Baby Eagan - NICU Day 3

I was discharged from the hospital today. My hemoglobin level is 7 and really needs to be closer to 18. I will need to keep my PICC line in to run IV iron directly into my system to hopefully elevate my hemoglobin back to a normal level. My staples in my incision will be removed on Wednesday, so I am really learning how to function and take care of Eli and Evelyn without putting myself in more pain. I am pumping breastmilk for Eagan every 2 to 3 hours also. When Evelyn was born, people would say, "Aren't you lucky? You get to have someone else take care of your baby and you get to sleep." Well, since Eagan was born, I have not slept more than an hour at one time. Even before Eagan arrived, I was in the hospital and getting checked on by nurses every 1-2 hours. No. Moms of preemies get even less sleep than most moms of full-term babies. But to answer the question, YES, I am so very lucky. My little boy is in great hands, surrounded by top technology and has more prayers than you can imagine.

Here is a run-down of his current status:

Weight
1 lb 13 oz - Eagan is down 2 ounces but this is very normal.

Length
12.5"


Breathing
A ventilator is still helping Eagan breath so he is not using his energy and burning excess calories. His ventilator has been breathing 50 breaths per minute for Eagan and he breathes 5-8 breaths on his own. This morning, his doctor moved the ventilator to 40 breaths per minute. The goal by the end of the day is to reduce the ventilator to 30 breaths per minute and Eagan will breathe the rest of the breaths on his own.

His doctor also wants to try to take Eagan off the ventilator and put him on CPAP! The CPAP machine goes through Eagan's nose and delivers constant air pressure to help his lungs stay open and reminds him to breathe. This would mean Eagan will no longer be intubated. Most likely, he will be on the ventilator the majority of the time and CPAP for just a few hours of the day. This could all happen as soon as tomorrrow!

Vitals
Eagan's vitals have remained steady and stable all day from hour to hour!

Vein Access
An umbilical arterial line was placed just like it was an umbilical cord. This gives doctors easy access to check blood pressures, take blood, and administer medications without sticking Eagan with needles.

An umbilical vein line was removed today and a PICC line was placed in Eagan's right arm. This is a much safer option.

Medications
The only antibiotic Eagan is getting is Ampicillin but showing no signs of infection.

His blood pressure is running low currently so he is getting a medication called Dopamine to help raise his pressure. This medicine is at 11 micrograms and Eagan is having no issues!

Eagan is on a very low dose of morphine, just to keep him still and comfortable.

Caffeine has been added to his medications. Caffeine has multiple benefits for Eagan such as reducing his risk for cerebral palsy. The main purpose of the caffeine is to help Eagan to remember to breathe, preventing spells of apnea.

Nutrition
I am pumping breastmilk for Eagan. This morning his feeds were suspended due to residual in his stomach. The presence of residual means that all of the milk was not properly digested. By this evening, his feedings were resumed to 1 cc of breastmilk every 6 hours.

Eagan is still getting vitamins through his umbilical catheter and now lipids (a healthy fat) have been added.

Jaundice
Eagan has been under the bilirubin lights all day. The bili lights should also help reduce some of the bruising that was caused during delivery.

Upcoming Tests
A head ultrasound is tentatively scheduled for April 17 to check for brain bleeds. We are praying for no brain bleeding, but it is a very frequent issue with micro-preemies, so we are prepared if one does appear.

Thank you for all your love, support and prayers.

I am a member of a mommy message board for July 2012 moms, since that is when Eagan was supposed to arrive. On this mommy board, I have made some great friends. Crystal R. is a veteran mom who has lots of c-section experience. She kept all the moms updated on what was going on with Eagan and me and also gave me so much support and advice to help me recover as comfortably as possible. These amazing moms got together and surprised me with an absolutely gorgeous flower arrangement and balloons. I couldn't believe that these women who have only known me for a few months could care this much about little Eagan! Thank you so much ladies!