Baby Eagan - NICU Day 51 - Much Better!

This little fighter is kicking butt and taking names! In the past two days, Eagan has just decided that he wants to be better! His ventilator settings are amazing. He is weaning off most of his medications and is ready to go down to radiology for his upper GI scans. Also, he had an eye exam today that he handled beautifully. He does have early stage retinopathy of prematurity, where the blood vessels that supply the retina have not developed yet. These are the very last structures to mature and have barely completed growing when a full-term baby is born. This is one of the many reasons why the full 40 weeks of pregnancy are so very important to a baby. Eagan's eyes will be rechecked in two weeks to determine what the plan of action is to be. I fully expected this as a complication since Eagan's eyes were only given 25 weeks to grow in utero. I am thankful he only shows early ROP at this point and is not severe at this time. Little man is getting so much better and I could not be happier that I am so blessed with the opportunity to actually watch him improve by the hour. From the time I arrived at the hospital this morning to sitting at his bedside now, I have seen him heal by leaps and bounds. He has become much more active and looks ever so much better!

Weight
4 lbs 3 oz

Length
16" 

Breathing
Eagan is on the conventional ventilator. His settings are at 23 breaths per minute. I feel the need to repeat that one, 23 breaths per minute. If everything continues to go in a somewhat normal fashion, Eagan should be off the ventilator and on a nasal cannula in 10 days!!! I cannot verbalize how thrilled I am at the prospects of seeing his whole little face! The ventilator is damaging to his little lungs, but he needs it to help him breath. Knowing it is hurting and helping is hard, so I will be happy to see it go. His oxygen rate has been around 21%. The pressure that the ventilator puts in his lungs is at 24. Also, he still has a bit fluid in his lungs so he is getting Atrovent breathing treatments every six hours.

Vitals
Eagan's blood pressure was actually too high today, so the Dopamine was discontinued!

 

Vein and Artery Access
Eagan has an internal jugular line that was placed in surgery.

The arterial line is in his head.

 

Medications 

An antibiotic, Ancef, is given once a day.

 

Hydrocortisone, for blood pressure and stress response, is up to 3 mg.

His Morphine was previously given every two hours but now his is on the same dose, but as a constant drip.

Caffeine has been started as a diuretic to try to speed up his kidney function.

Lasix, a diuretic, was given after the albumen, this morning, and this afternoon.

Dopamine was discontinued.

 

He is also on Diflucan as a preventative measure.

Eagan also is back on the Synthroid for low thyroid.  

 

Nutrition
Eagan's only sources of nutrition right now are his TPN fluids.

His lipids are being given 3 days a week now.

 

Output

Lots of poop and pee today! When else in life can I be so excited about this?

Transfusions 

Eagan was given Albumen today to try to draw more fluid back into his veins and out of his body.

May 29 - Transfusion #24 

 

Upcoming Tests

Upper GI study on Monday to determine if the duodenum tear is closed and if feedings can be started. Eagan has not had any milk about a month. I am sure he will appreciate a full belly!

 

Another eye exam to check on the severity of his retinopathy of prematurity will be in two weeks. 

 

Baby Eagan - NICU Day 50 - Baby Weight Watchers

 Eagan is getting back to normal size, slowly but surely! He looks great today. His diet plan, which the doctors and nurses lovingly call "Baby Weight Watchers" is going very well. The albumen and lasix combination seems to be working wonders. I am just thrilled with how well he is doing and cannot wait to snuggle my little boy. For fear of jinxing it or something silly like that, I won't say too much, but a little birdie told me it might be soon!

Weight
He wasn't weighed last night. 

Length
16" 

Breathing
Eagan is on the conventional ventilator. His settings are at 38 breaths per minute. His oxygen rate has been around 25%. The pressure that the ventilator puts in his lungs is at 24. Also, he still has a large amount of fluid in his lungs so he is getting Atrovent breathing treatments every six hours.

Vitals
Eagan's blood pressure was great today!

