Day 47

Sorry I haven't posted lately-I am such a lazy mom:) Well, a lot has happened in 10 days. For starters, Tucker weighs a whopping 3 pounds and 9 ounces!! What a cow! I think he hit the 3 pound mark last Thursday, and he has just kept getting bigger. we might have to put him on a diet (just kidding, of course-they might actually increase his calories since he eats so well.) So Tucker has taken several steps back with his breathing. Actually, he is back on the oscillator at pretty high settings-back to the beginning. He stayed on the traditional vent for six days after the steroids ended, so he worked on his own for awhile. He just wasn't ready. He went back on the oscillator Saturday night.He is starting his third round of steroids tomorrow-this time, for ten days, so we'll see how he does. He is also starting some antibiotics to help with the inflammation in his lungs. He still does not have any sign of infection, so that's great. He will also be on some diuretics for awhile to get the fluid off of his lungs. He had been requiring a little more help from the ventilator every day, and on Saturday afternoon, even the highest settings weren't enough to keep him happy. They even took away his food on Saturday night and Sunday so his body wouldn't have to digest anything. They fed him with his IV fluids during this time. I was upset b/c he likes his food! But it's okay, he is doing a little better, so he got his food back yesterday. Because of Tucker's weight, they may start him on bolus feeds soon. That means that instead of being tube fed continuously, they would just give him the entire amount every three hours. Right now, he gets 8.5 ml per hour, and it flows straight into his tummy all the time, a little bit at a time. So instead of that, he would get 25.5 ml all at once every three hours, which isn't quite as much as a full ounce. As he gets bigger, his food intake will get bigger.This is to teach Tucker that you don't get fed all of the time-you have to wait until meal time. Also, to teach his tummy to take in larger amounts of food at once. That way, once he's off the vent, he can take his bottle. When he gets his bottle, he has to learn how to suck, swallow, and breathe all at once. But hopefully by then he will be used to his new bolus schedule so he won't be too hungry. Tucker had his eyes examined the other day, and everything looks fine. Also, he had another brain scan, and that looks fine as well. Really, everything's fine, except for his breathing.Tucker received a visit from the pulmonologist today. The pulmonologist specializes in babies with breathing problems like Tucker's. He pretty much agreed with the treatment the other doctors are giving Tucker, though, so not much news.The real news is that the doctor told me we could hold Tucker while he's on the traditional vent. We just can't hold him while he's on the oscillator. So Tucker was on the trad. vent for ten days, and we never held him. We have been told again and again that we could hold him once he was no longer on any vent. So, that was a missed opportunity. Hopefully he will be back on the regular vent pretty soon and then we will hold him.