Baby Eagan - NICU Day 6

Eagan did not have his little mask on his eyes today. It was so nice to be able to see his sweet face. The pictures say it all.

Instead of using the mask today, his nurses put the little quilted heart over his eyes that smells like me. His eyes need to remain covered for the majority of day. Babies eyelids remain fused until some time after 26 weeks. His room is kept mostly dark, with his isolette covered because even though his eyes are shut, he can still see light.

When I got home from the NICU, I was a little bummed about the number of bradycardias Eagan had while I was visiting him and very nervous about his head ultrasound to check for brain bleeds. Eli gets very excited when packages come in the mail. He very quickly informed me "mommy, package, mommy, package." I was not expecting a package and did not recognize anything on the label. I opened the box and this is what I found.

All the names of my children, all in one place, that I can wear right next to my heart. This necklace was sent by my AMAZING July 2012 moms from our facebook groups. We are all due in July 2012 and Eagan is the very first July baby born from our group. I cannot believe that these women came together like this for me and my little Eags. This necklace has not left my neck since it arrived. I love it so much! Eagan's very special "aunt" Crystal helped make all of this happen for me and was an awesome support for me (even from far away) right up until I was taken into surgery. She also kept all the mommies updated. These mommies mean so much to me!

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 is on an oscillator and doing well. He is still breathing room air (21% oxygen).

His blood gases were checked today. This checks for oxygen levels, carbon dioxide levels, and blood acidity. All of his levels came back stable and no changes were made. These will be checked again at 12:00 am and 8:00 am.

Vitals
Eagan had some bradycardias today. This is a drop in his heart rate. He is able to bring his heart rate back up on his own without assistance. His doctor thinks these may be caused by reflux or his breathing tube irritating the muscles in the back of his throat, causing him to gag. They are going to look into this tomorrow.

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.

Today, an IV was placed in Eagan's left foot for a transfusion.

Medications
Eagan is only getting morphine boluses when he becomes agitated. He was given morphine this morning because he was very upset causing an elevated heart rate.

Pentobarbital has been added on an as needed basis. This is a mild sedative. Medications like this are needed so that Eagan cannot pull out his tubes, or move around too much. He is still able to move and hold our fingers, but we are trying to keep him as still and stabilized as possible. Eagan was given this at 7:00 pm today to help calm him down. He is now resting comfortably.

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 gets caffeine once a day.

He will be getting a glycerin suppository every 12 hours depending on how often he is having bowel movements. He had another bowel movement this morning. It seems odd to be so excited about dirty diapers, but he is peeing and pooping great which means his body is functioning well!

Eags is getting Nystatin swabbed around the inside of his mouth because some of the irritation from the breathing tubes are showing some signs of a yeast infection.

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.

Transfusions
Eagan's transfusion on the 15th went very well. That brought his levels up to 36%. If he drops to 30% they will do another transfusion.

April 15 - Eagan got his first blood transfusion tonight. This will be the first of many transfusions Eagan will need. His hematocrit (the amount of red blood cells in the blood) has been low, which is just one of the many reasons he needs a transfusion. His blood is also drawn for tests quite often. Even a tiny amount of blood is a lot of blood coming from such a tiny baby. The transfusion will also help Eagan maintain proper oxygenation.

Jaundice
Eagan was not under the bili lights today. His jaundice level is 7 and his doctor is waiting on another test to determine if the bili lights will be needed again.

Upcoming Tests
A head ultrasound is scheduled for tomorrow 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.