"I don't feel good"
Here he is Saturday night:
"Hey guys, what's up? Let's partay!"
It has been a pretty interesting weekend, but things are going much better since we found out little John was sick last Thursday. Thursday night after the nurses ordered blood analysis after they felt something might be wrong, everything came back normal except his platelet count. Because of this, a full battery of tests was ordered, to include further blood tests as well as a urinalysis and a spinal tap. Within hours the urine test came back showing both a bacterial and fungal infection. They ordered further fungal tests on his blood to see if the infection went beyond his urinary tract and immediately started meds to treat the fungus to go with the other antibiotics they had started as a precaution. Since then, nothing has come back abnormal so we're just waiting to see how things progress, and hoping things only get better. He had so many IVs when we saw him Saturday morning, and even had one in his head. Thankfully, he just has one in his right hand right now, and that one will go away soon when he can start taking his medicine by mouth.
They stopped his feedings Thursday night because his belly was full of air--an unfortunate side effect when he gets sick. His intestines just slow down when he gets an infection, and his belly needs a rest while he gets nutrition through an IV. The docs were also worried again that he might be developing a scary intestinal infection, or NEC, but he had no symptoms of it and all xrays showed that he was ok. As of 2 pm today he's started his feedings again at just 5 ml at a time, and they'll quickly increase him over the next week back up to the 22 ml he was at before he got sick, as long as his tummy can handle it. After he gets up to the full amount, they'll add back in the extra fortifiers and protein powder to kick up his growth again if he needs it.
He got a blood transfusion Thursday night because of anemia, and ever since he got that he's been acting and breathing much better. He has more energy, looks great, and his oxygen levels are at the lowest they've been for many many days. They're even thinking of starting to weaning him down on his high-flow tomorrow since he's doing so well. The anemia is completely normal, and they try not to treat it as long as he isn't too symptomatic so his body works harder to generate it's own red blood cells instead of relying on donor blood. Hopefully the anemia will start to improve in the coming weeks and his breathing will get better along with it. He was on high flow level of 6 liters (with oxygen as high as 60%) on Friday, is down to 5 today (with oxygen around 25%), and will hopefully be down to 4 tomorrow. We want him to get down to 2 in the next week or two because that is where he needs to be so he can start learning to breastfeed.
Aside from being sick, things are on the up and up. He measured 3 lbs 2 oz last night, which is so exciting for us! I'm sure he'll lose a few ounces once his IV feedings are completely gone since he swells a bit, but I'm sure he'll still be past 3 pounds. He's even getting a double chin and fat rolls on his thighs. He's looking so big these days! Also, he had his second head ultrasound last Thursday and everything is still looking normal with his brain. Hooray!
John and I finally got out of the house with friends for the first time this weekend since baby was born, and though it made me even more tired to stay up so late, it was really nice to see people and experience some of the normal world. I just need to get some extra sleep tonight so I can gear up for another fun-filled week at the hospital. At least tomorrow is a holiday and the big kids are with their other parents this weekend so we can sleep in tomorrow!
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