Update on Corban-May 29, 2008

Corban sure is a tough little guy. We called to check on him this morning when we woke up and the nurse told us that he had pulled his feeding tube out and they were going to try to let him keep it out. We got to the hospital a short time later for a feeding and he was doing fairly well but at his next feeding they had to put it back in because he was slowing down a bit. He still has some work to do in this area but he has been pushed so much the last few days that we are confident he will get the hang of it! It just might take some time.

He really is a sweet little baby. Not that we are partial or anything, but he really is! He was quite alert and awake this morning so we were able to just take him in some more. It is kind of funny but some of the nurses actually fight over who gets to take care of him. It is a good feeling knowing the level and quality of care he is receiving. We also are being told usually at least once a day how amazed everyone is at his improvement. We know that this is not anyone's doing but God's. There is no way that Corban would be where he is today if it were not for the faithful prayers that have been prayed on his behalf. Thank you for all of your continued support.

In Him-

Matt, Mindy & Corban

Update on Corban - May 28, 2008

Yesterday was another good day for our son. He is continuing to show progress while Mindy and I are able to be more involved in his life. Yesterday we were able to feed him multiple times and change diapers, hold him and just love on our boy. They are continuing to wean him off of things and we are getting closer and closer to bringing our boy home. We don't know exactly when but basically we still have to clear three hurdles before it can happen.
First, is the breathing issue. Corban is on the lowest setting on the lowest machine and may be coming off of it as early as today.
Second, are his feedings. He has to continue to get his feedings down and increase them as they are getting close to where they want them but are not there yet. This would also let the umbilical lines come out which would allow us to hold him without gloves.
Third, is the anti-viral medicine that he is on which will run its cycle on June 4th.
Please continue to pray for our little guy who has overcome so much in his short three weeks of life already as we desire to get him home. Thanks so much for your love, support, and prayers and we love you all.

-Matt, Mindy, & Corban

Update on Corban - May 26 - Part Two & Pictures

Today was another great day for our little guy. Corban has continued to make progress and we are thrilled. Tonight, Mindy and I were able to give him a bath, feed him, and hold him for a long time. We are loving being able to do more with him and looking so forward to getting him home. He is continuing to make progress and we are so excited. I am attaching a few pictures of the bath and feeding from tonight for you all to enjoy. Thanks again for your prayers, love, and support as they are greatly appreciated.

Update on Corban - May 26, 2008

Yesterday was a very big day in the life of our son. We went up to the hospital to see little Corban and while we were there only a short time (because we had to get to church) the doctor told us that he would be coming off the ventilator yesterday. This was wonderful news and we were very excited about it. The took him off the ventilator yesterday morning and he has been doing fine. We were also able to take part in the first feeding of a bottle to our son and I (Matt) was able to change his diaper for the first time. While these may seem like small things to some of you they are huge because this is the first time that we have been able to do these things. Also last night night we were both able to hold little Corban for a good amount of time which was great. We were able to spend about an hour and a half with him in our arms which made us so happy. He is doing very well and we are very excited about the progress our son is making. Please continue to pray for our little guy as he continues to get one step closer to coming home and being in our arms.

Update on Corban - May 24, 2008

Hello again everyone, I wanted to provide you with another update about how Corban was doing. The past couple of days have been great and filled with progress for our little guy. Yesterday, the continued to wean him off medicines and adjust the ventilator settings to which Corban responded great. Today, was an even better day because for the first time in little Corban's fifteen day life he was held by his mother and father. This was great because we were thrilled to hold him and love on him so much. While it was only a short time, it was still great and well worth it! They have been able to stop all of his blood pressure medicine, leave him on only one antibiotic, and just a little bit of oxygen. Overall Corban is doing great and things are looking more positive than ever. We are so thrilled and excited about the days to come and getting our little boy home.

New Pictures of Corban-May 23,2008

Here are some new pictures taken today of little Corban.

Update on Corban - May 22, 2008

Hello everyone, I wanted to post another update of how Corban is doing. The past couple days we have seen continued progress in the life of our little guy. Within the last few days we have seen the number of medicines decrease greatly. He has went from around 12-15 different medicines down to only four and he is getting off one other one tomorrow. Last night we were able to see the nitric tank be taken away which means that we are one step closer to getting our son home. Today, we were able to see one ventilator switched to another which was a huge step down as well. While this was challenging Corban has responded great to the challenges that have been in his path. He is continuing to make progress and he has begun breathing on his own which is wonderful. He also has had two other big steps in the last two days with him being able to start feeding and secondly getting a "bath" today. These are great steps forward as we continue to inch closer to getting our son in our arms. While we are excited, we are still needing prayers for our little guy because as the doctors and nurses have commented about how amazed they are by his progress we know that it's because of your prayers.
I also wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who has been praying at our church, New Haven UMC. It was a blessing to be back with you this past week and hear more encouraging words from you all. Thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers as they are greatly appreciated.

