Written September 24, 2013 9:10pm
Not too much change since yesterday's report. Evan's lungs still need time to develop. The doctors put in a larger vent tube today. While he was extubated, they also suctioned his lungs out really good. They're hopeful that they were able to pick up the mucus that had backed up in the lungs. This mucus build up may have led to the lungs not developing further. When we came back for the evening visit, the nurse said that the X-Ray looked greatly improved. I'm looking forward to hearing more at rounds tomorrow.
Feeds continue to stay at 14 mL while they work on building up Evan's lungs. He's a good eater though and always digests his food by the time he's ready for the next meal.
Evan has moved into a new stage - he's experienced some bradycardias or bradys. Bradys are another "preemie thing" that are not a big deal to the nurses, but certainly alarm the parents. Bradycardia means the baby's heart rate dips very low and is slow. Right now, the nurse said that they will record any brady which causes the heart rate to go below 80. Evan's heart rate is anywhere from the high 120s to 200 (when he's suuuuuuper ticked off). Usually, the heart rate only stays down for a few seconds and Evan will pull it back up on his own. If his heart rate stays low, the monitors grow increasingly noisy and the nurse will come over and pat his back or hold him tight. This helps the heart rate pick back up. The few bradys that Evan has experienced seem to be related to the position of the tube in his throat. A few of the brady spells were resolved after the nurse put a little tension on the tube vent. As Evan is a VERY wiggly little boy, it's difficult to try to keep tension on the tube all the time.
Speaking of being wiggly - Evan received an extra dose of sedation while we were visiting with him. They were trying to keep him nice and relaxed after his busy day of getting a new vent tube and suctioned. He was refusing to give in to the sedation. He was wiggling all over the place, squnching up his face in frustration and trying to get his hand on the vent tube. (I'm sure it didn't help that I put his diaper on backwards - again!) As we were leaving, he did settle down on his back. The nurse put a weight on his chest to kind of try to block his hands from going to the tube. It seemed to calm him down.
Just a quick side note about one of our fur children - Stella the papillion. This morning, I was reorganizing my hospital bag and a pill bottle fell on the ground and spilled pills all over the floor. Some of the pills were the narcotics that were prescribed for pain when I was released. I never took the pills but always had them with me "just in case". I thought I cleaned up all the pills. Welllllll, when I got home this afternoon, Stella found a pill and ate it. The whole thing. Thankfully, we live 3 minutes from the vet so they were able to save her. She's home now and completely fine. What a little stinker. Layla (our chihuahua) was very happy to see her sister.
Needless to say, I'm a bit tired from today's roller coaster of emotions.
Feeds continue to stay at 14 mL while they work on building up Evan's lungs. He's a good eater though and always digests his food by the time he's ready for the next meal.
Evan has moved into a new stage - he's experienced some bradycardias or bradys. Bradys are another "preemie thing" that are not a big deal to the nurses, but certainly alarm the parents. Bradycardia means the baby's heart rate dips very low and is slow. Right now, the nurse said that they will record any brady which causes the heart rate to go below 80. Evan's heart rate is anywhere from the high 120s to 200 (when he's suuuuuuper ticked off). Usually, the heart rate only stays down for a few seconds and Evan will pull it back up on his own. If his heart rate stays low, the monitors grow increasingly noisy and the nurse will come over and pat his back or hold him tight. This helps the heart rate pick back up. The few bradys that Evan has experienced seem to be related to the position of the tube in his throat. A few of the brady spells were resolved after the nurse put a little tension on the tube vent. As Evan is a VERY wiggly little boy, it's difficult to try to keep tension on the tube all the time.
Speaking of being wiggly - Evan received an extra dose of sedation while we were visiting with him. They were trying to keep him nice and relaxed after his busy day of getting a new vent tube and suctioned. He was refusing to give in to the sedation. He was wiggling all over the place, squnching up his face in frustration and trying to get his hand on the vent tube. (I'm sure it didn't help that I put his diaper on backwards - again!) As we were leaving, he did settle down on his back. The nurse put a weight on his chest to kind of try to block his hands from going to the tube. It seemed to calm him down.
Just a quick side note about one of our fur children - Stella the papillion. This morning, I was reorganizing my hospital bag and a pill bottle fell on the ground and spilled pills all over the floor. Some of the pills were the narcotics that were prescribed for pain when I was released. I never took the pills but always had them with me "just in case". I thought I cleaned up all the pills. Welllllll, when I got home this afternoon, Stella found a pill and ate it. The whole thing. Thankfully, we live 3 minutes from the vet so they were able to save her. She's home now and completely fine. What a little stinker. Layla (our chihuahua) was very happy to see her sister.
Needless to say, I'm a bit tired from today's roller coaster of emotions.
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