Not a lot of big updates, but figured I'd sum it up...
We have been sitting through rounds most mornings. Now that I've done it with one baby and have started to read and research what all the stuff means, I'm actually starting to enjoy it. We get to talk with Sammy's doctor after and the nurse usually works with us to understand anything that we still don't understand. It has really helped me understand what decisions are being made about Sammy's care and question what is being done to him. I feel like I have a little bit more control when I can understand what's going on with his care throughout the day and what changes might be made and what to expect.
Sammy was quite sleepy most of yesterday and after going back in his isolette after his kangaroo care, his blood pressure plummeted. As I said last night, the nurse practitioner really thought it was his PDA (open heart valve that usually closes in babies a few days after birth). The senior resident (Dr. Tyler) working with Sammy had his ventilator turned off very briefly to listen to his heart and heard a murmur so they ordered an echo to look at his heart. The echo was done mid-day and still wasn't read by 10 when we left the hospital, so we will see what that says in the morning. The protocol would be to treat him with a medicine that he received in the first few days after he was born again. The hope would be that this would fix it. In rare circumstances, he still may need surgery to fix it, but I'm knocking on any wood I can find that this isn't the case! The other problem with the medication is that he can't have his steroids at the same time, so they will stop those. However, his lungs are looking ever so slightly better in terms of his PIE. His hyper expansion is still an issue though. They are kind of hoping that the medication for his PDA and resolution of that will help his lungs, too. I'm crossing my fingers!!
So yes, his lungs aren't a whole lot better. But then again, they aren't worse! And they were able to bring his oxygen saturation way down to 36 today! His PIP and rate stayed the same until this afternoon. He had a REALLY good blood gas and so they decided to go down to 34 on his PIP. We were there for his blood gas this evening after that change and it came back good, too. We're handling it well so far! I will be interested to hear what the docs say in the AM.
The other downside to the medication for his PDA is he'll stop breastmilk for awhile. BUT he did POOP today!! Who knew we would be SO excited for our baby to poop! LOL! He started getting a little bloating in his belly, but his belly was still soft. X-rays showed that he had some swirlies in his intestines, so they think that he's just working on passing poop and gas through his bowels. We're hoping to go back in the morning and hear that he left a nice poopy diaper for his new night nurse. :) Yup, we're excited about him pooping now...I'm sure we'll regret that later on!!
He was having some problems with the respirator tube staying attached, but his RT changed the adapter and he seems to be good now. We were getting a little worried they would have to try redoing his intubation. Scary stuff!!! Any time a young baby like Sammy is intubated there's risk of it taking too long and oxygen deprivation. There's also risk in injuring his vocal cords. All stuff we don't want! As long as they can keep his current tube in the better!
I think that's it for our day! We move to David's House tomorrow morning, so I can finally feel a bit settled! Thank goodness!!
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