 

Vein and Artery Access
Eagan has an internal jugular line that was placed in surgery.

The arterial line is in his head.

 

Medications 

An antibiotic, Ancef, is given once a day.

 

Hydrocortisone, for blood pressure and stress response, is up to 3 mg.

His Morphine was previously given every two hours but now his is on the same dose, but as a constant drip.

Caffeine has been started as a diuretic to try to speed up his kidney function.

Lasix, a diuretic, was given after the albumen and once this morning.

Eagan is back on the Dopamine at 3 micrograms to speed up his kidney function.

 

He is also on Diflucan as a preventative measure.

Eagan also is back on the Synthroid for low thyroid.  

 

Nutrition
Eagan's only sources of nutrition right now are his TPN fluids.

His lipids are being given 3 days a week now.

 

Output

Lots of poop and pee today! When else in life can I be so excited about this?

Transfusions 

 Eagan was given Albumen today to try to draw more fluid back into his veins and out of his body.

May 29 - Transfusion #24

 

Baby Eagan - NICU Day 49

Eagan has had a pretty calm day. These are the best kind.

 

Here is a run-down of his current status:

Weight
4lbs 6.9oz

Breathing
Eagan is on the conventional ventilator. His settings were at 38 breaths per minute this morning and are now down to 36.  His oxygen rate has been around 23%. The pressure that the ventilator puts in his lungs is at 24. Also, he still has a large amount of fluid in his lungs so he is getting Atrovent breathing treatments every six hours.

Vitals
Eagan's blood pressure was great today!

Vein and Artery Access
Eagan has an internal jugular line that was placed in surgery.

The arterial line is in his head.

Medications 

An antibiotic, Ancef, was started today.

Hydrocortisone, for blood pressure and stress response, is up to 3 mg.

His Morphine was previously given every two hours but now his is on the same dose, but as a constant drip.

Caffeine has been started as a diuretic to try to speed up his kidney function.

Lasix, a diuretic, was given after the blood transfusion.

Eagan is back on the Dopamine at 3 micrograms to speed up his kidney function.

He is also on Diflucan as a preventative measure.

Eagan also is back on the Synthroid for low thyroid.   

Nutrition
Eagan's only sources of nutrition right now are his TPN fluids.

His lipids have been stopped for now.

Output

Eagan's foley catheter was removed today! He is not just peeing into his diaper! He also has an ostomy bag now on his stoma. He pooped from his stoma twice today!

Transfusions 

Eagan had transfusion #24 today.

For some reason my blog has been making crazy spaces lately. Who knows what is up with that?!?

 

Baby Eagan - NICU Day 48

As I wrote the title for today, I realized these numbers are just getting too big. 48? That is just crazy. After talking to his nurse and doctors, I found out that Eagan will probably go home at the beginning of September. He will probably come home with a feeding tube, heart monitor, and oxygen. These are all things I feel comfortable with. I am just ready to have him healthy and home.

Here is a run-down of his current status:

Weight
Eagan wasn't weighed last night.

Breathing
Eagan is on the conventional ventilator. His settings were at 41 breaths per minute this morning and are now down to 38.  His oxygen rate has been around 25%. The pressure that the ventilator puts in his lungs is down to 24. His lungs were over expanding and not giving his heart enough room so they turned the pressure down. Also, he still has a large amount of fluid in his lungs so he is getting Atrovent breathing treatments every six hours.

Vitals
Eagan's blood pressure was great today!

 

Vein and Artery Access
Eagan has an internal jugular line that was placed in surgery.

The arterial line is in his head.

Medications

Hydrocortisone, for blood pressure and stress response, is up to 3 mg.

Both Meropenum and Vancomycin were stopped today.

 
His Morphine was previously given every two hours but now his is on the same dose, but as a constant drip.

Caffeine has been started as a diuretic to try to speed up his kidney function.

Lasix, a diuretic, was given after the albumen.

Eagan is back on the Dopamine at 3 micrograms.

He is also on Diflucan as a preventative measure.

