Annie & Stewart Allen

We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love, support, and good will you all have sent our way. Thank you for praying for us and thinking of us. Over the coming months and years we patiently wait for providence to reveal to us opportunities to repay you and others in kind. Thank you!

Here are a few pictures and a few words about our first 11 days with Annie and Stewart.

It will be some time before we are able to bring Annie and Stewart home, most likely around their due date (April 28th). Maybe sooner, maybe later, we are reminded often by the doctors and nurses that Annie and Stewart will be the ones to dictate the course of treatment and to indicate when they are ready to go home. We have a long road ahead; we can expect a lot of ups and downs.


A surprising first impression of the activities occurring in the I.C.N. is how intentionally supportive (rather than interventional?) the care is. We might be mincing words, but clearly an instinct within each of the babies to live and thrive is driving the process forward. The technology clears the roadway, patches a flat tire, and fills an empty tank with gas; but the babies do all the driving. The process is frightening and a little too dramatic at times but a blessing to witness.



The staff at the Wake Med I.C.N. is phenomenal! All of them: the nurses, residents, physicians, and respiratory therapists. Several of Annie and Stewart's nurses have been on staff at Wake for over 25 years. We could not be in better hands.

During his first few days Stewart developed pneumothorasies (collapsed lungs) along with a rather nasty bit of pulmonary interstitial emphysema. Several days on an oscillatory ventilator along with tubes in his chest allowed his lungs to heal and the extra alveolar air to drain from his chest. He has been on a cannula (oxygen tube in his nose) for almost 72 hours now. In the following picture Anna (the UNC resident on call in the I.C.N. tonight) removes Stewart's right chest tube. We are hopeful that we will remove the other chest tube tomorrow.



Last Friday Annie developed a touch of interstitial emphyzema in her right lung. Resting on the ventilator helped her resolve her issues and she is improving. Earlier today Annie was removed from her ventilator. Here she is on C.P.A.P. (continual positive airway pressure) a step down between the vent and an oxygen only cannula. She will start feedings as she continues to do well.