Nelson Family

Papa Tom and baby Burke had their first bonding moment today...it was an intensely beautiful experience for them both. Burke slept peacefully in his arms while his respiratory rate and oxygen was the best it's been in days! Burke continues to improve but still needs support for breathing...we hope he'll be off the CPAP machine in a few days. Burke is now getting breastmilk again...not much but it will increase slowly over the days to come.

As you may have heard there are all kinds of repairs going on during this time of life. The doctors are repairing and remodeling some of baby Burke’s plumbing while Dad, Nate, Gary, and I are remodeling and fixing the plumbing in Chris’s kitchen. It is a lot like the Burke/Nelson family to have many things going on at once, but I think this takes the cake. In spite of all the remodeling that is taking place, our family has had wonderful times of worship and prayer. Within the last two days we have been on our knees before the throne of grace as a family pleading with the Lord. We have been by Burke’s bed side laying hands on him and praying for him. We have stood in circles holding hands and praying together. But, my favorite was Saturday night when the Spirit of God prompted us to give thanks. It seems like we spend so much time asking God to help us, we rarely direct a whole prayer time to giving thanks for what he has done. As a family we have been so please and so blessed ...

This is mom writing today...I'd like to say that Uncle Tim has been such a wonderful help in keeping us coordinated with family & friends and of course updating the daily blog! Nate and I have so appreciated all of your help this past week...the good food, stoping by to see us, cleaning & working around our house and praying forus has really meant so much. Thank you for the encouraging emails and voicemails too...we love it!! Please know that if we haven't responded it's not because we haven't received your messages but is because we just don't have much time outside of being with baby Burke or sleeping. We cherish hearing from you, even if it's just a "hello and thinking about you today" message. Baby Burke's had a rough time over the past 2 days. Today he struggled to breathe so much that the doctors ordered more testing and discovered that he has a partially collapsed right lung. The cause is still unknown but they suspect either a p...

Baby Burke, Chris, and Nate have had a pretty good week. Yesterday the doctors dilate Burke's Esophagus and things went very well. After the procedure they where able to take out the NG tube and allow the baby to swallow on his own. The not so good news came this morning when my mom called me and told me the baby was having complications after yesterdays procedure. Because they enlarged the babies Esophagus stomach juices have been giving him bad indigestion. This has effected Burkes breathing and we seem to be right back where we started. As of this morning his respiratory rate has weakened and the doctor have had to give him oxygen. When I got off the phone with my mom they where taking Burke back in for another examination. My dad and I will be working on the kitchen this weekend and hope to get everything in order fo Chris, Nate, and Burke. Thanks for your prayers when I have more info I will let you know. love Tim

I wanted to thank everyone for their gracious responses in the last couple of days. Chris and Nate’s community group from Marrs Hill Church brought food for the next couple of days and cleaned the apartment from head to toe (thank-you)! They probably have enough food to last them until the weekend. Chris and Nate wend on a picnic to the park thanks to other thoughtful friends (thank-you). You all have been so wonderful and I find it my opportunity to help coordinate things during this time so if you have a special way that you would like to minister to Chris and Nate please give me a call (503-961-3273) ask for Tim. Some have asked me how they can come and see the baby. I would suggest giving Chris a call, but much of the time she is in the NICU with the baby and can not have her cell phone on. So, here is a good game plan if you would like to come by and hold the baby. First call, if she does not answer, then you can stop by the house and see if she is home (if you need directions cal...

Baby Burke has made some good progress in the last couple of days. The doctors and nurses decided to move his NG tube to the middle of his esophagus where they performed surgery three weeks ago. I was really proud of Chris during this time because she was one of the main proponents who suggested the repositioning of the NG tube. This has allowed the baby to swallow much easier and kept saliva from pooling in his throat. Her nursing skills and intuition have really helped baby Burke through this ruff start. I know that the good Lord allowed Chris to be a nurse so she could have the kind of wisdom needed to help her child through his early stages. We are so thankful as a family that God has been so faithful to us and that all of you who love our family are praying and ministering to us. I ask that you would continue in our commitment to help us through this marathon. Currently my concern is more for Chris and Nate then it is for baby Burke. He is actually doing much better, but Chris...

I had the opportunity to hold my precious little nephew yesterday for about three hours. Baby Burke slept in my arms as I sang him songs and talked to him about all the things I am looking forward to doing with him when He gets a little older. I know he will be a good soccer player and a true fly fisherman. If I could help to discribe this sweet little boy, he is warm, he smells good like a baby, he has a cute little snore, he has a handsome face and big beautiful eyes. He is a great cuttle bug and loves to be held. Some people have asked what they can do and I would suggest that you call my sister (or just come to Childrens hospital) and spend time holding this precious little bundle of joy. Chris needs other people to cherish her baby along with her during these hard times. We had a big scare on Thursday night when they had to call a code on baby Burke about 4am because his blood oxygen level was not doing so well. Chris was in the room with him when this happened and it real...

