~HOMECOMING~

We were informed the Wednesday after Quinton's g-button surgery that he was ready to come home with us~We would of course have to do a room in with him just to be trained on his pump and make sure we were both comfortable with his cares~(One recommendation if you get offered this I would say go for it...no matter how long they have been in the NICU it is always nice to have that one night just to be sure especially if the hospital is far away from your home) Now Aaron works as a trucker and finding time was of the essence and with that weekend being memorial day weekend we didn't know how we were going to do this...But thankfully the NICU staff who was always supportive and always willing to take the time to answer my questions as I was learning everything I could about Quinton pulled some strings and set it up for Quinton to be coming home with us Memorial Day....as I left the hospital that day I was in tears this little man would finally be coming home.....I was on the phone calling social workers everyone I could think of....we had nothing for this little man because when I first started going to see him it was said that it would be another 3 or more months before he would be released from the hospital....we literally had 2 days to get everything ready for this little man to come home.....Fast Forward 2 days~ Crib set up~the house is ready for him~my two children were with their dad,Aaron's daughter was with us for the weekend and the hospital staff pulled some strings that way she could stay with us for the room in....The weekend is full of paperwork and videos before the room in on Sunday night~By Monday afternoon we were on our way home with a new little one that has changed our lives forever.....

~Rooming In~

~Waiting to be released from the Hospital~

~Dressed in his homecoming outfit~

~Heading out the Door~

The Beginning of Quinton's Life..(NICU)

Quinton Samuel Summers was born on January 10th, 2011~he weighed 2 pounds 7 ounces~his gestation age was 27 weeks and 2 days he was intubated and transferred to the NICU~He was a twin but sadly little Lance was not strong enough to survive they tried to revive him for 30 minutes but his lungs were not strong enough he weighed 2 pounds 8 ounces~I am unsure any problems or such that might have happened while they were in utero as we are Quinton's foster family, we are in the hopes of adopting him soon. At 3 days old Quinton developed a Grade I IVH (brain bleed) in the right ventricle,at 10 days old he was on minimal ventilator settings and breathing on room air,  at 11 days old in addition to the Grade I IVH there was also a Grade IV IVH in the left ventricle. At the 14 days old the Grade I IVH of the right side increased to a Grade III IVH. Quinton was diagnosed with Hydrocephalus on January 31st at this point in time he was no longer intubate on a nasal cannula high flow, because of Quintons extreme prematurity and low weight the neurosurgeon opted to wait on placing a shunt. On February 10th, 2011 at the age of a month old Quinton underwent his first brain surgery they placed a ventriculoperitoneal shunt on the right side to help relieve the Hydrocephalus. On March 29th, 2011 Quinton became very sick and was found to have menigitis secondary to Staphylococcus epidemidis menigits in his shunt, he was placed on heavy duty antibiotics, On march 30th Quinton had another brain surgery to remove the shunt due to the infection the shunt was externalized while the infection was treated he was intubated during this time..He was eventually weaned off of the ventilator. and did well..Middle of April we found out that they were looking for placement for Quinton I started making the 3 hour trip to see him 3 days a week...going up there to bond with him and learn how to care for him...Beginning of April Quinton had a Central line placed, May 2nd Quinton underwent his 3rd brain surgery this was to place in another VP shunt but on the left side, Quinton had always been a poor feeder, depended on the NG tube for feedings and was having projectile vomiting after every feeding, On May 23rd Quinton underwent another surgery for a fundoplication and a g-button placement, this was supposed to be a laproscopic surgery but due to the adhesions from the shunt placements they ended up having to do an open surgery.

Quinton about 5 days old

WELCOME!!

Hi and Welcome to our little part of the world....Please be patient with me as I put Quintons story together from the time of his birth until now. I want to share so much of his life with everyone but I want to put it together in such a way that everyone is able to follow and learn about what Quinton goes through on a daily basis..I want to share his progress and the good and bad times as we travel this journey with Quinton.

Here is our family, Me, Tamara, Aaron, Michael, Kortney and Quinton