Tuesday, July 29, 2008

92nd Day in the NICU

Baby bug is now 6 pounds and 17.5 inches at 3 months/92 days old. He has gotten so big!

Turns out he has a bit of pneumonia and that is what's kicking his ass. He had 8 days of antibiotics so any infection should be gone. What we are going thru now is suctioning tons of crud out of his lungs. Every hour or so he starts having a coughing fit and they pull all this gunk up thru his tube. He is acting a lot better today than he has all week. Definately feeling better. I am hoping once we get this lung goo situation cleared up we can start a count down to coming home.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

86th Day in the NICU

Doctors have dropped his oxygen to 82%. The nitric oxide, which is being dropped 1 point every 3 hours, is now down to 7 PPM. They have removed the TCOM/CO2 monitor. He has also been a little poop machine all day too. YAY! 5 lbs 6 oz at 17.25 inches!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

85th Day in the NICU

(Mom)

He is looking so much better. Awake, alert and nice & pink. His temp early in the day was 99.9 but within 6 hours that had dropped to 98.7. He is back to tolerating touch much better (especially mine & dad's) and was actually statting up to 100 on his O2 saturation. CO2 has dropped down to the low 60's. While he is on the nitric we cant hold him, but I dare any nurse to tell me I cant touch him. He KNOWS his mama & daddy are there and he stats so well when we are at his side, touching him, stroking his fuzzy head, him wrapping his hand around our fingers, us running reiki energy thru his little body to help him heal.

Monday, July 21, 2008

84th Day in the NICU

(Mom)

We arrived at the hospital to find Drayke on his ventalator at just about the highest settings possible: 100% oxygen, 80 breaths per minute with a pressure of 34 over 4. He also had a CO2 monitor attached to him as well and that was reading at 120-130. Way to high. His stats for his O2 saturation was in the 60s. Things were looking extremely bad. He was pale and not active at all. This is more than a simple rebound from the steroids. All my mind could go to was "after 12 weeks he has finally given up". Dr Hassel came over and was surprisingly upbeat, for her. "He has bounced back from terrible odds before. He can do it again. He has always been a strong fighter". We discussed putting him back onto nitric oxide to see if we can get his lungs to open back up more. We then went down to the cafeteria to have some sandwiches I had made at home.

When we go back upstairs we were told that they are putting him back onto the occilator with the nitric oxide. Basically we were rolling all the way back to when he was first born. OMFG!

Well, Drayke had other plans. They tried to hook him up to that infernal machine and he would have no part of it. So he is still on the regular ventilator with the nitric. Dr Hassel then told us how she has ordered bloodwork and is going to start a course of antibiotics just in case. Well sure as shit Drayke DOES have an infection. He is not giving up. He simply feels ill. Thank god we now know it is something that can be treated! Both Dad & I knew that this was not just a rebound. Steroids drop your immune system to nil and he has picked up some bug but we have caught it early enough that he should be doing better soon. His hematacrit was at 26 so he also has received another blood transfusion. The hospital let us stay in a room overnight (actually for as long as we wanted it but dad has jury duty tomorrow) .

Sunday, July 20, 2008

83rd Day in the NICU

Drayke was re-intubated this morning. Around 3AM he began to de-stat and the doctor decided he wore himself out breathing.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

82nd Day in the NICU

Today is Draykes due date. He has reached 5lbs finally. He is destating on his numbers today. Here is a pic of Drayke on his due date.


He is such a strong little boy.

Monday, July 14, 2008

77th Day in the NICU

Here are some pictures with my little one wrapped up in the blanket I made him.







Sunday, July 13, 2008

76th Day in the NICU

(Mom)

Ok.. He may not be a champion breather but he is working on it.Turns out whenever he poops he forgets to breathe. Pushing and holding his breath. He is running his nurses ragged now. Silly baby boy. He will get it right soon though.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

75th Day in the NICU Part 2

(Mom)

The second Picture of Drayke ever without a tube. The first was just after he was born. Now, just shy of eleven weeks, we finally got to see what our son really looks like. I think he is adorable.


Looks like he has dads nose & chin and my mouth & eyes. He definately got our best features.


