Our Family

Our Family
Our Family

Friday, December 13, 2013

Grateful

The last 24 hours have been a whirlwind and now we are exhausted and simply grateful.

Alexander was able to slowly take the second and third of the doses of the indomethacin - it has him retaining a lot of fluid that he should pee out over the weekend. He's up to 2 lbs 6 oz but we believe that much of that is fluid so he may appear to lose weight over the next several days.

We received the great news that the PDA has closed!!!! At this point it can still reopen so it's something that they will continue to monitor. We were warned that just because it's closed doesn't mean that we will automatically see a jump in his stats. He's a super preemie - so his stats are going to be up and down most of the time. He has very immature lungs and that is a constant focus and balancing act to ensure he has enough oxygen (but not too much), his vent settings are enough (but not too high), he's eating enough (but not too much fluid), and on and on and on. 

They did find another, small defect in his heart but it's one that many people live with their entire lives. It's called PFO, or patent forament ovale, which is a hole in the heart that didn't close property after birth. This is very common and is often only discovered during tests for other issues. Most never need treatment for this defect, but it is something they will continue to watch.

The course of action now is more surfactant. This is a compound made normally in the body, but because Alexander's lungs are so immature, he doesn't make enough of it. This helps give him a boost without impacting the amount he is making on his own. It's quite the process - as they have to take him off the ventilator and manually breath the surfactant into his lungs (see photos below).   

We are very grateful to have avoided surgery and hope that Alexander can focus on growing his lungs for now. We are hoping for a little less excitement and just steady growth for our little man!!


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