April 6, 2009

Friends & Family,

Whew...what a week last week was! More ups & downs but we made it. I am doing well and my infection is cleared up. Benjamin is also doing good now too. We found out that he did have pneumonia last week and is still getting over it. On Thursday they discovered that there was a leak in his ventilator tube due to the small size (either he grew or his air pipe expanded) and so they tried taking him off the ventilator early Friday morning. He was on CPAP, which helps him breath, but does not breath for him, for about 8 hours and did pretty good, but got tired, so they put him back on the ventilator. He just wasn't ready yet. Since they sedated him to put the ventilator back in, he was really drowsy all that day, and didn't really snap out of it until Sunday, which had his caretakers puzzled. Benjamin has earned a reputation around the NICU for being fiesty and having spunk (that's my boy!) and so it actually concerned the nurses when he was too restful. But he is back to himself now. He has scared us a few times by dropping his oxygen level and heart rate down to low levels, which in turn dropped his mama's heart rate...or maybe made it skyrocket, but he is getting better.

Here is the latest & greatest numbers: he is now 1120 grams - about 2lbs 7oz+ and is 13" long. He is progressing as they expected on weight. He was bumped up to 5 mL of milk per hour - that is 1tsp per hour. They expect to take him off of the IV within a few days and fortify the milk he is currently receiving to ensure he gets all the nutrients he needs. This is really good news as it will make him stronger and not having the IV will be easier on his liver, which has already undergone a lot of trama and hard work.

I was able to hold him today for the first time in 9 days. It was so good to get to hold him again and just enjoy being close.

Specifics to keep praying for: that his follow-up head ultrasound on Thursday will continue to show decreased bleeding, that his lungs and whole body would be strengthened and enable him to get off the ventilator, focus & mental vigor for Brian as he continues to plow through his last year of college - he is taking 19 credits this term, which challenging enough without having a son in the NICU and a tired & emotional wife.

Here are some pictures of our sweet boy.