Update: May 23 to May 28

May 23rd:

Today we received the results of the heart ecco. During the ecco they look for two things: First, they look to make sure that all of the chambers in the heart developed and are working correctly and second, they look to see if the ductus arteriosus closed. The ductus arteriosus is a blood vessel that allows blood to bypass the lungs while in the womb because the baby isn't breathing in the womb. It is common in premies to not have this duct close and thus not get enough blood to the lungs once they are born. We were pleased to find out that the ductus arteriosus is closed and that all four chambers of his heart are developed and working. When they are this small, there is the possibility that the ductus arteriosus opens back up, so it is something that they are going to keep a close eye on in the event he has any lung problems.

May 24th:

Jack has been started on breast milk now and after a few successful 1/2 milliliter feeds every 6 hours they are upping his intake to 1 milliliter feed every 6 hours (he is a big eater). He is still doing great. He has a respirator that breathes 450 little breaths every minute for him. They say the smaller breaths are easier on his fragile lungs. He is currently on room air, which just means that the machine is putting in air that is 21% oxygen. This is great because it could be an indication of good lung development, but the doctors also think he might still be in a "honeymoon" phase.

May 25th:

Jack has been fully digesting his milk so far. They have a feeding tube that goes into his stomach and when they want to see if he digested all his milk they use a syringe connected to the tube and pull up all of the air in his stomach and see what comes up. If milk comes up they call it a 'residual' and that means he didn't absorb the milk, but if nothing comes up then it means his system is taking the milk. Good news again as so far he has been clean coming up, which means he is digesting his food. They had turned down his jaundice bili lights, but his jaundice levels went back up. They are keeping it down for now, but said they will probably have to turn in back up.

May 26th:

Happy one week Jack! We can't help but feel like we have beat the odds so far. Jack received his second blood transfusion today. In order to make sure his breathing and nutrition is correct they do a lot of blood tests, so they monitor every drop of blood that comes out because they know he can't reproduce blood fast enough for them. They also told us that they are going to give Jack a PICC line today. This is just a more permanent IV that is going to replace the IV in his umbilical cord. Jack has been having some small problems breathing, but it seems like we shouldn't worry too much yet.

May 27th:

When we came in today we were surprised to find Jack situated on his tummy. He looked so comfortable and the nurse said that he had some very consistent breathing while being situated that way. His back is hairy! Jack's eyes also opened today. His eyes had been fused shut since birth which is normal. The nurse tried to get him to show us his eyes, but he didn't want to cooperate. He wrinkled his face up and you could tell he was so mad to be bothered.

May 28th:

Jack's breathing is starting to concern the doctors and nurses. His blood oxygen levels have been up and down a lot on the same respiratory settings. They say it is normal for premies to be sensitive to respiratory changes, but his change from being really good to not so good could be an indication that his ductus arteriosus (see May 23rd) opened back up. They ordered an ecco and it came back clean again and showed the ductus arteriosus closed. They are going to be monitoring his breathing closely to see if this is just a fluke or chronic. His feedings are up to 2 milliliters every 3 hours and he seems to be tolerating those well.

As unexpectedly living across the country with a baby in the NICU has its fair share of financial implications a fund has been set up to help us with medical, living, and transportation expenses. Any gift is very appreciated, but don't feel obligated to give; however, do feel obligated to pray for us and/or send positive thoughts our way.