Day 10: Another milestone.

 Just a quick update tonight as I hope to try and catch up on some sleep tonight.   Today was a good day.  Noah was stable and they were able to wean down some of his oxygen concentration.  The doctors also ruled out any infection that they worried could be starting.  We are thankful for that.

They also were able to identify what they believe to be causing some of Noah’s respiratory problems as well as the stress being put on his heart.  As I mentioned last night, one of the possible causes is a Patent Ductus Arteriosus and it turns out from the ultrasound, Noah has this condition.  The doctor said his ductus is being forced wide open because of the blood being pushed through his heart.  The options to fix this is to administer medication that will cause the duct and other blood vessels to contract.  The other option is to have surgery.  Each solution presents its own challenges and risks.  Right now the doctors think Noah is too weak to have the surgery and they would like to hold off on the medication until they can try and have Noah get a bit bigger.  They think they can control his condition for a few days (to hopefully a few weeks) by giving him some blood pressure medication to reduce the stress to the heart.  So far, it is helping.

Today he got to do tummy time!  It was so nice to see his back and his head.  He has really fine light brown hair along with lighter hair in front.

There are so many things to worry about that I’m not even sure I’m worrying about 10% of all the things I should be concerned about.  I instead try to focus on the good news.  Here are the good news updates for today… Noah was able to stool today and the nurse was very excited it was more significant than any other BM he has made.  I never thought I’d get so excited about poop, but these days, we understand it to be a huge development as they are feeling his digestive track is starting to work.  Noah still isn’t having milk, its been just under a week, but the doctors assure us, this is going to be continuous start and stop process.

At first we were worried but they assured us that he is getting all of the nutrients that he needed from his TPN fluids.  We are encouraged as we are seeing his weight go in the right direction.  Last night he jumped from 610 grams to a 670 (he gained a whole two ounces).  He now weighs, 1 pound 8 ounces.  Tonight he gain another 5 grams.  Yes every tiny weight gain is positive.  We pray he continues to trend in this positive direction.

Today when I visited Noah I was excited to see that they had him propped up on his tummy.  He looked so comfy curled around the tiny pillow in his bed and appeared to be sleeping soundly. Cindy, the nurse practitioner came around and shared with us, she and Dr. Martin are encouraged by how Noah is doing today.

They continue to try and keep his interactions as minimal as possible.  He seems to love his dark little cave and is doing slightly better when it comes to care times.  He doesn’t seem to drop his stats like he was in the earlier days.

The final development we wanted to share is that tomorrow will be a very special day for Noah.  We are having him baptized.  In talking with one of his physicians yesterday she asked us about our faith and shared, “You know you can have him blessed or baptized if you’d like.”  Jarrett and I had talked about it but didn’t know if it would be possible to anything until he moved to a different area.  Hearing Camilla say it was okay was reassuring.  Getting the approval, we decided we wanted to have him baptized as soon as possible.  Tomorrow afternoon Noah will be baptized.  Although our plan was to have him baptized in church this fall, we will, like this whole process, be flexible, do what Noah wants and  host it in Pod D.  It will be just as special.  If you read this and happen to think of him around 3:45 p.m., we would greatly appreciate your prayers. 

All in all today was a good day.  We just left the hospital and he’s doing okay.  They’ve weaned him from his pressures on the ventilator today so he is showing good progress.  Tonight at cares he decided to show us his bowels are working well.  We all cheered as he went to the bathroom again.  It’s the small victories right? And his wonderful nurse Brandi asked us if we would consider making her his primary nurse for night shift? She said she really liked taking care of him last night and would love to help take care of him going forward.  I told her we would love it if she would care for him.

I remember writing, it seems just a few hours ago, about Noah’s first 24 hours.  I remember thinking it will be a huge victory if or when we get to day 10, and here we are today. The last 10 days have been difficult, I’m not gonna sugar coat it.  We feel stretched to our limits in trying to be everywhere we need to be and trying to handle it all.  But yet, I look at today, day 10 and give great thanks that we’ve come this far.  I look now ahead to day 14 and hope that we have good news to report as he becomes 2 weeks old. And still I view this as a day to day, hour to hour process.   In the midst of this very challenging time, there are so many things to be thankful for.  Tonight we give thanks for a good day and we look forward to a special day tomorrow.

Today a friend of mine shared the lyrics to the hymn “Because He Lives” and I can’t help but hear the words of the song speak to what we are going through…

“How sweet to hold a newborn baby.  And feel the pride, and joy he gives.  But greater still the calm assurance, the child can face uncertain days... just because he lives.”

Good night my precious baby.  We love you to the moon, the stars and beyond. 

Until next time,

Angie