Eagan also is back on the Synthroid for low thyroid. 
 

Nutrition
Eagan's only sources of nutrition right now are his TPN fluids.

His lipids have been stopped for now.

 

Output

Eagan has a foley catheter in place. His urine output was a little better today.

Transfusions

Eagan had one infusion of albumen today.


May 26 - Transfusion #23

Baby Eagan - NICU Day 47 - Little Puffball

The plan for the swelling is to give Eagan albumen, which is a protein in blood that helps draw fluid into his veins. Then, he will be given Lasix, a diuretic that speeds up his kidneys. This will get the fluid out of his body, into his veins, and then out of his veins before it can leak back into his body.

Here is a run-down of his current status:

Weight
Eagan wasn't weighed last night.

Breathing
Eagan is on the conventional ventilator. His settings were at 40 breaths per minute this morning and are now up to 45.  His oxygen rate has been around 29%. The pressure that the ventilator puts in his lungs is up to 26. 

Vitals
Eagan's blood pressure was great today!

 

Vein and Artery Access
Eagan has an internal jugular line that was placed in surgery.

The arterial line is in his head.

Medications

Hydrocortisone, for blood pressure and stress response, is up to 3 mg.

Eagan is on Meropenum, an antibiotic.

His Vancomycin, an antibiotic, was restarted today.

 
His Morphine was previously given every two hours but now his is on the same dose, but as a constant drip.

Caffeine has been started as a diuretic to try to speed up his kidney function.

Lasix, a diuretic, was given after the albumen.

Eagan is back on the Dopamine at 3 micrograms.

He is also on Diflucan as a preventative measure.


Eagan also is back on the Synthroid for low thyroid.

Nutrition
Eagan's only sources of nutrition right now are his TPN fluids.

His lipids have been stopped for now.

 

Output

Eagan has a foley catheter in place. His urine output was a little better today.

Transfusions

Eagan had two infusions of albumen today.


May 26 - Transfusion #23






I don't always get the chance to reply to the comments left here and on Facebook, but I do read each one of them and appreciate them all so much!

Baby Eagan - NICU Day 46 - Calm

  We had a calm day today. Those are the best days, I have decided. The big concerns right now are recovering from the cardiac tamponade, reducing the swelling and monitoring him closely for skin breakdown. During his bedding change, I got to lift him a few inches off his bed so the nurse could slide his bedding under him. It was awesome to be able to hold him even if it was just in the palm of my hand.

Just a perspective picture of how tiny Eagan really is, even though he is SUPER swollen.

 

Here is a run-down of his current status:

Weight
Eagan weighs 4 lbs 8 oz due to all of his swelling. In reality, the doctors use 2 lbs 14 oz as his weight to administer medications.

Breathing
Eagan is on the conventional ventilator. His settings were at 40 breaths per minute this morning and are now up to 50.  His oxygen rate has been between 21%-30%. The pressure that the ventilator puts in his lungs is at 24. 

Vitals
Eagan's blood pressure was up and down.

 

Vein and Artery Access
Eagan has an internal jugular line that was placed in surgery.

The arterial line is in his head.

Medications

Hydrocortisone, for blood pressure and stress response, is up to 3 mg.

Eagan is on Meropenum, an antibiotic.

His Vancomycin was stopped due to high levels in his blood. 

His Morphine was previously given every two hours but now his is on the same dose, but as a constant drip.

Caffeine has been started as a diuretic to try to speed up his kidney function.

Lasix, a diuretic,  was given after the transfusions.

Eagan is back on the Dopamine between 9 and 3 micrograms.

He is also on Diflucan as a preventative measure.

Eagan also is back on the Synthroid for low thyroid.

Nutrition
Eagan's only sources of nutrition right now are his TPN fluids.

His lipids have been stopped for now.

 

Output

Eagan has a foley catheter in place. His urine output was still really low today.

Transfusions

Eagan had transfusion #23 of blood today and a infusion of albumen, a protein that makes up blood.