Written September 16, 2013 2:36pm
I made it to the NICU just in time for rounds today. My goal is to be at all of Evan's rounds. The nurses do a good job of filling me in, but it's nothing like hearing it straight from the doctor's. (Granted, a lot goes over my head, but I'm picking up the terminology!)
Evan had an uneventful evening. His urine output improved so the doctors have increased his feeds to 3 ml and have also increased his total fluids. This is great news as they were restricting fluids (to not tax the kidneys).
Evan had a brain scan this morning - still clear!! The doctors will most likely move the scans to every 2 weeks. The cysts are the same size so the doctors not concerned.
The chest X-ray was still a little hazy this morning. As they have been doing, they'll continue to monitor it.
We had a little excitement around lunchtime. Evan wasn't jiggling like he should be on the oscillator. His nurse noticed that there was a problem with the vent tube. Respiratory came in and it was discovered that the tube vent was disconnected from itself. Evan was still receiving oxygen, but his lungs were not jiggling. (The jiggling assists with keeping his lungs full so he doesn't have the in and out breathing that can tax his still developing lungs.) Since Evan is bigger, the doctors decided to extubate him (remove the tube) and put in a bigger tube. This would have had to happen anyway - the process was just sped up a little. Evan was a champ while they intubated him with a larger tube. I got to hear him let out the tiniest of cries. (The cry was actually a good thing as it helped the tube go down his throat easier.) Evan stayed saturated the whole time they were working on him. I was so proud of him.
After he was intubated, the PICC line needed to be redressed (standard procedure as they look at and retape the PICC line every few days). Then they had to take another X-ray to make sure the new tube was in the correct place.
When I came back from milking, Evan's nurse was laughing. She had just changed his diaper after all the craziness of the morning. She told me that she saved it for me - big messy diaper. We were both laughing at the amount of mess that he made and she said "Yep, I think we scared the shit out of him this morning." :)
I think I'm earning a reputation in the NICU. Several times now the doctors/nurses were talking about Evan's care and didn't know the answer to something right away. Thanks to my obsessive note-taking, I have been able to help out with some of Evan's care. The resident today said that my notes were better than some of the doctor's notes (joking I'm sure) but it's still nice to be able to participate a little in Evan's care. I think this is why I'm so bummed when I do miss rounds.
Evan had an uneventful evening. His urine output improved so the doctors have increased his feeds to 3 ml and have also increased his total fluids. This is great news as they were restricting fluids (to not tax the kidneys).
Evan had a brain scan this morning - still clear!! The doctors will most likely move the scans to every 2 weeks. The cysts are the same size so the doctors not concerned.
The chest X-ray was still a little hazy this morning. As they have been doing, they'll continue to monitor it.
We had a little excitement around lunchtime. Evan wasn't jiggling like he should be on the oscillator. His nurse noticed that there was a problem with the vent tube. Respiratory came in and it was discovered that the tube vent was disconnected from itself. Evan was still receiving oxygen, but his lungs were not jiggling. (The jiggling assists with keeping his lungs full so he doesn't have the in and out breathing that can tax his still developing lungs.) Since Evan is bigger, the doctors decided to extubate him (remove the tube) and put in a bigger tube. This would have had to happen anyway - the process was just sped up a little. Evan was a champ while they intubated him with a larger tube. I got to hear him let out the tiniest of cries. (The cry was actually a good thing as it helped the tube go down his throat easier.) Evan stayed saturated the whole time they were working on him. I was so proud of him.
After he was intubated, the PICC line needed to be redressed (standard procedure as they look at and retape the PICC line every few days). Then they had to take another X-ray to make sure the new tube was in the correct place.
When I came back from milking, Evan's nurse was laughing. She had just changed his diaper after all the craziness of the morning. She told me that she saved it for me - big messy diaper. We were both laughing at the amount of mess that he made and she said "Yep, I think we scared the shit out of him this morning." :)
I think I'm earning a reputation in the NICU. Several times now the doctors/nurses were talking about Evan's care and didn't know the answer to something right away. Thanks to my obsessive note-taking, I have been able to help out with some of Evan's care. The resident today said that my notes were better than some of the doctor's notes (joking I'm sure) but it's still nice to be able to participate a little in Evan's care. I think this is why I'm so bummed when I do miss rounds.
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