Setbacks

Sigh...nothing does a number on one's emotions like the NICU.  We showed up for Weston's noon rounds and found two nurses in the middle of a sterile procedure on him, so we couldn't go in. Not being able to see him when we expected to was difficult enough, but it turns out that he is struggling right now.

I mentioned yesterday that Weston has metabolic acidosis, which means that his kidneys are not doing their job at an optimum level. He was given medication for it, but it is persisting. Shannon and I have different understandings of it: I think it's getting worse, while Shannon thinks it's just not getting better. His pH is a little too low, so they have to bring it up. When we got there, they had put an IV in his scalp (terrifying for a parent to look at) and were in the process of changing out all of his IVs. He was also getting a blood transfusion, his second since birth (transfusions are pretty common in the NICU). When I asked why they were changing all the IVs, rather than putting in the picc line, I was told it was a matter of priority. According to his nurse, he had a rough early morning with all the stuff they were doing to him.

Another little baby needed emergency surgery, so they had to shut the NICU down, which means that we had to leave only a few minutes after we got there. I got to touch Weston for about three minutes. We'll go back tonight, but it was so hard leaving him so soon after a series of uncomfortable and scary procedures.

As we were leaving, our social worker corralled one of the physicians, who came to explain a little more about the acidosis. Apparently, there are four possible causes: infection, heart issues, a brain bleed, and just very immature kidneys. Weston had another head ultrasound yesterday and an echo. Thankfully, the head ultrasound showed no brain bleed! Although the final echo results are not back yet, they seem to be negative. It appears that Weston does not have a heart murmur, which is wonderful. Apparently almost all preemies have heart murmurs, many of which have to be corrected with surgery. These are huge answers to prayer.

Which brings us to infection. The doctor mentioned sepsis. That word was all I needed to hear to put me in full-on panic mode. They drew his blood a bit ago to test for sepsis and should have the results back late this afternoon. If he has sepsis, it will be treated with antibiotics. I don't know much about sepsis (and I refuse to google it), but I do know that it is an infection of the blood and can be very serious.

The "best" cause of the metabolic acidosis, then, would be immature kidneys. It sounds like, whatever the cause, it is stressing Weston's little body and putting off his next feeding attempt. He obviously can't really start growing until he is eating. He gained an ounce and is up to 1 lb 3 oz, but it's just a result of all the fluid he's been given in the past 24 hours.

God has protected Weston and has had His hands on him for a long time. We have faith that He will continue to do so. But this is very scary. Please pray hard for no infection. We will keep you all posted.