Written September 30, 2013 9:39pm
Evan and I got some quality snuggling time in today. We snuggled for a whole hour. It seemed like it was over way too fast though. Evan is still hooked up to his monitors while we cuddle. The nurse keeps an eye on his stats just to make sure he's doing okay. Kangarooing is great to help preemies learn to regulate their own temperature. With our previous snuggles, the temperature monitor has been silent (except for Sunday when it was unplugged so it alarmed every. minute. No lie.). After about 45 minutes, the monitor all of a sudden started going off. I could tell that Evan and I were still nice and cozy so I couldn't figure out what the problem was until the nurse said, "Yeah, the monitor is saying "hot baby"". Whoops - guess Evan and I were a little too snuggly! I pulled the blanket off the top of his head to let a little heat escape.
Andrew and I learned tonight that today's echo of his heart showed that the PDA had closed up on it's own!! What a huge sigh of relief. If the hole hadn't closed, it would have meant surgery. We're both so happy we won't have to go down that path. The resident did say that Evan still has a small PFO. Apparently he's had this along with the PDA but we were never told. The doctors were more concerned with the PDA. Again, let me turn to my trusty medical book of Google to define a PFO (from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001113.htm):
"Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a hole between the left and right atria (upper chambers) of the heart that fails to close naturally soon after a baby is born.
A foramen ovale allows blood to go around the lungs. A baby's lungs are not used when it grows in the womb, so the hole does not cause problems in an unborn infant.
The opening is supposed to close soon after birth, but sometimes it does not."
Thankfully this does not sound like a big deal. Hopefully I'll be able to learn a little more about it tomorrow during rounds.
Evan was very, very wiggly tonight. We measured his head (about 26 cm circumference) and changed his diaper. He was very handsy and kept pulling out the prongs in his nose. Every time he would get one out, he'd smile and kick his legs. Little man definitely thought he was playing a game.
Andrew was able to change a diaper before work this morning. He also held Evan up while his bed was changed. I'm glad to know the nurses put him to work!
Tomorrow is Evan's one month birthday. It's hard to believe he's a month old already!!
Andrew and I learned tonight that today's echo of his heart showed that the PDA had closed up on it's own!! What a huge sigh of relief. If the hole hadn't closed, it would have meant surgery. We're both so happy we won't have to go down that path. The resident did say that Evan still has a small PFO. Apparently he's had this along with the PDA but we were never told. The doctors were more concerned with the PDA. Again, let me turn to my trusty medical book of Google to define a PFO (from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001113.htm):
"Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a hole between the left and right atria (upper chambers) of the heart that fails to close naturally soon after a baby is born.
A foramen ovale allows blood to go around the lungs. A baby's lungs are not used when it grows in the womb, so the hole does not cause problems in an unborn infant.
The opening is supposed to close soon after birth, but sometimes it does not."
Thankfully this does not sound like a big deal. Hopefully I'll be able to learn a little more about it tomorrow during rounds.
Evan was very, very wiggly tonight. We measured his head (about 26 cm circumference) and changed his diaper. He was very handsy and kept pulling out the prongs in his nose. Every time he would get one out, he'd smile and kick his legs. Little man definitely thought he was playing a game.
Andrew was able to change a diaper before work this morning. He also held Evan up while his bed was changed. I'm glad to know the nurses put him to work!
Tomorrow is Evan's one month birthday. It's hard to believe he's a month old already!!
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