Calling all doctors, Brody has to poop!

Yesterday, Brody started to gag on his breathing tube, which caused him to throw up most of his feeding. This made him really mad and his tummy became very distended. He looked really big, so the doctors were called in. They did a chest and abdominal x-ray and there was a lot of air in that tummy. So they ordered a shot of glycerin to help him poop and just as the nurse was about to give it, he pooped. All that excitement, and little Brody just had to poop.

Later that day, he threw up more, but he tolerated his feedings overnight. The doctors assure us there is no sign of the NEC (the bowel inflammation they were concerned about). Today, they are going to increase his feedings to 19 mL per 3 hours. This makes Mom nervous, considering what happened yesterday as well as the fact that the most he has ever had was 17 mL per feeding. The maximum for his weight is 28 mLs per feeding.

Today, they pulled out his arterial line, which was the line they had in his right hand to take the blood for labs.  They will still need to take his blood, but not as often. They will now take blood by pricking his foot. Although it is painful to get your foot pricked, it is better to have the arterial line out because of risk of infection plus there is a small risk it can cut off blood flow to the fingers.

He went backwards on his vent settings for the second day in a row. He is having trouble getting rid of carbon dioxide and his pH is staying alkaline. So they are giving him a 5 day round of steroids to help his lungs clear up and starting him on an oral diuretic to help his kidneys flush out the waste products.

They are removing the pain medicine IV drip today, which has been weening since the surgery. He will get doses of it through his IV now to ween him completely. It is a good step to be off the continual drip.

We are hoping to get back to St. Cloud soon, as this place is starting to get to Mom. The doctors and surgeons have been wonderful, but everything else about it is horrible. They are talking about next week, as long as Brody continues to tolerate his feedings.

Dad's coming today!

Russ had to work this week, but he is coming back tonight. We are very excited and we missed him!

Brody is doing great. He went backwards slightly on his ventilator settings, but not too much. We posted a while ago that the doctors were concerned about his bowels. We are happy to report that, after he started eating on Wednesday, he has had a couple of good poops! This means that he is tolerating his feedings. So far, so good.

The doctors are thinking that he may be ready to be transfered back to St. Cloud next week. We are trying not to get too excited in case of a setback. But, we would really like to be back home. We'll keep you posted!

April 27, 2011

It has been a long time since the last post. We've had quite the time here in the last few days. We both got sick with colds on Friday, so we stayed away from the hospital on Saturday. Sunday, we visited a couple of times but tried not to hang around too much beacause we didn't want to get Brody sick. Monday, we went back to St. Cloud for doctors appointments and Jenny's back started to hurt. By Tuesday, she could hardly move so it was back up to St. Cloud for the chiropractor. Thanks Dr. Mike! The back is a little better today, but still really sore. But, enough about us.

Brody is getting better every day. His incision is healing nicely and Mom got to hold him last night. His oxygen needs are varied and it is a challenge right now to find the best ventilator settings. The trick is to get him to do as much of the work on his own as he can tolerate, but still give him the breathing support he needs. He got a bigger breathing tube last night because the old one became too small for his airway and air was leaking out around the tube.

His heart, brain, bowels, kidneys and other organ systems are working well. Now, the lungs need to get better. He had his first eye exam yesterday and his eyes are a-okay!! There will be a follow up in two weeks.

My First Eye Exam

 

He started eating yesterday! We are starting slow, with 3 mL every three hours and he is tolerating it really well so far. The doctors haven't done rounds on him yet this morning, but we assume it will be increased today.

We added pictures to the posts called "April 22nd" and "Surgery".

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

No posts yesterday because Russ and I both came down with bad colds. We stayed away from the hospital yesterday, which was difficult. We came back today and we are wearing masks and not touching Brody until we feel better.

Brody is still doing well and he is stable. He is slowly being weened from the Fentinol drip, which is for his pain. Once they can ween him from the drip, he will still get doses in his IV as needed. He is finished with one antibiotic, but he is still on two others. He still has a lot of fluid on board, but he is looking a lot less puffy than the previous picture. They are doing a chest and abdominal x-ray tomorrow, so we will learn more about his progress then.

His head ultrasound came back as good news! His hemorrage has shrunk and it is now a grade 2! That is great news.

April 22nd

Happy Birthday to my brother Chris, who is overseas. Stay safe.

Brody is doing great this morning. We moved into the Ronald McDonald house this morning. We were very overwhelmed when we saw the generousity of this place. We will post pictures tonight, but we wanted to get back to be with Brody. The room is really nice and the pantries and refrigerators in the kitchens are fully stocked. There are different groups that come in each night to serve dinner. There are activities and shuttles to different places. They even have a dog! It is unbelievable how kind people are to provide this resource for families.

Midnight

Mom was thinking about Brody and couldn't sleep, so she and Dad went down to see him. The nurse asked if we wanted to hold him. We were nervous about this because it is so soon after his surgery and removal of his chest tube, but she assured us she would not even mention it unless she knew it was safe. Of course we weren't going to argue! Dad was generous enough to let Mom hold Brody; we hope he will get a turn soon.

I Don't Want To Miss A Thing

Aerosmith

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
Far away and dreaming
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Well, every moment spent with you
Is a moment I treasure

I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing

Lying close to you
Feeling your heart beating
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming
Wondering if it's me you're seeing
Then I kiss your eyes and thank God we're together
And I just wanna stay with you
In this moment forever, forever and ever

I don't wanna miss one smile
I don't wanna miss one kiss
Well, I just wanna be with you
Right here with you, just like this
I just wanna hold you close
Feel your heart so close to mine
And stay here in this moment
For all the rest of time

Fluid on Board

As you can see, our little baby is quite bloated these days. He had so, so, so much fluid pumped into him during this ordeal. But it is necessary for his recovery. He has needed blood and plasma, blood pressure medicines and antibiotics, nutrition and so much more. He received diuretics today to help him get rid of the excess fluid. All we can do is wait until he can flush it all out.

He had a catheter in for a while because he wasn't peeing and his bladder was full. Then he was peeing so much that the diaper was wet in addition to what was going into the catheter, so they took out the catheter. Then, he wasn't peeing again so they had to put a bigger catheter back in. Then he started peeing around that catheter, so they took it out. Poor boy!

Let's see, what else? His vitals remain stable today. They are weening him from the dopamine, but they can't do it too fast, otherwise his blood pressure goes down. He opened his eyes a few times today, briefly. He is still pretty out of it, but that is good while he recovers. They removed the chest tube this morning.

Mom and Dad received word today that an opening came up at the Ronald McDonald house, so we will be moving in the morning. It will be difficult to stay away from the hospital, but the boarding rooms aren't available for the long haul so we need to go. We are glad to have a place to stay that is close. We'll post more tomorrow. Good night!