July 18, 2008 in the afternoon

Hey guys. I just got back from spending some time with Zander alone. He is doing well. They are going to repeat a few x-rays and blood tests. He laid there and stared at me for about 15 seconds about three times and it made me melt. He is still on the ventilator and will likely be on it for a few more days since they are seeing moisture in the lungs. His swelling is going down and that is a good sign. The neonatologist will be giving him a good examination later today so I will be able to give you more information in a little while.

God Bless...Clancy

Friday, July 18, 2008 in the morning

Good morning everyone. Mom and I got our first real sleep last night. During the night, they removed the ventilator for about 30 minutes; however Zander did not like it. In any event they put him back on the ventilator to keep his airway open but he is breathing room air and the ventilator is just being used to keep his airway open.

Christie showered for the first time this morning and she is walking (gingerly). We are going to be here through Saturday for sure...maybe longer.

We saw Zander earlier this morning. He is still doing great! He is still beautiful and fighting hard. Enjoy the pics and thank you for the comments.

I will write soon.....

Time for Sleep

It is about 9:30 p.m. on Thursday the 17th. Zander is doing well. They are still running tests on him to figure out the bugs. He is doing well and they anticipate taking him off the ventilator at some point before morning. Christie and I remain prayerful at this point for everything, but especially the removal of the ventilator so we can hold him. It has been difficult for us since we can't hold him, but we are thankful for him. By the way, we have been moved into a new (and larger) room. We are now in room 5078. Still looking at Saturday to be discharged. Christie is up walking around (gingerly) but she is doing quite well. The boys will be coming back from Florida with their Dad tomorrow so we pray that they have a safe trip. We write more soon....It is time for sleep. Sweet dreams. Clancy

Zander

Hello everyone. Christie is resting comfortably (with drugs) but she is doing well. Last night was a long night for both of us. Zander did not get out of surgery until about 1:30 a.m. and Christie was able to see him for the first time around 4:00 a.m. this morning. Zander is definitely a fighter. He is hooked to more tubes and electrodes than you can imagine. He is beautiful and he gets this from his mother. Enjoy the pics and feel free to leave comments.

Christie will probably be in the hospital until at least Saturday. We are at Erlanger downtown and at present in room 5069. All is well and your thoughts, prayers and comments have been a great source of strength for our family.

Thanks to all

Zander's First Surgery

It is about 1:30 a.m. and Zander just returned from surgery. Zander began surgery about 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. The initial intent was to put a line directly into his stomach so he could be fed. When they put the line in the learned that the distal portion of the stomach (the part that grows from the stomach going north) was connected to his lung. Essentially, every time he took a breath, the air was going into his stomach. Once they learned of this Dr. Kelley perfomed another 3 hour surgery to disconnect the distal esophagus from the lung. He closed the lung and the distal portion of the esophagus so Zander can eat. He also stretched the other part of the esophagus from the throat area into the chest cavity and placed traction sutures on this portion of his little esophagus to maintain tension so it would continue to stretch. The little guy is not even on this earth for 8 hours and he has already endured 4.5 hours of surgery. He is a strong little boy and we are so thankful for him and the prayers and thoughts of everyone. At this point he is intubated and is being fed through IV. Christie and I are getting ready to go and see him. Christie is doing well. She is heavily medicated. It was pretty hairy earlier. After 1.5 hours of non surgical attempts to deliver, Zander's heart rate dropped and an emergency C-section was necessary to deliver Zander. Tired, but well...I will write again soon. Miracles do happen....Prayer works. Thanks to all, but especially God! Clancy

ZANDER IS HERE

World meet William alexander Covert born at 4:05 p.m. today via emergency c-section. He weighs 7 pounds 14 ounces and is 21.5 inches long. Mom is in recovery. Zander is breathing on his own and has his eyes open. He is being assessed by the NICU and we will be able to see him in about one hour.

Thank God for this miracle.

Here at the hospital

Hey everyone. We have been here since 4 this morning. Christie and Zander are fine. She is almost fully dialated. We are on God's timetable at this point. Chrisite is doing fine and cannot feel anything at this point. Contractions are coming about every 4 minutes. We are getting closer and the doctors say that everything with the delivery is on scheduled. Thanks to everyone for their prayers. I will keep you posted.

Explaining a Blog to Grandma Judi

Just sitting here explaining a blog to my mother. She wanted to know whether or not she could get it on her computer. Thank goodness she cooks well. Talk to everyone soon.

Pics of the Boys

Just wanted to put a few pics of the boys and Christie with Zander on the post. Enjoy!

Countdown to Zander's Arrival

It is Tuesday afternoon here in Chatta-Vegas. all is well. Christie is doing well. She told me that it was my turn to carry Baby Z. She is ready to get on with it. We have to be at the hospital in about 14 hours to start the delivery. We wil be at Erlanger downtown and I do not know what room we will be in. Houston and Jackson are probably beating each other at this point in time. They are with their father in Panama City soaking up the sun. We talked with them late last night and they were having a good time. My mother is here and we have systematically cleaned the house today including the windows on the sunroom. I "had to" go in to work for a little bit just to get a rest. All is well for now. I have a feeling that none of us will be getting any sleep tonight except for Zander.

We will keep you posted. God Bless!