We're sorry for being so out of touch. The last week has been a whirlwind for us. We transferred to Children's Hospital Monday and have been getting adjusted to the very new environment here. Burke is in a regular hospital room which he shares with a roomate. We (along with the nurses) are his caregivers 24 hrs/day...this is much different that the NICU environment where we could leave him with his nurse and go out to do things like sleep/eat/etc. Nate and I are now taking shifts around the clock and thankfully we are less than a 5 min walk to our condo so can go home to sleep. There have been many doctors, specialists, consultants and teams of people in and out to see us. They come in and out all day and it's a bit overwhelming! They are re-doing many of the tests that were already completed in Tacoma just to be "sure" that things are still ok. Burke had a rough last few days and they have stopped his feedings of breastmilk until they recheck his esophagu...

It was another good day today. Burke rested peacefully and continues to breathe well...so well that they discontinued the oxygen that was being given through his nasal canula (yay..one more tube gone). He's also in the process of being weaned from the morphine...it's a slow process but the doctors have reassured us this is very common and the babies do just fine without any long term side effects! We are super proud of his progress. Monday he will be transfered to Children's Hospital...we are very excited to be closer to home. Please continue to pray that the transfer goes well and that he responds well to being weaned off the morphine. Thanks...we appreciate you all so much!

Uh oh...baby Burke now clearing his next hurdle... morphine withdrawls! For the past 2 weeks he's been getting small amounts of morphine for pain control and today, we discovered that if he doesn't get it for long periods of time, he gets a little bit fussy! He is doing fine (no worries) but his body will need to be slowly weaned from the morphine over the next few days. Overall he had a great day though. I held him for almost 2 hrs...he slept for the first hour and then woke up and gazed at me while sucking away on his little binky...soooo cute! He changes so much everyday...I'm always so encouraged by how much stronger (and more handsome) he seems as each day goes by. His lungs, heart and esophagus are all working well. He's almost off the oxygen completely (they'll remove the nasal canula from his nose soon!) The surgeon reassured us again that his esophagus is healing much better than she expected..wow...praise God for his healing hand on our son! They've in...

Another great day today! Daddy got to hold Burke for the first time and it was beautiful! Nate did a great job of holding, rocking and singing every song he knows...his favorite is "you are my sunshine". The nurses even love it when Nate sings to baby! Burke slept comfortably in daddy's arms for over an hour! Burke is feeling good today and sucking even more vigorously on his binky. He had two big poops and is getting more breastmilk now (2mls/hr). The doctors and nurses are working on getting him transfered up to Children's hospital maybe as soon as tomorrow! Wow...when our little guy makes progress he sure knows how to step it up! We are so proud of him.

YES!!!! As the neonatologist expressed the news to Chris that she could hold her presious baby for the first time, the look on her face said it all. Now that Burke had a day of breathing on his own and the chest tube was removed, the doctors and nurses felt that Burke was strong enough and ready to be held. We have waited for this moment since June 26 at 3:21 pm. Burke took well to the holding and laid comfortablly on Chris's chest and drooled a little on her shirt. Did this bother Chris, oh no, this was just fine for Chris. This may have been the most content I've seen Chris and baby Burke since this whole ordeal started! Progress continues to keep steady with Burke including his feedings which he is receiving mom's milk at 1 ml an hour. This will increase daily as Burke takes well to the milk. The plan with the feedings is that Burke will go up to 11 ml and not require his IV anymore. He'll need the oxygen in his nose for a little while longer. He's been sucking ...

Baby Burke has had some very exciting and positive happenings over the past 2 days! On Moday the 10th, he had his esophogram. A radiologist put a dye contrast down his esophagus to test for any leaks in the repair that the surgeon did 2 weeks ago. Nate and I anxiously watched the procedure (it was intense...we think Burke handled it better than we did)! We received the great news that his esophagus has healed well and is not leaking fluid out into his lungs or abdomen!! The esophagus remains small so there is some pooling of fluid that causes him to gag a bit but the surgeon seems to think this will go away with time. Since then, his chest tube was removed and he was weaned completely off the ventilator! He is such a trooper! He is now breathing well on his own without support (he just gets a little oxygen (the concentration of room air) through a nasal canula in his nose)! He looks much better without all that sticky tape on his face! He has a NG tube (feeding tube) that goes from his...

Today Burke was holding his own. Blood pressure, heart rate, respirations, etc are looking good. He is getting ready for a big day tomorrow when they will check his esophagus to see if it healed properly and is not leaking. If there is no leak, the doctors will take out his chest tube and remove the ventilator!! (that will be wonderful). He is showing us signs that he can breathe well on his own without support...he is now "chomping" down on his ventilator tube and we can almost hear him say "get this thing out of my mouth!" He is opening his eyes more now and responding to our voices and gentle touch. Yesterday afternoon our eyes locked in a gaze and it was one of the most special moments I've had with my boy! He is soooo sweet and definitely knows when his mommy & daddy are there with him. We've had to move back to Seattle until Tuesday so it's hard to be so far away. We're commuting to Tacoma every day to spend time with him. My mom i...

