8-29-10

I have to say that I am so proud of my little boy he has come along so far this weekend that this afternoon they lifted the stress precautions!!! It was great that Shawn got to see him without his eye shield before he left. We're not pushing anything with Oliver, it was a milestone enough that we can see his face without the eye shield and ear muffs. Still no touching without gloves on but hopefully they can give him a bath in the next few days and they will get a weight on him tomorrow morning - his first since he was born. I still haven't held him but I can see that coming in the towards the end of the week if things continue to progress as they have been.

Oliver is still on the ventilator but he is not requiring as much support. His oxygen concentration he is requiring is now 31% and his N.O. (nitrous oxide) has come down from 20 on Friday to now 6 today so his capillaries are staying open and not constricting. His oxygen saturation (SPO2) is staying in the low 90's on the 31%. I just can't get over how well he has come since Thursday. He even had 2 episodes of the hiccups today and he tolerated them well with his SPO2 staying above 85%. Now the only thing we have to control is his blood pressure. It has been high yesterday afternoon and part of today. They are trying to keep him sedated with the pain meds and ativan for restlessness when the BP goes up. It's good to know that he is like other babies in that he doesn't like to have dirty pants. He started having bowel movements yesterday so we know that his GI system is working now. It scared him the first time he pooped he didn't know what to do. He doesn't cry so it's hard for us to know what is wrong with him and why he's worked up with his BP elevated. You just have to rule out things like dirty pants, too much secretions in his lungs so you have to suction, or he wants to be swaddled. They stopped the dobutamine drip today since they only started that to help with his cardiac output and getting blood to his extremities.

Oliver had both sets of grandparents visit this weekend and also our neighbor Thea. We appreciate all the well wishes from everyone out there and appreciate everyone's concern. It will just be Oliver and me the next few days so I hope to spend quality time with my little man and hope that things keep progressing.