-Matt & Mindy

Update on Corban - May 20, 2008

Hello again everyone, I wanted to give you an update about how little Corban has been doing today. This morning Mindy and I went to the hospital and found out that he was down to 40% oxygen (only 19% to go). They also told us that the removed two more of his medicines (which leaves him with only four to go). They also took down the nitric oxide that he is on (only one more time to go with this as well). They have also talked about switching ventilators as well within the next couple of days as well.
Overall we had a very successful day of progress and we are greatly encouraged about how little Corban has been doing today. We know that we still have a ways to go before he can come home but we are very excited with his progress and we appreciate the prayers from all of you!

Update on Corban - May 19, 2008 - Part Two

Hello everyone I wanted to let you all know that Corban is continuing to make progress. As I mentioned in my previous post Corban has been weaned off of a number of things throughout the day today. This evening Mindy and I went back to the hospital to see our son and we received some more good news. His stats were still up and they were able to wean him down to 50% oxygen which means that he has only 29% left to go. While we know it will still be a while we are greatly encouraged and excited. Please continue to lift up our son in prayer as he continues to get better. Feel free to leave us comments, questions, or prayer requests on here and we will be more than happy to get back to you. Thanks again for your love, support, and prayers as they are greatly appreciated.

-Matt & Mindy

Update on Corban - May 19, 2008

Hello everyone, I wanted to send you a quick update on our son's progress over the last couple of days. Yesterday, was a difficult day as it seemed like every step that we had taken forward we took two additional steps backwards. Last night was hard because we felt like Corban may have regressed rather than made progress. However, a bright spot of last night was that Corban not only had his eyes open but he was following Mindy and I as we were talking to him. He also tried to grab onto our fingers and hand which was encouraging since we haven't been able to hold him yet. All in all though yesterday was basically a standstill day in the way of progress.
Today however, has been just the opposite. We called in this morning shortly after 10:00 a.m. and we were met with great news. The nurse told us that the doctor has weaned his oxygen down to 80% which is great (a reminder that we breath 21% oxygen). He also told her that Corban could be weaned three percent every hour instead of just the one percent so long as he tolerated it. This was encouraging but also very scary for Mindy and I because we were unsure how he would respond. However, after lunch we stopped by the hospital and saw that Corban was down to 73% oxygen, which is the lowest he's been since he was born. They have also taken him off one of his medicines for his blood pressure, are planning on taking him off two of his three antibiotics later today. They had also been able to take off one of his two monitors (his pre-ductual one for all you medical people reading this). We also found out that both the doctor and the nurse feel like he is turning the corner which is great news for us. While we were there they turned down his oxygen even more to 70% which is great but they did tell us that he would need to be in there for at least nine more days because of one of the antibiotics that he is on. Corban seems to be making great progress and we are very encouraged and thrilled today. Please continue to keep our little guy in your prayers as he is doing better but is not out of the woods yet. Thank you again for all of your love, support and prayers for our little guy and us!

Update on Corban - May 17, 2008 - Part Two

Well today has been an overall great day for Mindy and I because of the progress of our son. This evening we went back to the hospital to see Corban and he has continued to make progress. They have stopped weaning him on the various machines for today because of all of the changes that they have made this morning. However, he was still holding steady with great stats. We were very encouraged by the numbers continuing to be good which has not happened consistently since he was born.

Also today was a good day for something else that happened with our son, which was his response to our voices and touch. Since they have had him on the respirator they have had him on a paralytic to minimize his movement to allow the machine to do the work necessary. However, this morning they decided to take him off that medicine completely which allows him to move around some. As we walked into the room and started talking to the nurse, we noticed him moving as we looked more closely at him, his eyes were open! This is the first time that we have seen our sons eyes. They were the typical grayish / blue that many newborns have and we are wondering if they will stay blue or turn brown. But as a whole today was a good day because our son made some great progress, opened his eyes and was responding to our voices which leaves us greatly encouraged.

