Medical Update:

We made our second trip to the hospital tonight. Brendan had his chest xray and the doctor said there was one small bubble of air still surrounding his lungs. To err on the side of caution, they will leave the chest tube in overnight and check for change in the morning. The chest tube is still sealed, so if the air bubble expands, then they know there is still a problem.

We technically got to hold Brendan tonight, if you count that I scooped him up in my hands and held him 6in over the bed while the nurse changed out his blankets. Bill got to scoop him up while she zeroed the bed scale to weigh him. I guess it kind of counts, it is the most we have gotten to handle him so far.

Great news is that Brendan is completely off the dopamine and his blood pressure seemed to be stable since they got to zero 5 hours earlier.  We hope that it continues this way!

Trevor is up to 14cc’s of milk every 3 hours, and moving to 17cc at 2am. He passed the first of the meconium which is a really good sign that his digestion is working properly. He is also given a pacifier occasionally to help his practice his simultaneous sucking/breathing skills.  We got a handmade quilt from a volunteer sewing club for each baby, they are very festive fall colors and they cover the incubator to give the baby some dark quiet time.  I am definitely going to have to make up some hats or something to donate, it really is nice to get a handmade gift like that.

Pictures Update!

Brendan had the work/exam light on and the blue light off for just a moment tonight, so we could get a good look at his blond hair

He’s got a pretty full head of hair for such an early baby!

Trevor gets a little snuggle time with dad

That is his hand all lit up by the pulse-oximeter! His incubator covered up gives him a nice dark place to open eyes wide and look around.

Medical Update:

Brendan had another echocardiogram this morning, but we have not heard the doctor’s opinion yet. His blood pressure has stabilized and was actually reading somewhat high so they are going to attempt again to wean him off of the dopamine to see if he can maintain good pressure himself. They are sealing his chest tube today, and the xray tonight will tell them if it is time to remove the tube entirely. If they can get rid of the tubes and the dopamine, then we will only have the ventilator left to worry about. Getting him off of pain meds and sedation would be a wonderful thing and we will be able to get to know our boy, and not just look at him like a still little doll covered with wires. He is going to stay under the lights for jaundice as his bilirubin levels were a little higher than yesterday.
He is having a PICC line put in through his leg today. This should allow them to give him his medications more safely, and they will remove the line running to his umbilical cord. The line is threaded up as close to his heart as they can get it so that anything added can be dispersed quickly. It also lasts much longer than the belly line and is less likely to be pulled out.
Still – very positive improvements for just the 4th day of life. I changed his diaper and took his temperature today, and can’t wait to cuddle that boy.

Trevor’s bilirubin levels were down nicely and they have turned off his “tanning bed”. He gets 48hrs and they will check him again to see if he needs another treatment. He was just a bit dehydrated today so fluids were turned up and he was given some saline. He is doing just fine with the increased food and is having no trouble whatsoever dealing with the bottle.