The Medical Saga Continues

This post title is kind of ridiculous: my baby is in the NICU. OF COURSE there is a long medical saga to go along with that! I am low on creative juices these days, though.

Poor Weston is just being messed with continually. He is one on one with S today, which is good and bad: good because S can give him his full attention, but bad because Weston NEEDS that much attention.

 I called the NICU last night and this morning, and Weston was doing pretty well. He is back up to 700 grams, or 1 lb 9 oz (forgive me if I am repeating this information; I barely remember my own name these days). He stayed at 50% oxygen through the night and into this morning. When I called this morning, they were in the middle of the picc procedure, and it was successful. S said they were a little concerned about the pressure settings on the oscillator. The pressure settings control how much his lungs inflate and deflate with each breath, and they were worried about too much inflation. Weston was under more sedation, which was helping.

 The NICU was insane when I got there. There are two new babies in Weston's pod, and their parents had come in to see them. The alarms were just going crazy; I guess one of the babies needs a lot of care, like Weston. It was unnerving. And then S told me that Weston had a rough morning. He is just really sick of being messed with. With the sedative, he just lies there with his mouth hanging open, which is hard too see.  S also pointed out that Weston's abdomen was a little discolored, which concerns them, and now me.

 So, the doctor and nurse practitioner did their rounds with Weston, and I got a mixed bag of good and bad news. First, the oscillator seems to be working well, and they will not have to switch to the jet oscillator at this point. The chest x-ray from this morning showed some improvement. He was down to about 35-40% oxygen when I got there, which is the best it has been in days.  The pressure settings have improved as well.

 Then, some bad news: the abdomen. They don't know what it is. It could be something as simple as a large liver or burst blood vessels, which can happen when babies are undergoing a lot of procedures. Those things sound serious, but the doctor didn't seen too concerned. The chest x-ray from this morning, which included the abdomen, was non-specific. It could also be necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), which scares the crap out of me. That was how the Grey's Anatomy baby died. I am NEVER watching that show again! NEC occurs when babies get an infection in their intestines, and gas then escapes into the abdominal cavity. It is very serious, but treatable. The doctor saw me get visibly disturbed when she mentioned NEC and told me that most babies come out of NEC just fine. They are doing another chest/abdomen x-ray at 5:00 this afternoon, so we should know the results after the prayer meeting tonight.

 And, the best news: the head ultrasound showed the brain bleed and hydrocephalus resolving!!! This is a huge answer to prayer and one less thing Weston has to battle right now. They will follow up with another head ultrasound in 1-2 weeks.

 Some scary stuff: at the outset, I apologize in advance to the hospital marketing/PR department, but this is quite worrisome. EVERY SINGLE BABY in the pod next to Weston's has MRSA. For those of you who don't know, MRSA is an antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria that is incredibly serious. They found MRSA in one baby's endo-tracheal (breathing) tube. Please pray that the MRSA stays out of Weston's pod. MRSA is rampant in hospitals, but they monitor the babies for it constantly. Side note: avoid antibacterial hand wash or anything else with an ingredient called triclosan. It is bad stuff and helps create the MRSA bacteria's, and other superbugs,' resistance to antibiotics. Just use soap and water. There are many natural products that act as natural antibiotics. If I had the energy, I would tell you all about them, but at this point I just have to say: google it. This is not anything the hospital told me; I have done my own research over the years. And I'm sure the sanitizer I use at the hospital all the time has triclosan.

Please pray that Weston's lungs continue to stabilize, that they get the pressure settings down, and that Weston does not develop NEC or MRSA. And we are so thankful that the brain bleed and hydrocephalus are resolving! Please pray that they continue to resolve.