We still have a long way to go before Corban will be in our arms or home but we know that with continued prayers and support Corban will continue to get better and be in our arms sooner than we know. Thank you again for your prayers for our son and keep them coming. We love you all and appreciate your prayers and support!

Update on Corban - May 17, 2008

Progress, progress, progress, seems to be the word of the day today for Corban Hart. Yesterday was a challenging day as we felt that we were at a standstill with everything until Corban's stats came up, however today is a different story. We called the hospital this morning and it seems as though Corban is taking huge strides to get better. Here are a few things that we found out when we called the hospital this morning.
1. Corban's blood pressure has been great and they are able to start to wean him off one of the medicines that he is on to help correct this.
2. His blood work is looking great and the doctor is greatly encouraged.
3. They have been able to decrease the pressure on his ventalator, which assists his lungs in expanding and contracting from 17 to 16.
4. Corban is receiving a nitric gas to help the artieries in his lungs open up more and they turned it from 15 to 10 this morning. (They decrease this in multiples of five so only two more decreases to go)
5. Corban's stats look great and they have been able to decrease his oxygen level from 100% to 91%. We breath 21% oxygen so we still have room for progress here but we are moving in the right direction.

As you can see, Corban is taking positive steps in the right direction towards gettting better. We know that we still have a long way to go before everything is alright but we are moving that way. We would like to thank all of you who have been praying for our son and us during this time as it has been challenging. Please continue to lift us up in prayer as our son is starting to turn the corner but still needs your support. Again we appreciate your prayers and support during this time as we draw closer to getting our son into our arms. We love all of you who are praying for and supporting Corban and us during this time.

-Matt & Mindy

Pictures of Corban From the NICU

Here are some more pictures of Corban showing the things that he has endured in the NICU. The first and last picture are from early on in the NICU and then the other three are from more recent.

Pictures of Corban

Here are some pictures of Corban for you to enjoy.

Update on Corban - May 16, 2008 - Part Two

Well today has been a different day for us. While yesterday was filled with visible forward progress as I mentioned in the last post. We were able to see the settings being turned down and progress made we left the hospital feeling great. This morning we called the hospital to get an update on our son and found out that some things had changed. We were informed that they had to make some adjustment because they had to suction out his tube that is connected to the ventilator. While this is normal the issue was that he did not respond well to this and his stats dropped. After this occurred they had to readjust his oxygen from 82% to 100% again. Just as a reminder we breath 21% which is what they need to get him to. While we were discouraged about the adjustment that was made the harder part was yet to come because they wanted his oxygen saturation to get back up to 97% or higher and Corban was holding steady at 96% which meant that they couldn't change anything.
While this was discouraging the positives for the day included a number of things. Corban's blood pressure was good throughout the day, his nitric level was lowered, and his pressure on the ventilator was lowered as well. As a whole we were encouraged by today but still wanting to see more results. In Mindy's words, "We are seeing progress, just not at the rate we would like." We want to see our son home and in our arms however we don't want to do anything that would jeopardize his health. We are asking for continued prayers so that our son can be healed and come home.

Update on Corban - May 16, 2008

Hello everyone, I wanted to post another entry to let everyone know how Corban is doing. While we have been relatively generic with our posts about our son we want to let people know how our boy is doing and since this blog is serving as the means of doing so for people across the country. We are going to spell things out on here starting this evening so that phone calls can be saved and more focus can be given to Corban.
Yesterday was a very productive day and honestly one of many hopefully in both our eyes and in the eyes of the doctors. Yesterday they began to wean Corban off the level of oxygen that he was breathing. You and I breath 21% oxygen all the time however, they had Corban set to breath 100% oxygen all the time to help get his lungs going. As the day went on they were able to turn down his oxygen all the way to 82%. The were also able to adjust the pressure and the nitric oxide that they have him connected to. All in all it was a great day where Mindy and I both felt extremely encouraged.
Also we will be posting some pictures of our little guy later this evening as well to let everyone see how handsome he is. Just to let you know while Corban is only a week old he has been through a lot. In some of the pictures you may see the extreme measures that have been taken to assist him through this process, but he is doing better now and on the road to recovery. So far we have seen our son hooked up to monitors that show his blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration's per minute. He also has three antibiotics going into him, two medicines for his blood pressure, and also two medicines to help relax him so the ventilator can do it's job. He has been hooked up to four total machines through the process to help with his breathing and finally it seems like he is beginning to turn the corner.
As I mentioned we are using this blog as our correspondence with people so feel free to leave comments, questions, and / or prayers about our little guy and we will try to answer them as soon as possible.
Well, I just wanted to give an update and let you all know how he is doing. I will post more later about today, pictures, and some other things but we are off to dinner and then back to the hospital. We love all our you dearly who are praying for our little guy and look forward to being able to share him with you soon!

