Monday, Monday

Over the weekend, Finn turned one month old, he gained some weight, and he lost some weight.  Par for the course, I suppose!  He is doing very well, overall,just still have a long way to go!  We are so grateful for the wonderful nurses and staff  here at the hospital, and we are so appreciative of all the support we have gotten from family, friends and strangers.  We believe in the power of prayer, and we can feel the prayers being offered up for us, and our sweet baby boy!  Here’s a list of what is going on with him these days (it’s been a pretty uneventful few days, so I am just summarizing):

• We have 2 days left on the antibiotics that are treating the staph and e. coli found in his eyes and trach (tracheotomy/breathing) tube.

• He has been off the oscillator 10 days, and off the steroids for a week, and he seems to be doing well on the traditional ventilator.

• His feeds are up to 18cc every 3 hours and he is tolerating them well.  “Full Feed” for him will be 23cc and he should reach that in 2-3 days.  When he is up to that level, they will discontinue the 2^nd IV fluid and the supplementary lipids.

• He is still getting fentanyl through IV for sedation, but they are weaning it down.

• Last night they turned the rate down on the ventilator from a rate of 40 to 37, while the oxygen percentage hovers between 65 and 70%.

• Last night he weighed 2 pounds and 11.2 ounces (he was up to 2 pounds 12.8 ounces earlier in the weekend, but this fluctuation is typical.)

• Finn had his first eye exam by the neo-natal ophthalmologist on Sunday, and it came back clear for ROP.  They will test again in 2 weeks.

All in all, we are in a good pattern.  We just need Finn to grow, continue tolerating his feedings, and wean off the fentanyl.  Once he is up to full feedings in a couple of days, he will not need the PICC line except for the fentanyl, so they may change that med to something oral so we can get rid of the PICC line (and eliminate that potential source of infection).  The next goal is to get him off the ventilator.  His weekend doctor estimated 2 weeks.  He will grow a lot in 2 weeks, but the rate on the vent has to be down to around 10.

I got to Kangaroo with Finn a couple of times last week, then again today.  At first, he really doesn’t tolerate it well, but after a while he really seems to settle in and enjoy it.  I sure like it!  He is so cute and fun to watch. He is awake for 5 minute or more at a time now, so it is neat to watch him look around and see how he reacts to the noises in his room.  Time is of the essence here!  We need him to grow, but to also avoid infection and other illness.  Two steps forward, one step back.  But, slow and steady wins the race, right?