Nate 7 months!

Nate 6 months old!

Well Nate is doing OK but he could be better. He only weighs 12 lbs 6 oz and he will not eat baby food or cereal at all I try but he just gags and then throws up the cereal. I am taking him to a GI specialist and he as an appointment tomorrow with speech for a swallow study. He is still getting physical therapy and we are working on sitting up and tummy time. He is about 2 months behind physically but he is slowly progressing. Keep us in your prayers.

Nate 4 months old!!!

Nate is doing good! He is getting very big! He weighs 11lbs 15oz. He coos, talks and smiles all the time. He loves his big sister she is a very big help! Nate is getting physical therapy at home. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers! Love the Ollis Family!

Nate 3 months old!!

Nate is 3 months old and he is doing very good! He is getting so big. He weighs 10lbs 13oz. We go back to UVA July 9th. He coos and talks all the time. He is very happy at home!!!

Home at last!!!

We are all home and it feels great! We are starting to settled in and Nate is doing good. I will try and post hopefully once a month probably on the 4th. We go back to UVA on April 30th to see the surgeons. Please keep praying for our little man!!!!

Nate the Great is going home!!!!!

Nate the Great is doing very well. He is eating everything by mouth and he doesn't need oxygen all the time. He is a miracle baby. Nate has spent 10 weeks in the hospital and tomorrow we get to take our strong boy home. I can't believe the time as finally come. I have came to the hospital for 70 days in a row and every day I just wanted to grab Nate and run out the door and tomorrow we get to do that. We are so grateful to EVERYONE who has been there for us and helped us through this tough time even if you made yourselves anonymous we just want to say thank you. We appreciate it and hope that you are all blessed because you all blessed us. Nate is a amazing little boy and he has been through more that most people experience in a life time. He has had 10 surgeries, been on Ecmo, and he is still going strong. We are so proud of Nate every time I look at him I am amazed that even with everything he has been through he will still look at me with those big eyes and grin at me and my heart melts. Please keep praying for him because he will still face some difficult times. We finally get to be a family.

Nate 2 months old!

Nate giving us a little grin!

Me and my babies together at last!

Riley loves her little brother!

I am so sorry that I have not update lately its been very busy with the move. Nate is doing very well. They moved him to Kluge so he can have more therapy and work on feeding. He is now taking a bottle and getting about 50% of his feed that way and the rest is through his NGT. We are working very hard on feeding. He weighs 10 lbs 6 oz. He is now on low flow nasal canulas at 500 ml. Nate has come a very long way he is amazing every day he does something new. He grins all the time. They are weaning his pain meds still, they are almost there. Nate is so strong he has physical therapy every day to try and loosen up his neck muscles, they are very tight from when he was on ECMO. They did a MRI on his brain and everything looked normal. Riley finally got to meet her little brother and she adores him. It was so nice to have both my babies together in the same room. Nate has to get up to full feeds by bottle or by breast and then hopefully we will be going home most likely he will be on oxygen. I am so ready to go home. Please keep him in your prayers because they have definitely been heard. Nate is the most amazing baby boy and we are so proud.

Nate has moved to Kluge's Childrens Rehabilation Center!!!

Nate getting ready to be transferred.

Nate's first time outside. He sneezed when he saw the sun.
Nate being unloaded he loved the trip.

We arrived safely at Kluge!

Nate with no CPAP! (again that is just on his forehead to keep CPAP from rubbing)

Nate sleeping away!

Nate is his big boy crib!

ICN!!!!

Today Nate moved to ICN which is a step down from the ICU. It was a very exciting day. Nate has been on high flow nasal canulas since yesterday at noon. They took out his central line yesterday and he is doing very good. He is getting 77ml of breastmilk every 3 hours and he is handling it very well. Nate still has to ween from oxygen and learn how to eat by mouth. The doctors are still slowly weening him from his pain meds. Nate is very strong and has come a very long way. Please keep praying for him as the road is still rocky. We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers. (Sorry I haven't updated in awhile its been a little crazy!)

Our one month old boy!!

Pretty blue eyed boy!

Nate with nothing on his face! (the thing on his forehead is to prevent CPAP from rubbing)

Nate on CPAP!
Nate sitting in his big boy chair!

Daddy holding Nate for the first time!

One month old!!!!

