Nelsonblog

… I will get to hold our son.  And Sue too, of course-  In fact I have, wisely, acknowledged her inalienable right as mother to be the one to hold Evan first.

But I’m right after that.

Holding Evan…  my son…  Words fail me.

Evan’s doing excellent.  He’s completely off the O2- he had a little nose tube earlier today, but no more.  Heck, he’s off everything.  Breathing on his own, and doing fine.
He was sleeping soundly on his stomach when I came by- still haven’t heard his voice yet- that’ll be an amazing experience for Sue and I as well.  While Evan was on the respirator, the tube compressed his vocal chords- so we’ve never heard his little voice…

Wow- tomorrow’s going to be BIG.

Better get some sleep.

Goodnight.

Mom and Dad Christensen (Sue’s parents) left today to drive back to Salt Lake-  they are understandably very sorry not to have been able to hold their new grandson.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them from the bottom of my heart for their selfless assistance to Susan and myself over the past week- your help and support was invaluable, Mom and Dad.  Sue and I appreciate you so much.

We look forward to your next visit that’s right around the corner- And Evan does as well-

Thank you.

Hooray!  They took the breathing tube out of Evan this morning-  Sue and I just got back from visiting him and are incredibly giddy.

He was sleeping peacefully- and he looked so much more comfortable!  The RN pointed out his heartrate has dropped into a more relaxed number as well (140 as opposed to th 160-180s we’re used to seeing) 

He got a sponge bath early this morning, and took that quite well the RN reported.  Good for you, son!
He had a pseudo-sneeze and his little face just squinched up, it was so expressive…  Sue and I both sucked in a breath with wonder- We’ve got so many new discoveries to look forward to.

Best news so far- his IV in his left hand ought to be out by tomorrow- at that point they’ll let us hold him!  We are positively quivering with anticipation.

God has been so good to us-

Evan’s been a good boy this afternoon for a change, his nurses tell me.  He was awake and alert and quiet for over 45 minutes.  Just relaxing and soaking in the world.  I’m somewhat dissapointed I missed it!  He was sleeping quietly when I arrived and hadn’t changed when I left-  good for you, little guy.  You rest.

His O₂ level has been steady at 29 for most of the day- and the pressure rating has been brought down to 12.  The doctor tells me that the pressure rate will be the final hurdle Evan will need to cross before they take him off the respirator- but she then also told me that that could be as soon as tomorrow!  Joy!

The doctor also told me they’ll wait 24 hours after the breathing tube is removed before they’ll start feeding him milk.  I hope he likes it- he hasn’t done much tasting yet-

I asked when Sue and I will be allowed to hold our little bundle of wonder, and she says they’ll first he’ll no longer need the IV lines in his right arm, and that might still be a day or two away.  That’s so amazingly exciting!   Oooh, I can’t wait!

Okay- calm yourself, Nelson.  Go to sleep.
Tomorrow I might be able to hold my son…  I just can’t describe the intense joy that prospect holds.

Goodnight-

Evan’s O₂ level has been brought down to 29% today!  They’ve stepped his meds down a tad as well-  I’m so proud of the little guy.  The doctors are holding off of the echo-cardiogram, because he’s doing so good. 

When the O₂ level stays consistently at 21%, they’ll take him off the respirator entirely!  That could only be a few days away-  how very exciting! 

They had Evan on his stomach for a change today, the RN reassured us that he’s perfectly safe from SIDS, since he’s hooked into a respirator.  If for some reason he decides to stop breathing, God forbid, the machines will force him.  Ha-HAH!  Take THAT!

Wow-  I’m giddy.  Sue is as well-  Can’t wait to visit him again tonight.

Evan is doing well-  much unchanged from this afternoon really.  Still at 50% Oxygen- still wriggling around an being a general nuisance to his RN (this is a good thing, really).

I saw his armpit for the ffirst time today, his left one-  I caught myself thinking:  "Wow, that’s his tiny armpit, that is."  After which I marveled at how much I don’t know about my little son.

Looking forward to getting to know you better, son-o-mine.

Good night, all.

They’ve put Evan on a different breathing apparatus yesterday.  He was on an oscillator before-  Now he’s on a pressure ventilator.  The difference between the two is the oscillator just kept Evan’s lungs at a set pressure, it didn’t really let him breathe on his own.  This new pressure ventilator doesn’t inferfere with his breathing- it just makes certain he breathes a set amount of times in a given timeframe.  It also makes certain the proper volume of air is getting into his little lungs.  The doctor told me: "He was ready for an upgrade."- and that his lungs were mature enough now for this breathing equipment.

He had another blood transfusion as well- which he has consistenty responded well to.
Poor little guy had the hiccups while we were there- it was making the new device go bananas.  He calmed down in a few minutes-  no problem.  The doctor told me that Evan has been responding very favorably to stimuli-  With acute PPHN often times external stimuli will cause a sharp drop in O₂ rate

X-Ray looked good- not much fluid where it shoudn’t be.

~went to lunch, then to see Evan~
So proud of little Evan!  His oxygen is down to 55% today!  That’s a big jump from the 90% last night.  The doctor says that this might well be the turning point for the little guy.  Depending on how his night goes, He might order another echo-cardiogram tomorrow to see how his pulmonary pressure is faring.

Talking to the RN, Evan has been quite ‘wiggly’ today-  she’s had to sedate him twice ’cause of his constant getting into everything.  This is a good sign, really-
While we were there- Evan started getting pretty fussy-  The RN felt his chest and told us it felt ‘rattley’.  After our  eyebrows shot up- she quickly eased our fears and told us this was pretty common.  Y’see, Evan can’t cough.  Because of this, the RNs check his lungs every once in a while to see if they’re filling with some fluid-  With the help of a tech, she used a pipette thingy to suck it out-  after a quick diaper change (poopy!  Good job, son!), Evan quieted down almost immediately.

Things are looking up-

Okay, Sue and I are going to try and have a nap today-    Sounds delightful.

PS: I showed the head NICU doctor my little graphs I made detailing PPHN yesterday- he liked then and said they’re accurate, except for one thing-  the colors of the arrows.  oxygenated blood ought to be red and non-oxygenated ought to be blue.  Eep!  I’ll have to re-color them!

Sue and I went to our church for 10 minute today-  the entire congregation gathered around us to pray for Evan and Sue.  It was very moving-  It’s good to belong to a body of believers for just this kind of support.  Sue’s parent’s are returning to Utah Tuesday- and our church will be providing meals to us for three weeks starting Wednedsay.

Sue and I are truly blessed through this difficult time.  Thank you all so much.