ROLLER COASTER

I'd like to start today by talking about a conversation I had with some NICU nurses while I was still in the hospital and before Justin arrived. They are very good at Abbott in preparing you for the weeks to come and what to expect in the world of NICU. They talked about all the different statistics and what happens to babies when they get there and some of the complications that are also a possibility. They compared the time we will spend with Justin in the NICU to a roller coaster ride. We would have ups and downs and go forward and backwards and that is all normal but our time there would be very hard. 

Well, all we have had in the past two weeks were ups. We thought maybe we were different than EVERY other family in the NICU and that our journey wouldn't be a roller coaster ride. We were wrong and last night night, we sort of went straight down. I will tell you, this will be a long post with many details from last night and this morning but know that Justin is doing just fine so DON'T WORRY!!

I called the hospital around 11pm last night as I always call one last time before I turn the lights off. We just like to know that he is doing ok so we can go to sleep and not worry too much. The nurse didn't seem her normal self (she had been on the last 3 nights- so she knows Justin and how he acts) and told me that he had been having a ton of spells since she got there (very unlike him) and was also acting lethargic. She said that when she suctioned his mouth and nose he didn't even cry. Normally, he gets really pissed off and tells the nurses to leave him alone! She mentioned this could be a sign of infection and that the doctors were requesting all sorts of different labs, blood work, X-Rays, etc. We got in the car right away and went to the hospital. When we got there, Justin had 4 nurses and a doctor surrounding the isolette and they were trying to stimulate him to breathe. He was having a spell and needing lots of stimulation to get out of it. They usually just have to touch babies to remind them to breathe but they were all rubbing his back to get him going again. They talked about possibly needing to intibate him (put him back on the ventilator) or maybe the CPAP to help with the spells. His antibiotics had already been started and his feedings were completely stopped. They put a tube in his tummy to extract all the milk that was in there and get any air out. We talked to the doctor about the different possibilities of infection. It could be an infection from his PICC line (IV), could be a random infection from his nose/mouth stuff that has been put in and taken out (sometimes that stuff just gets bacteria on it and causes infection), or it could be a problem in his intestines that they call NEC. NEC is short for something that I can't remember and/or pronounce so we will just leave it at that. NEC was something to really worry about as that is related to his feedings. Everyone has bacteria in their intestines and we need that to digest food. However, preemies get that bacteria because food is being introduced but their intestines are not ready for ANY bacteria yet, good or bad. That is what the placenta is for and they shouldn't be getting milk this early. It is kind of a double edged sword. They need the milk to start growing and developing but their bodies can't always handle it at an earlier date than full term. We sat with him for a while and he stabilized his stats (breathing, O2, etc.) and so we decided to go home at around 2am. He was so limp and didn't even open his eyes for us while we were there. They also poked his heal to take blood and he didn't even make a peep. Little babies spend so much of their energy fighting these infections that they literally can't do anything else, even breathe! We asked the nurse to please call us if anything changed at all and especially if they were going to have to intibate him. We never got a call. Phew!

I called this morning first thing and talked to the nurse. He hadn't had a spell since 2am and was very alert this morning. He was mad at her when she was messing with him and had plenty of energy. All of his blood counts were a little haywire indicating that there is for sure an infection, they just need to pinpoint what the cause is. The blood culture that they took last night takes 48 hours to get back as the bacteria actually needs to grow before they can figure out what it is. The doctor called me back after looking at another tummy X-Ray this morning and we talked again about all the different things this could be. She also said that we caught this early enough and she is very optimistic that he will be just fine. She said that his stats were great this morning, his color was good, and he had plenty of energy...all good signs that the antibiotics are working. We got down there mid-morning to see him and we wanted to be there around noon because they were going to do another tummy X-Ray. He was wide awake and looked great. The doctor came in to talk to us after the results came back and she also got preliminary results back from his blood culture. The tummy looks great and she is not worried about NEC. That is really good because NEC can be devastating for little ones. The culture showed a sort of strep infection and he is currently on the right antibiotics to take care of that. He most likely got the infection from his nose/mouth stuff and they are getting it taken care of quickly. They will continue to not feed him for a few days (don't worry, he is getting nutrients through his IV) and then they will reestablish the feedings once his intestines get a good rest. At that point, we start again at ground zero. They will be able to increase his feedings at a faster rate because his intestines are already primed for milk but we just can't start it up where we left off. His breathing is back to normal and he is requiring much less oxygen than even before. I think the need for more oxygen was an early indicator that something was developing, it's just hard to tell for sure. 

So, that was our roller coaster ride last night. We are so happy, not for the fact that he has an infection, but that it is not something that will cause greater issues in the future. He is doing just fine now and resting comfortably. We have decided that since he was doing SO well, he just figured he wasn't getting enough attention from all the cute nurses. But, he certainly had EVERYONE'S attention last night! And, he gets his very own nurse today, one-on-one. He just likes to flirt and they all think he is so cute. I will try to update again tonight as I am sure you will be interested in knowing how he is when we go back later. As of now, things are calm and I am going to take a nap!! And, as for this roller coaster ride, we are getting off! Hopefully no more ups and downs to come.