Ups & Downs - Update

It has been a while since I updated – sorry about that. Things have been kind of up & down recently. 

Last Wednesday after I posted my last note, I went to the hospital to find 2 nurses trying to get an IV started on Dylan. Apparently his breathing had taken a turn overnight & the drs. were afraid he had an infection. They did what they call a “workup” of tests. He had blood tests, chest x-rays, & a spinal tap. He was also on preventative antibiotics for a few days. The drs. found out that there was nothing wrong, but they have to do all those tests just to be on the safe side. They changed some things on his ventilator & he has been doing great since then. He has been able to be weaned down to 10 breaths a minute & is doing the rest on his own. His oxygen is up & down, but most babies in the NICU are on oxygen of some sort, so that is okay with me. 

On Monday my mom was here & went with me to talk to the NICU social worker about some things I needed to take care of for Dylan. I told her that I have just been feeling really down about the whole situation & she suggested that I go home for a couple of days. So my mom took me home & Derrick brought me back yesterday. It was kind of nice to get away for a little bit, but I was ready to come back. I felt bad about being gone because it means that I missed an entire day of his little life. So I don’t know that I will be going home for an overnight stay again. It was too frustrating for me. 

I came back Wednesday to the great surprise that the drs. had weaned Dylan’s ventilator to 10 breaths a minute. He is doing great & the drs. are hoping to get him completely off the ventilator sometime this weekend. He will then be put on a CPAP that will push air down his nose to remind him to breathe, but it will not breathe for him. That is a huge step – he may have to go back to the vent if he is not doing well on the CPAP, but we are praying that that will not happen. 

The drs. also said that since he is doing so well on his feedings (he is getting 20 cc’s every 4 hrs. – 30 cc’s = 1 oz.), they will be discontinuing his fat (lipids, I think) drip & his nutrition drip. If he tolerates the 20 cc feedings today, the “picc” line will come out tomorrow night or Saturday morning! That means that he will have no more IV’s in him! 

We are also excited because the nurse last night told us he is #2 on the list of babies to be moved from Bay 1 (most critical care) to Bay 2-3 (step 2 in the NICU system). They will move him if there are any more little ones who come in who are in less stable condition than him. While I am very excited about that, it will be really sad to leave the nurses & drs. that have cared for him since his birth. Also, I know that him being moved means that they are making room for other little ones to come in & that is sad. I don’t want any other family having to go through the things that we are. 

So that is where things stand right now. Dylan is making a lot of progress & we are excited. Please pray that the progress continues & that we are able to head home sometime soon. Derrick & I would like to have Dylan home for Christmas. That is our goal, but it is really up to Dylan & how much progress he makes over the next 2 months. 

Thank you all for all your love & support! You are a blessing in ways you do not even understand! We are thankful for you! 

Love, 
Renee, Derrick & Dylan 

PS – Watch for updated pictures coming soon of Dylan in his first Halloween costume…It will be cute, I promise :)!