Baby Eagan - NICU Day 53 - The Saga of the Lines

If it is a line, Eagan will make it stop working - arterial lines, PICC lines, central lines, peripheral lines, or internal jugular lines. He has had them all and now made them all stop working. Today was going pretty smooth until I noticed a great deal of blood suddenly appear around Eagan's neck. Turns out, his internal jugular line was leaking out of the vessel. Seriously! Every line this little boy gets just fails at some point. The doctors and nurses have never seen anything like it. Fortunately, only one lumen of the two lumen line is not working properly, so he still has one access point. 

Unrelated, his pleural effusion, fluid between his lungs and rib cage, was larger on the X-ray.  A procedure similar to a chest tube was done to drain the fluid out and send it to the lab for testing. 

I am thrilled to say that Eagan got to meet his BIG brother today for the very first time! Eli really enjoyed it and even decided he wanted to give Eagan a sticker. Eli and Evelyn also met some animals in the garden at the hospital. The animals were visiting from a nearby farm and the kids loved a change of pace with such a fun activity. The opportunities the hospital gives patients and siblings is just amazing. We are so very blessed to have Eagan taken care of by some of the best nurses and doctors in the country.

Weight
3 lbs 11 oz - Down 5 ounces from yesterday!

Length
16" 

Breathing
Eagan is on the conventional ventilator. His settings are at 20 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 bit fluid in his lungs so he is getting Atrovent breathing treatments every six hours. The plan is to try to lower the pressure before lowering the breaths per minute.

Vitals
Eagan's blood pressure was perfect today!

Vein and Artery Access
Eagan has an internal jugular line that was placed in surgery. Only one of the two lumens is usable now.

The arterial line is in his head.

An IV was placed in his right arm, but it blew within an hour or so, so another IV was placed 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, will be given every twelve hours.

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 pee and a little poop today. He is also starting to leak less fluid from his incisions.

Transfusions 

Eagan was given Albumen twice today to draw fluid into his veins from the rest of his body.

Transfusion #25 today because he was tachycardaic  and had a slightly low hematocrit.

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 a bit less than two weeks.