He is now on a CPAP which actually covers up more of his face than the tube did but at least now he can start vocalizing. Since the cords are pretty much atrophied it is going to take a few days before he finds his voice. But he was making the sweetest little noises though. The respiratory therapyst is extremely please as to how well he has taken to his new machine. Drayke is now doing 100% of the work of breathing and he is being a champion breather!

Sigh...I am so in love....

75th Day in the NICU Part 1

(Mom)

Drayke is getting his ventalator tube pulled this afternoon. Gods I am a nervous wreck. We have been waiting so long for this. And boy is he ready. He has been pulling at the tube non stop for the last few days. I woke up at 5:30 this morning to call the hospital to see if we were still on schedule. "He had a great night" according to the nurse and the staff knows R & I are wanting to be there when the tube gets pulled.

This means he can finally cry and eat from a bottle or breast. This is a huge day and I cant stop crying. Out of joy. Out of fear. So many emotions are welling up inside me at the thought of my son finally trying to breathe on his own. I know there is the possibility of his going right back onto the vent. Almost definately he will be on a CPAP. But still, this will be the first time since the day he was born that he will be breathing on his own, even if only for a few minutes.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

73rd Day in the NICU

Today Dr Karmo stated that he will be pulling Drayke off the Ventilator this weeked if he keeps on the way he is progressing. Drayke gets a bit agitated but his stats do not drop. Mom says that he gets red, has tears in his eyes, and also his hands shake as well. We know this is because of the steriods. So far he weighs 4lbs 15 oz and is 16 1/2 inches long. His vent pressure is at 23/5, O2 is in the 60's and his Breath per minute is 25. Drayke is mostly doing the breathing on his own. He is doing soo good.

Drayke started the "Beat the Baby" therapy. Its where they take a plastic tool and tap on his chest. It is supposed to help Drayke increase his breathing. He also got his first massage therapy sessions as well today and he slept right through it. He has been through so much but I am glad he is getting better. He has another 6 days work of steriods. I have not been able to go see him in a few days due to the fact that I feel sick to my stomach and I do not want him to get what I have. During the 2nd RT treatment he was stat'ing at 100. I so cannot wait to see him and tell him what a good job he is doing.


Look at how chubby he is getting.

Monday, July 7, 2008

70th Day in the NICU (Part 2)

Here is a recent Picture of Drayke.


70th Day in the NICU

We decided we needed to talk to Drayke's Neonatalogist Dr Karmo. We have not had a update from a Dr in a while. Dr Karmo told us that when he looked on the brain sonogram that Drayke no longer had the Cyst. This means chances are that he does not have PVL. This was only the 2nd most concern with his lungs being the 1st concern. A big weight has been lifted off our chest.

We also spoke to Dr Karmo about having Drayke start the steriod injection. He is doing good on the vent but Dr Karmo was saying that he is not moving as fast as he would like him too. Since we already discussed this before Drayke was moved to the Ventilator we decided to go ahead and give it a try. He will be on it for 9 days.

He said we would not see a change for at least 24 hrs and that there is a chance of a bounce back reaction after the dose of steriods are done and if he is off the vent he may need to go back on. Of course this is all speculation. I am happy that my son may be off the ventilator soon.

Friday, July 4, 2008

67th Day in the NICU

(Mom)

Little one is doing very good. We are hoping that he gets his vent tuberemoved sometime within the next week or so. Monday he is 10 weeks old (and38 weeks gestational today, July 4th, so he is almost to his original due date! ).Finally we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel as far asNICU life goes. Soon enough he will be coming home and I am ratherterrified. I really hope they let me have an apnea monitor for a few weeks.I am so used to him having 24/7 care that I am afraid I wont sleep at all tomake sure he keeps breathing.

He is now 4 pounds 7 ounces and has a cute little Buddha belly going on.Still weirded out that he is so darned blonde.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

66th Day in the NICU

(Mom)

The outfit is the one Jeanie got himthe day before he was born. Isn't it and he just too cute? Pretty mucheverything is big on him so I will be getting more than a couple of weeksuse out of his preemie & newborn clothes.





I also got to briefly hold him while they we changing his bed. Turnsout they change the actual bed out every few weeks and it is quite a chore. Damn, make me hold my son for a few minutes....gee....let me think about that...nah...doesnt make me happy at all:



The really awesome thing is that it did not count as one of the 3 times I can hold him per week...YAY!!!