Day 13

Day 13

No More PDA! The heart murmur is gone. Hallelujah! Praise The Lord. 

It looks like the final round of indomethacin worked to close off that last little bit of opening. We are really hoping and praying this is going to turn around his ventilator needs. When he was first born his lungs seemed much stronger and the doctors kept talking about him coming off the ventilator any day. But it seemed that PDA was really starting to give his lungs trouble and while the ventilator settings have fluctuated back and forth, ultimately they've been going up. So now that our prayers have been answered in closing that duct we are focusing all of our positive energy, thoughts, and prayers to his lungs getting stronger and coming off the ventilator. 

But this morning, it was like Jackson knew we needed a good day after the scares he's been giving us lately. Not only did we get the good heart news, he was very alert with his eyes open. And Hunter and I swear he was smiling at us. Here are the pictures, you be the judge...Just don't tell me if you disagree :)

Jax day 13: 920 grams or 2lbs 0oz. 

Dads little Sasquatch is having a good day. Boy is he hairy! His murmur is not audible at this point. Dr Berger is back on today and feels that if present it is not hemodynamically an issue. So he is off of the Indomethacin treatments! We are starting his feedings again at 1cc (1/5 teaspoon) of milk every 3 hours. His blood gasses are okay showing a little high on the CO2. They kicked up the vent rate to compensate. Hopefully we can wean him off of the vent soon. If we are unable to get him off of the vent by early next week we may be forced to intervene with a steroid called dexamethasone. It is not desirable to give preterm babies steroids as it has shown to possibly hinder neurological growth. This is based on past treatments in which they gave babies large doses of steroids for up to six weeks. We would be giving him a very low dose for three days. This decision will weigh the the benefits and the risks of him contracting bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). BPD is nasty stuff and needs to be avoided. It is caused by immature lungs and prolonged exposer to a mechanical respirator. 

 There is a chance he will come off of the vent on his own first.  He is still getting UV treatments but his bilirubin numbers are low. They removed the IV from his leg this morning. He seems very happy to have the extra range to kick the nurses when they have to poke him. They suction his lungs out about every 3-4 hours to catch fluid buildup. He seems very peaceful and happy today. After his changing today I could swear he smiled at us. He is a happy boy. FOJSP!