-Matt & Mindy Hart

Update on Corban - May 14, 2008

Hello everyone, I know that I didn't get a post in yesterday and I'm sorry about that. Tuesday evening we left Corban's side feeling positive and upbeat about how things were going. We believed that he was poised to make his turn and get better in the days to come. However, this morning as we arrived at the hospital, because we were discharged from the hospital yesterday, we found out that his levels were dropping and the reality of a transport to Indianapolis may be necessary. We were crushed about this news and the thought of our son having to travel somewhere else for care. As the day went on a number of people begun earnestly praying for our son (even the 700 club which a friend has a connection too) and things changed. The nurses and doctors made some changes to the way that he was being treated and he responded wonderfully to them. While we are not out of the woods yet, Corban is more poised now than ever to make the turn, get better and come home with his parents. We know that we still have a long way to go but our prayer is that they will continue on this path and he will be in our arms before we know it. Please continue to pray for little Corban as the prayers are greatly appreciated. Thank you so much and we love you all!

Update on Corban - May 12, 2008

Well today has been another roller coaster day for Corban, Mindy, and I. This morning was a little frustrating because we felt like the doctors and nurses were making a bunch of changes and we didn't have any ideas of what was going on. After talking with the nurse and doctor for a while we voiced our concern and they understood. After that we spent a while discussing the care of our son and what all was going on with him. After a little while of this we felt a lot better and understood what is going on with him more. This evening we were blessed to have a great nurse that actually explained everything to us from his entire chart which was very helpful. We feel more informed about what is going on with our son now, and more at ease as well. Also we have seen some improvement in Corban and he will be put on some more medicine tonight that will hopefully get him out of the woods and make things better for him. Continue to keep us in your prayers as we struggle with everything that is going on.

Update on Corban - May 11, 2008

Hey guys, I wanted to let you all know how our son, Corban was doing. Yesterday, he was doing alright throughout the majority of the day; however his lungs were still not totally developing like they should have been. After a time with a large time yesterday with a large tube in his nose he was still not getting what he needed as far as oxygen supply. After working with him for a while they were not getting the results they wanted so they hooked him up to a ventilator last evening. We have seen a positive change for the better with him and improvement however, we still have a long way to go. His breathing rate is down almost too normal but we know that he still has a while to go with getting the oxygen supply to where it needs to be. We talked with the doctor last night and he assured us again that everything is treatable, however it will take time. Basically the time table that they have given us in two - three weeks before he will be released from the NICU. While this is challenging and we don't want to wait we know that we have to, in order to keep our son's best interests in mind. Well, that's it for now, and I'll be sure to post more later in the day.

Update on Corban

Hey guys, I wanted to post this and let you all know where we stand with the progress of our son. Corban Boyd Hart was born yesterday, May 9th at 8:40 a.m. He weighed seven pounds and six ounces when he was born and was nineteen inches long. He is a wonderful little man and Mindy and I are blessed. Shortly after delivery we noticed that he was having some difficulties breathing so they decided to move him to the NCIU just to be safe. As he has been down there it has been very challenging because neither of us have been able to hold him at all and while it's stressful we are confident that he will pull through. We know that we have great care and treatment here and he will be fine but it's still challenging. We love our little boy so much and would appreciate any prayers that anyone would be willing to offer up. Thanks so much for your love and support to everyone who is praying as it is greatly appreciated.

The Final Countdown

Well, I know that it's been over a month since the last post, and I apologize for that. While things have been crazy around here with the student ministry gearing up for the summer, starting work on my Master's and the most time consuming thing has been the preparation for our little baby boy that is due at the end of the week (May 9th). That's right only five more days and our little son will be here. It's crazy to think that it's only a few days away but we are ready and thrilled that he is almost here. It seems like every other thought through my head is wondering what he will look like, what color hair will he have, what color will his eyes be, etc. We are so excited and ready for him to get here. While we have been preparing the room we have also been blessed with great friends and family who are taking care of us, and the students of our student ministry even threw us a baby shower today, which was great. We are showered with support from everywhere and it's great. Keep the prayers coming as we gear up for the final few days and then Corban will be here!