September 17, 2008

Another quiet day. We like those ;)

Not much new to report with regards to Evan. He had an X-Ray this morning, and the doctor said that it looks "about the same". There are some dialated loops of his intestine, but none that are nearly as dialated as the one we saw on Monday night. She said that she is seeing the intestines show some forward progress, but wants to see more. They disconnected the active suction from him today (this was the suction that went into his stomach and suctioned out his stomach juices on regular intervals) and left the tube in to let gravity do the job. If he does well, and the next X-Ray or two look good, they'll remove that tube (that goes through his mouth into his stomach) in the next day or two. They also did put in a PIC line this morning. They gave him a preemie dose of morphine, and he slept through the entire thing. I'm so glad he didn't have to feel the poke, although they tell me that is all he'd feel is the poke, not the threading of it. He was quite tired from the morphine today! The PIC line is in his lower leg, and is threaded up near his heart. He started back on TPN tonight as well, so he's now getting his "meal in a bag" nutrition that way.

Sadly, he was VERY irritable today. I held him for a short period of time this afternoon and he cried and cried :( Our favorite nurse was there today, and lovingly got him all settled in his isolette. She thought maybe he had some gas. I wondered if he was in any pain, or if his tummy was upset, or if he was sick... He did settle down easily when in his isolette, so perhaps he just needed to rest. When we went back to see them this evening, the nurse said that he was pretty fussy for her as well. He didn't like his exam (they examine each baby at minimum of once per shift), and was very grouchy, crying for her :( She said that he was just fine if left alone. I hope that maybe it's just side effects from the morphine, etc. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Evan had an episode of bradycardia while we are there. Bradycardia is when the heart rate drops. It dropped for a few seconds (and his alarms went off) but went back up. Again...hope it was just a fluke thing. The nurse said that it was his first of the day. This isn't typical of him. I'll get a report tomorrow of any more or if this too is related to his NEC.

Oh! A shred of good news for Evan...he's OFF of his oxygen! He has been able to keep his stats up and has been off of his oxygen since last night! Good good boy! He looks SO different even without that Oxygen on his face! I couldn't get a picture of him today because he was so sad :( I didn't want to bug him with the camera flash (which is NECESSARY b/c they keep the NICU very dim for the babies).

Little Alec is doing well. He has been tolerating his feedings well. Momma got to try to breastfeed him again today. He was a tad more interested, but really didn't have any clue what to do yet ;) They tell me that the more exposure he (and eventually Evan) get to breastfeeding, the better they'll do. Smelling and experiencing is just as important as actually doing it. Eventually, they'll just "get" it, so we'll keep trying! After he got pretty frustrated, Mommy got to feed him with a bottle. Our favorite nurse taught us how to feed him, as it is different with the little preemies. We have do do what is called "side lying". You lay them on their side, and feed them on their side, so that the fluid pools in their cheek, and not at the back of the throat (which can lead to bradycardias). Then, because they don't have the whole suck, breathe, swollow pattern down yet, you watch for them to suck suck suck, then when they stop sucking, you tip the bottle downward so that they breathe, and then when they start to suck again, you tip it back up. Alec took almost all of his bottle, which is great!!!

Alec is such a sweet, easy going little guy. Just loves to be held, and is generally a quiet little guy. I snuggled him for quite a long time today!!! I tried to take a picture of him with his pacifier in, but it was hard b/c he was so close to me. With Curt back to work, I don't get as many pictures!!! hahahaha.

Here are a few!

I know this is out of focus a bit, but this is little Evan last night...smiling.


Here's Daddy holding Evan. What a love.


Here's Daddy holding Evan again, and Evan's set up. You can see the BIG tube that goes to the wall...that is the active suction which takes all the stomach juices out of his tummy.


Here's the set up in our little area. They moved both boys into one area, which has been nice...Evan is on the left, Alec is on the right.


This is NOT a good picture. I had to take it while I was holding Alec (this is Alec), and the flash was way too bright. Oh well. Look at him and his tiny little self with that big old nuk!


Our favorite nurse walked in and told me that we (Alec and I) looked so comfy and she asked to take our picture! Here we are...all snuggled up!


Olivia asked to hold Alec tonight. She said that she wanted to hold Alec "because he's the little guy." Hahahahahahahhaha. Good thing, because we didn't take Evan out of his isolette tonight, hoping that rest would help his irritability :(


Olivia is SUCH a great big sister. She is SO nurturing...very naturally. It's actually pretty cool to see. Here she is, hugging, kissing and loving on her "little guy" Alec.




Okie dokie...I think that's it for today ;)