Beau had a hard day when it came to taking his food and medications. He would feed 1 or 2 ounces but then throw it all up. Most of the time it is after or before receiving his medication. He had to receive a couple additional medications today for low potassium, chloride and sodium. He has never thrown up before in his 5 months of life so we were concerned. It specifically happened after he took his potassium and a stool-softener which clearly tasted horrible! These episodes of vomit seemed to be related to the medication so we brainstormed ideas to get him to keep down his meds and milk! By the late evenings hours, they were mixing his meds with small doses of milk and he seemed to keep that down better. So he would get 1oz with a med and another without.
They took him off the nitric oxide today and they're slowly weaning him off the oxygen - he is down to 0.75L/min. He had 33mL drainage from his chest tube (under the 100mL goal) so they hope to get that line out soon. Because they have been unable to get IV access, they have been using his right atrial line (RA is a central line to the heart) but they do not prefer to use it for additional medications unless needed. Thankfully they have been able to do quick sticks to draw blood when needed! They are planning to put in a PICC line on Monday and take out the RA line. They decreased the Milronome medication which dialates blood vessels to increase cardiac output. They stopped one of the diuretic medications and decreased his Lasix dose (he receives every 8 hours) to keep urine output consistent.
We are not able to hold Beau yet until that RA line comes out; for now we give him kisses only!
We love you precious boy.
fingers and toes :)
Sunday February 9, 2013
I called at 4am this morning and the nurse informed me that they began giving Beau IV fluids for a short time (but then shut them off by 9:30am.) Due to his low milk intake yesterday, they wanted to make sure he was still receiving fluids needed in his body. However he did keep down 60mL (2 ounces) and 30mL (one ounce) overnight.
This morning the nurses weren't able to get a good "stick" for a blood sample so they had to use the RA line to draw from. After the nurse change, she did a check on the RA line and was not able to pull blood back from it anymore. Because it is placed directly into the atrium of the heart, it's important that its placement is correct. The sonography team used saline solution and an echocardiogram to see where inserted fluid is going through the RA line. Thankfully it IS placed properly still. This line will come out tomorrow after proper PICC placement.
Beau's chest tube came out today!! Woohoo!! Now he's down to only 1 actual line in his body and of course still hooked up to the nasal cannula and monitoring devices. His O2 is also down to 0.25L/min so hopefully the nasal cannula will come out soon, too!
He got another slight fever today of 99.1 so they're watching that closely and will administer Tylenol as needed.
Our time in the CICU has turned into a longer stay than anticipated, but we're thankful for the great care they are giving Beau. He is still very sleepy/relaxed and has not needed any pain medication today. He seems comfortable and is showing us when he wants to eat which is a good thing. He is down to 11 pounds 3 ounces (down a pound) so we want him to get back into his normal eating habits!
We really missed our church family today as Sundays are a highlight of our week. We are VERY thankful for our church family and all the prayers they send up for us. And an extra thanks to some special friends who are wearing red for Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week (and Congenital Heart Disease Month), too! Large chromosomal abnormalities such as Trisomies 21, 13, and 18 cause about 5–8% of cases of congenital heart defects, with Trisomy 21 being the most common genetic cause... that's Beau! We have the best friends and family in the world!!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
Psalm 121.5
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