Nathaniel is one month old and look how far he has come. Nate was extubated on March 3 and put on CPAP. He is doing good but he still isn't in the clear. He has to be able to keep his lungs inflated without the help of CPAP. The CPAP machine gives him constant oxygen and gives him pressure but he is breathing on his own. His blood gases have been good but they are watching him very closely. They are still slowly weening him from his pain medicine. They are starting to increase his feedings as he tolerates it. Nate is more alert and looking around. The occupational and physical therapist are working with Nate to get him where he needs to be at his age. They say that Nate is doing very well. Nate has a long way to go. Keep Nate in your prayers he is a miracle baby and we are so proud of him.

3 weeks old!!!!

Nate looks so much better!

Nate's first feeding

Our sweet boy!
My first time holding my Baby Boy!



On Thursday they put Nate on cpap for a couple of hours and then did a blood gas and his CO2 level was to high so they had to re-intibate him. He is now on just a regular ventilator and not on the oscillator any more so that is a good thing. Nate's lungs just need a little bit more time to get in shape. Nate is doing very well the doctors are very pleased with his progress and so are we. I was able to hold Nate for the first time on Thursday his 3 week old birthday. It was so wonderful to finally hold my baby boy even though I was a nervous wreck. Today they started giving Nate my breast milk through a tube in his mouth that goes to his stomach. They are just giving him a little bit at a time to see if his body can handle it. He looks so much better he has lost a lot of fluid and is starting to look like himself. He is starting to wake up more and look around. He has beautiful blue eyes. Nate still has his chest tube and when it stops having fluid draining from it the surgeon will remove it. The goals: Get rid of chest tube, ween off sedation medicines, ween off ventilator and start eating more. Nate is doing very well but as you can see he still has a lot to over come. We just have to take baby steps. Thank you for all your prayers and keep them coming!

A big Step!

Nate is doing good he has been awake a little bit more each day. Today they plan to escabate him and put him on cpap.This is a very big step. So pray that he does good on that. Sorry I haven't updated lately its been busy but I will definetly update in more detail this weekend. Thank you for all the prayers.

Our tough BOY!!!!!

Nate before surgery!

Nate's incission and his chest tube

Our tough boy!

Well, surgery went well yesterday. We walked him down to the OR at 7:15 and told him encouraging words and kissed him goodbye and told him we see him later. He did very well during surgery. They made an incision under his rib cage and started the repair. Dr. Kane said that Nate did have hardly any diaphragm and that they had to use a goretex patch and sew it to what was left of the diaphragm and to his rib cage. They were able to fit everything back down in his abdomen even though it was a tight fit. There were NO tares in the liver, spleen or stomach the surgeons did a wonderful job. They put in a chest tube on his left side so that all the air that is now up there can escape. His left lung in small its about half the size of his right lung. The surgery took about 3 hours. Now he just has to recover and start weening. He has a very long road ahead and there can be many complication with CDH so please keep Nate in your prayers. We appreciate all the prayers he has received. He is our tough boy and he is putting up a wonderful fight!

Still moving forward!

Nate's little face!
Look how long and how much hair Nate has!

Daddy and Mommy's first time changing Nate's diaper!

Nate is still doing good. He is stable and waiting for surgery. Nate is schedule for surgery on Thursday at 7:30 am. They removed his chest tube and they took him off NO2 and they have also weened him off alot of medicine. Nate is doing has well or better than they expected. His blood gases have been very good. Please keep praying for him he has a long way to go. Phil and I have got to change his diaper and Phil always ends up with the poopy ones. The doctors and nurses have been amazing and are taking excellent care of him. Thank you so much for all the prayers they have definitely been heard. We love our little man so much and are so proud of his progress.

Goodbye Ecmo!

Today Nate was taken off the Ecmo machine! The machine saved Nate's life but it had a lot of risk so we were glad to see it go. We are very thankful for the Ecmo technicians who watched the machine and Nate 24/7. Nate is doing good he is still very critical but he is moving forward. He has a very long and difficult road ahead but he is a fighter and God is on his side. The goal is for him to have surgery on Thursday morning but you know doctors they change their minds a lot so it may be sooner it all depends on Nate and how stable he is. The surgery can take 2 to 3 hours. Please keep Nate in your prayers as he is getting use to breathing on his own and that he can maintain his oxygen level. We are very proud of Nate; he is a very strong little boy.