Lots of progress over the past 2 days! Baby Burke is now getting my breastmilk through a feeding tube placed in his nose and is tolerating it well (he's never had anything in his tummy until now!). Prior to this he's been fed via an IV directly into his veins but now he's able to get a good dose of mommy's "medicine". He had a big poop this morning...we are thrilled about poopy diapers (never thought I'd say that!). They are weaning him off the ventilator and he is breathing more on his own. They say that he should be completely off the ventilator by Sunday night. Monday he will have a esophogram which will evaluate the surgical repair to his esophagus and detect any leaks or problems. Burke is trying so hard to wake up now...he opened one eye and looked at us yesterday! So cute! He moves his hands and legs and acts like he's trying to cry...this is good as it shows us signs that he's waking up and acting more like a healthy baby! Yesterday w...

Isn't he cute! :) He looks like daddy but with darker hair! He's doing ok today (post heart surgery) but still needs help breathing as his medications for pain cause him to not take as many breaths on his own. We are very very proud of his strength and endurance for the past 10 days of his little life...what a fighter! Thanks for your continued prayers...we feel them!

Burke did well through his surgery today! Praise Praise!!! The cardiac surgeon closed the open vessel in his heart . This was a huge step for his baby steps toward improvement and healing! Post surgery he is sleeping soundly and comfortabley (with lots of meds on board). The nurse said his bloodwork and blood pressure are starting to look better already. In the next few days they will be weaning him off the ventilator and blood pressure medication. Hopefully by next week we'll start introducting fluids into his little tummy through the tube in his nose (NG tube). We are doing ok...it was a long day at the hospital but we took a short nap this afternoon. We're about to head back to our little apartment down the street, make dinner and go to bed early. I think we'll both have a glass of wine to celebrate a good day! (yes, for all you breastfeeding folks, I'll "dump")! Thank you for your prayers today...we felt them and so did Burke.

Burke's proud family: Papa Tom, Nina (grandma) his Uncles and Aunties on mom's side! Thanks for your support...we love you! More photos of dad's side of the family to come... For more photos you can check out Uncle Derek's photo page at: photos.yahoo.com/dnelson_1971

On Wednesday 7/5/06 Burke will under go his second surgery of life. Before birth, there is a natural opening between the aorta (the main artery to the body) and the pulmonary artery (the main artery to the lungs) called the ductus arteriosus. This opening usually closes shortly after birth. PDA occurs when this opening fails to close; PDA occurs in about 10% of infants. PDA is often treated initially with a medication called indomethacin but Burke's PDA didn't close on its own or with indomethacin so surgery will be performed. A small incision is made on the left side of the chest. The ductus is either ligated (tied off) or cut. We are hopeful that this surgery will go well and have been reassured that it is simple and quick. After this surgery, we look forward to Burke coming off the ventilator and his blood pressure stablizing without the need for medication. Please pray for a safe surgery & quick recovery!

Baby Burke is being well taken care of by a team of NICU nurses, neonatologist and surgeons at Tacoma General Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. He is currently hooked up to every kind of tube and wire imaginable! There's lots of beeping and buzzing but he doesn't seem to mind. This picture doesn't show it but currently he's on a ventilator to assist him with breathing so he doesn't have to work too hard and expend the vital energy and calories he needs for healing. He had surgery on Tuesday June 27 (less than 24 hrs old) to repair his esophagus. Praise God that his surgery went well and his body is healing. The nurses have been keeping him comfy with little does of morphine for pain so because of that, he doesn't move around much, cry or open his eyes yet. We're able to talk to him, stroke his head and hands gently...he definitally knows when we're there at his bedside! We visit him at least 4 times a day where we read stories and sings songs to com...

On Monday night we found out that Burke was born with a congenital anomaly involving his esphagus (swallowing tube) and trachea (breathing tube). This is called Tracheal Esophageal Fistula with Esophageal Atresia (see first picture in diagram to the right). There are a variety of different scenarios but fortunately Burke has the most common type which can be fixed with surgery (95% success rate)! Basically this anomaly starts forming during the 4th - 8th week of his development. A part of his trachea and espophagus grew together to cause a fistula (connection). When these two tubes are connected it can cause fluid that from his stomach to back up into his lungs which could affect his ability to breathe and cause major infection. The other part of his esophagus (the top part) was not connected to the bottom half of the esophagus leaving a big space (called atresia). So bascially all the parts were there but not plumbed into the right places. This left Burke unable to swallow nutrients ...

We welcomed our precious baby boy " Burke Elias Nelson" into the world on June 26, 2006 at 3:21 pm! He decided to come early at 31.5 weeks weighing 4# 0 ounces & 17.5 inches long. Mom and Dad are doing well but baby Burke needs your prayers as he remains in the hospital with some complications involving his esophagus (esophageal atresia) and heart (patent ductus arteriosis). Labor started with my water breaking on June 24th at 8:30 am while we were on our first camping trip of the summer near Mt. Rainier. After a few moments of panic and with the help of our dear friend Elysia we rushed to Tacoma General Hospital and were admitted right away. I was given medication to stop the labor but nothing was standing in the way of our little guy...he was determined to come into this world and on his mommy's 30th birthday even! What a precious gift. We are so thankful for our sweet sweet little boy...he is such a blessing to our family already!