Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Thursday, June 25, 2009

zzzzzzzzzzz's

DOMINIC SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT FOR THE LAST 2 NIGHTS!! Ok, sorry for yelling- I just had to get that off my chest. !! . I'm here to give a HAPPY update about Dominic, which is so refreshing!
He's been allowed to eat 4 oz every feeding for about a week now and has been doing really well with it! He doesn't always eat it all which is nice that he gets to eat until he's full; that's new for him! He's still on antibiotics until tomorrow for that line infection so even though HE's sleeping through the night, I'm not because he needs a dose every 6 hours.... but at least I know he can now haha. Since he's on full feedings, He's no longer getting TPN & Lipids through his broviac- just IV fluids to keep it open in case he needs to go back on the nutrition, so hopefully they can pull that soon!
He's now off the Reglan- that's the medicine that I haven't been comfortable with since they started him on it and it's been 3 times now that his foot will vibrate (tremor) all by itself. The first time I saw this I stopped giving him the Reglan because it's known to have neurological side-effects and I don't want to take any chances. I talked to his Dr. and told him about it and he agreed that we should wean down on it. Psh- I just took it away altogether. Since then, he has been spitting up a bit more, but nothing to be concerned about and he's still keeping down the vast majority of his food, so I'm not worried.
Dominic is now talking! Ok so he's not forming words of course but he's becoming more and more vocal and it's just so cute! =) He'll look right at us and talk to us, or to strangers... whoever will listen I suppose... but it's very cool. Also, he's grabbing at his toys more and holding onto things, and really figuring out how his fingers and hands work. He's really great at grabbing onto hair and pulling it let me tell ya!

OK I'm going to go get ready for my day while he's still asleep.... Thanks for reading and please continue prayers that he keeps doing well and has no set backs!!

Stephanie

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Line Infection

*Sigh* On Tuesday Dominic felt warm to me so I took his temp in the afternoon and it was 100.9. Rick and I were debating on whether to take him to the ER or not because it didn't seem too high to us, but on all of our paperwork from being discharged from the NICU, it says if he has a temp of 100.4 or higher to take him in, so we went. In the ER they took blood labs and checked him out and then sent us home with a follow up appt for the next day. So Wednesday I take Dominic back to the hospital for his follow up and everything looks fine- keep in mind this whole time he's acting totally fine... smiling, staying awake, eating, and pooping... normal stuff. So far the labs were negative for any bacterial growth and they send me home with some tylenol in case a slight fever pops up again. As I'm pulling onto base the Dr. calls and says the blood cultures have now grown something and we need to come back for a dose of antibiotics. Back we go (this is a long, annoying drive straight through DC- ugh). We get his dose and they take more blood to make sure this really IS an infection.. he's acting so happy and well that they think there was a contaminate and he doesn't really have an infection. We're scheduled for a follow up the next day for his second dose of antibiotics and to see what the lab results say. Thursday I take him BACK to the hospital and they get the results: positive. Dominic definitely has a line infection, and they want to admit him. We spent Thursday and Friday nights in the hospital for his antibiotics and let me tell you, never go to a hospital to try to sleep. It's ridiculous that Dr's even tell you to rest and try to get better when you're there because it's impossible. Now we're home and his home nurse came last night to show us how to administer his antibiotics through the line here at home. He's supposed to be on them for 2 weeks if that last blood culture was negative.
Moral of the story??: If my baby has even a slight fever I need to take him in, especially with this hardware in his chest.

On a happier note, at last weigh in Dominic weighed 9lbs 4oz, which is AWESOME!! His Dr. also upped his feedings to 3oz every 3 hours, which is making Dominic happier and life at home a bit easier now that he's not as hungry all the time! Also, we're weaning down on the Reglan and te TPN, with the hopes that in the next 2 weeks we might be able to pull the broviac out all together! That's optimistic thinking and will only happen if everything goes perfectly, but it's still a light at the end of the tunnel.

Please pray that Dominic keeps tolerating his feedings, that the infection goes away, and that we can get him off all this medicine soon! Also, the antibiotics give him diarreah so let's pray that it doesn't get too bad for him- we need him to absorb his food and nutrients!!! Thank you all!!

Stephanie