While I've been loving on my other three kids for the past two days, the occupational therapist has been in to see Elijah and try feeding by mouth twice. After seeing him have a little difficulty, she recommended having an ear, nose, and throat doctor come in and check things out. Yesterday afternoon the ENT came and put a scope down Elijah's nose and throat for about 30 seconds. Elijah's vocal chords are moving the way they should. That's good. There's lots of swelling from reflux. That's bad, but not unexpected.
So Elijah is on prevacid for the reflux, and he gets a break from mouth feedings at least through the weekend. After the ENT talked to me, he gave his report and recommendations to the doctor in charge, and she came back in to talk to me and answer any questions. My parents were both here, and she explained to them and me that Elijah is doing better than anyone has expected him to from the beginning. His lungs are both looking great now, and there is no talk of him needing to go back on a ventilator. Lung conditioning will continue as needed, and his oxygen support is greatly reduced.
The reason we're in this corner room that's twice the size of any other room in the unit is because they were planning on him coming out of his first surgery still on a heart/lung bypass machine, and they thought he'd need the extra room for lots of extra machinery and equipment.
He hasn't needed any of that, and has been reaching milestones at a pace that has pleased and surprised his caretakers. I know that Elijah has many, many people who love and care about him, and who are praying for him and his recovery, and I thank you again.
Jack took the above picture one of the first days Elijah was here. As of today, the two roll-in monitors (the ventilator and nitric oxide) on the left are gone. The five containers on the ground were for drainage and are gone now. We're down to four green glowing screens, not the twelve pictured, and one of those is just for breast milk and goes directly to his stomach. This morning he's resting so comfortably on his stomach that the monitor sounded an alarm because his heart rate was so low. I wouldn't have thought a week ago that my biggest concerns would be feeding Elijah and taking care of a diaper rash, two very normal baby issues, but on his 12th day of life with us, that's where we stand.
4 comments:
Lorriane, I'm so happy for you and Elijah. Chelsea had filled me in a little about the baby and all the obsticles you had gone thru with your pregnancy and what you would have to do after he was born. And after reading your blog since he's been born, it's brought tears to my eyes seeing what a strong little soul he is. And what a strong person you are. My heart goes out to you and your sweet little baby. I hope things keep looking up. You'll be in our prayers.
(oh, and I love the name Eli, too! :)
I'm so glad to see Elijah is doing well and exceeding expectations. Looking at all those machines made me realize again what a blessing technology is. It keeps precious babies alive until they're ready to be on their own. It also reminds me of my Tyson's 6 days in the NICU when he was born at 36 weeks.
What a wonderful post! Thanks for sharing his progress with us! He sounds like a strong little trooper. Keep on keepin' on, Elijah! You all continue to be in our prayers.
So glad to hear so much happy, peaceful news. We are still thinking of you and praying for you. We love you and feel a great love for Elijah. We're also aware that it can be very hard on the older babies...we are praying for them too.
Post a Comment