Weekend Update

David had a pretty rough weekend.  Feel like I've been saying that a lot recently, but we have really been struggling with our lung issues.  He is still on the high flow, but is requiring quite a bit of oxygen.  On Saturday he was having lots of de-sat spells, so they did a chest x ray and found some fluid in his lungs.  His little body was quite swollen as well.  They started him on some Lasix, and he has been peeing up a storm, which is great because it means he is getting rid of some of the fluid.  He still had quite a big of swelling on Sunday, but I did notice that the swelling in his face had improved, and although he was requiring around 80% oxygen, he was having hardly any spells.  The night nurse last night was able to wean him to around 70% oxygen and when Charles spoke to them this morning, he was satting well and she thought she could wean him a little more before the day shift started.  Hopefully, the Lasix is working to get the fluid out of the lungs to decrease the spells and we can wean the oxygen some.

So that was the disappointing medical update....on to more positive David news.  Charles was able to hold David for the first time this weekend.  I hadn't held him but a few times myself, and back then he could only stay out of the box for 15 minutes and we could only hold him once per day.  Then we went back on CPAP and we couldn't hold him at all.... Now that we are back on the nasal cannula and he is bigger, we are able to pull him out for a little bit longer.

 David was too tired to open both eyes, so he just peeked one open to see what Daddy looked like.

We also got a first family pic, which was so special to me after the last 9 weeks of actually being a family.  However, it was quite the unflattering photo of the parents (me) with dark undereye circles and unwashed hair, so I will not scare you by posting it.

I had spent some time talking to the nurse practitioners in recent days about the possibility of me doing kangaroo care with David.  Kangaroo Care is mother/baby skin to skin contact. It is suppose to improve the baby's development by calming him with the skin closeness and mother's scent.  Anyway, we tried it this weekend.  David did pretty well...didn't really have any big spells and we were really able to do some of the bonding that is so limited when your child is in the NICU.

Doing a little "kangaroo care"....He looks pretty comfortable, right?

I guess this weekend really goes to show how even in the more disappointing times in the NICU, God is there and things are good.  The lung issues, eye issues, brain issues, etc, are all so overwhelming at times, not to mention combining it all with the regular parts of life you have to continue living, like work and errands and bills.....all of these things can be made a little easier to handle by seeing Charles and David together for the first time and feeling that sweet baby closeness on my chest.

He has his next follow up eye exam today, so hopefully they will see some improvement in the Plus disease and ROP.  His next brain scan is November 5th and we are continuing to pray that the clots are continuing to dissolve and the swelling in the ventricles is less.  Also praying very hard that God gives David strength to develop his lungs and breathes in him some good holy breaths to keep him going!  A lot of our progress at this point is dependent upon the severity of David's lung disease.  Hopefully and prayerfully, we can get over this hump soon and continue moving forward.