First, let me say I am sorry if I have offended any of our family and friends because we don't send messages or call nonstop anymore. We are forced to turn off our cell phones while in the NICU, and it is simply easier to update this blog once for everyone to see rather than sending every update to 100 different people.
With that said, today was a very good day. From start to finish, today has been good. There have been a lot of good things happening in the last 24 hours.
- His CRP levels were down and his CBC panel looked better which means the infection is being controlled fairly well. He has been taken off 1-2 of the antibiotics.
- The doctor didn't even order clotting factor draws today which suggests she has gotten it to the level she wanted
- The oxygen percent he is being given has been taken down to the low 50's today from the high 70's yesterday.
- His platelets looked better today
- His oxygen saturation level wasn't consistently where I want to see it (97-100%), but it stayed above the threshhold set by the doctor
- The jaundice is still present with a billirubin level of 8, but they are beginning suppositories to help him poop to bring it down. Normally, they would push breastfeeding, but they can't in him for several reasons. And for now, his blood flow is going to his brain so they are keeping his stomach empty and feeding by iv. So, the suppository to poop will help bring those levels down.
- His blood pressure is remaining stable on its own without medicine.
- He is way more active today than we have seen him yet.
- The best news of all..... The heart scan today showed that the PDA IS SMALLER....no medicine right now. We are waiting for it close on its own. This was exactly what we have been praying for.
It has been a great day for Shiloh. The hospital has provided us a room for three nights. We had some wonderful church members come and take us to lunch today. We got a good nap. We have worked out a schedule that alternates nights here in Odessa with nights back home. So, next week we will spend 3 nights a week here and 4 nights a week at home, but we will still see Shiloh everyday. We believe it is the most financially responsible thing for us to do. It is also the best thing for Shiloh. When we sit in there hours at a time, he begins to get overstimulated and his oxygen saturation falls off. What we have begun to do is sit with him and talk to him until his oxygen saturation starts to be below 90-91% consistently. At that point we leave the room for a while so he can rest and recover. Overall, Carrie is very much more comfortable with this plan of attack than her being here alone or driving and back and forth everyday.
While it was a good day overall, there is a little negative. This afternoon Carrie has begun to feel a little poorly. She has had a little difficulty with breastfeeding, and she is now a little red, swollen, and tender. Also, she got the TDAP vaccine on Saturday before leaving the hospital and those side effects are fever, aches, chills, etc. So, right now we are watching her overnight to see if the swelling and redness goes away or if we need to take her to doctor for possible mastitis. The symptoms are similar to the side effects of the vaccine. She began running a very low grade temp of 99.7 this afternoon so she did not go in to see Shiloh this evening, and I wore full isolation dress including the mask when I visited to be extra cautious.
So that brings us to our prayer requests:
- Pray that Shiloh continues to improve overall
- Pray his lungs continue to develop steadily and begin to look better on x-ray
- Pray the suppositories work and the Jaundice is wiped away
- Pray that all the advances he has made thus far remain advanced
- Pray that he can be weaned even more off of oxygen
- Pray the PDA would continue to get smaller and close on its own
- Pray that Carrie would feel better. Pray this isn't mastitis.
- Pray for an even better day tomorrow.
We love you all and thank you for your love and prayers.
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