Friday, June 15, 2007

Baby Steps

Mason had a couple of small setbacks which is very normal after a chest closure, although the doctors are surprised he did not suffer more setbacks. They expected things to be a little worse than they are. Mason is slowly coming down on his blood pressure med's. 2 of them are at very small doses. The other, which was maxed out is coming down slowly. Mason is also retaining some fluid which has made him sort of puffy. They have increased some meds to help him pee it off. After the medication was given this morning, he soaked all the way through his diaper and onto his bed in a matter of hours. They are also looking to decrease the amount of fluids they are giving him. They were giving him a little more than normal because his kidney numbers have been fluctuating on the higher side of normal. So far the vent settings have remained pretty high (60% oxygen) until he can get rid of some of his fluid.

We are sure Mason is sore because he is a bit cranky today. He starts to cry when the nurse even goes near him or when his blankets get uncovered. He also had one of his chest tubes removed this morning. He is pretty heavily sedated today because he keeps getting mad at the nurses and "desatting" into the 70's. This is the amount of oxygen his blood is carrying. When he is resting his saturation levels are in the high 90's.

Mason is now in a crib and is allowed to wear hats and socks. We will also be giving him a pacifier for his awake times. Apparantly he is the only CDH baby that LOVES to get his mouth suctioned out. He tried a larger pacifier last week and loved it although it was too big for him. Our nurse will try to find a smaller one for him today.

Travis and I got to "hold" him today. He is laying on a pillow like bed in a crib and the nurses let us cradle his bed in our arms. We are not sure if he liked it because he was knocked out from his sedation. We sure liked it though :)

Noah, Mason's neighbor, is off of ECMO as well. The PICU nurses are excited that both babies are now off of life support. They are actually fighting the NICU nurses to keep both Mason and Noah in the PICU.

2 comments:

Tara said...

Hi Rosie, Travis and Mason!

We've been looking in on you guys and are so happy that Mason continues to progress and impress the docs. He's a tenacious little guy - Keep going kiddo!

Best to all your family ~
Tara

Anonymous said...

I'm so proud of that little guy! He is such a fighter! And I'm really proud of you both as well. The decisions you have made and the strength you have shown are very admirable. You are going to be great parents and Mason is very lucky to have you both.

Give Mason a big squeeze from his Aunt Jacquelynn the next time you get to hold him.

Love,
Aunt Jacquelynn