Baby Eagan - NICU Day 4 - First Setback

Eagan had his first setback today. This came after a day of progress so really, it is two steps forward and one step back. When I went to visit Eagan this morning, he was still on the ventilator. The doctor talked to me about putting Eagan on CPAP. This would be one step toward being without breathing assistance. Eagan was put on CPAP around 10:00 and did great on it until about 9:30 tonight. By 9:30 he was having increased episodes of apnea and bradycardia. Eventually, he had to be bagged several times, re-intubated and put on an oscillator. The oscillator is safer for his lungs over the long term than the ventilator. The oscillator looks very scary since it will make Eagan's chest vibrate very fast, but this does not seem to bother babies. Overall, we made progress today and are going to concentrate on letting him gain a bit of weight before the breathing machines are changed again.

Eagan on CPAP

I changed Eagan's diaper for the first time today. He has to wear a diaper that is actually too big for him because he wets too much for the diaper that fits him. The baby wipe was bigger than he is!

Here is a run-down of his current status:

Weight
1 lb 12 oz - Eagan is down 3 ounces from birth but this is very normal.

Length
12.5" - We aren't measuring his length yet, so this is birth length.


Breathing
Eagan was on CPAP for the majority of the day. Around 9:30 pm, he had to be bagged, re-intubated and put on an oscillator. He is still breathing room air (21% oxygen).

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.

Eagan also has a PICC line in his right arm.

Medications
Eagan is not on Dopamine or Ampicillin, as of today.

Eagan is off the morphine drip and only getting morphine boluses when he becomes agitated.

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.



He will be getting a glycerin suppository every 12 hours until he has a bowel movement. He has not had his first BM yet.

Nutrition
I am pumping breastmilk for Eagan. His feedings are still at 1cc 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.



In the mail today, Eagan got a teeny, tiny hat. This hat was handmade for him by Denise Skelton, a preemie mom. She also has a preemie blog. Arrows in Our Hand

I was in the hospital, trying to keep Eagan cooking, on Easter Sunday. This afternoon I let the kids open their Easter baskets. They were both thrilled and didn't seem to mind it was a little late.

Eli and Evelyn's Easter Baskets