Little man had a bumpy night last night to say the least. He had such a good day yesterday but at the same time that led to a very bumpy night. Yesterday he was able to wean the vent down so far that his lungs were doing very much of the work on their own. After a full day filled with tests, a PICC procedure, and family company our little guy essentially got tired overnight. The extra fluid on his body combined with the day’s events got the best of him and they had to turn up the ventilator support in order to let his body rest and his oxygen saturation recover.
I can’t lie this information hit me hard this morning. Even though I see this pattern every day at work after waking up in pain and then thinking of my child having a hard night I couldn’t do anything but take a minute and cry. Mom and Dean comforted me this morning with their words but the comfort I needed was to check on my baby.
This morning on the way to the hospital we stopped at the store and as soon as mom stepped out of the jeep she smiled and said “today WILL be a good day.” I had no clue what she was talking about until she lifted up a penny that she’d found. Since dad passed away it seems like at just the right (or when things are going wrong) time we seem to find pennies. This penny was extra special it was heads up and dated 2011. These pennies may be something silly but to us finding them is almost as if dad were here with us reminding us that everything will be ok
Once at the hospital we learned that Ryan was able to wean his oxygen slowly. His kidneys are making urine very well. His nurse said that at this point we need him to continue to diuresis for the next several days. Once the fluid is off his body they can turn toward starting to feed his gut and then we can watch him grow like a little weed.
I was able to participate in “Hand Containment” with Ryan this morning. It is the closest thing to holding him. I was able to cup his head in one hand while holding his feet in the other hand. As soon as his feet were in my hands I could feel his whole body relax. It was so far one of the best feelings! He did so well he held his oxygen beautifully. We can only do these things for a few minutes at a time and this little guy was ticked when Mommy quit.
He did have a pretty good period of desaturation while we were there. I have to admit it was a bit my fault. A good friend stopped by to visit and I had been updating her on his progress and he got pretty upset that Mommy was talking and NOT holding his hand. The nurse had just finished changing out all of his IV fluids and their tubing. His temperature had dropped during this time that the bed had to be opened to change the lines. He broke my heart! He stretched his left hand out when he heard my voice and curled his fingers up several times looking/feeling for my hand. I tried to talk to him and comfort him but all he wanted was Mommy’s touch. He got so fussy (even after sedation medications) that he dropped his oxygen saturations. His oxygen had to be turned back up to 60%. I hated to do it but I had to step out of the room for a while and let him settle down.
When we returned from lunch he was completely calm and oxygen weaned to 46%! We have to watch his stimulation because he knows he can move and make his presence known but it drains his energy. He needs all his energy to grow and he has to be sedated to insure that he is breathing properly. I held his hand and talked to him for a while before I said goodnight.
Dean checked on him after work and his oxygen has been weaned to 42% and his urine output is close to 20+ an hour. This is very good news.
The Devil tried his hardest to make this day as bad as he could (including having the microwave pop and the outlet start to smoke) but we had to remember our pray had already been answered and that God was still in control!
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