Our Strong Little Guy

Andrew is doing much better.  He seems to like his antibiotics, although they still haven't found a source of his infection.  He also responded very well to the blood they gave him last night.  Yes, he finally required that transfusion that we've been debating about for a month.  He has color for the first time and looks great with his pink hue:)  His breathing was labored throughout the day so they wouldn't let him eat until late this afternoon.  Poor guy was starving and very mad about this.  It was so good to see him have energy to be mad though! They got a chest xray, which was a little hazy but not overly concerning.  They think he may just be a little wet from all the fluid and blood last night, so he got two small doses of a diuretic to help him better manage this. He was breathing a little more comfortably when we went back tonight though and he was so ravenous during his feed that he finished his entire bottle in under three minutes! You would think he hadn't eaten in days!

It is a little sad to see him back in his fancy isolette, which is the exact same bed that we started out in long ago.  This time around though, he almost looks big!  Here he is hanging out tonight:

Look how big our little cutie is!

It will take a couple days to wean his bed temperature back down to the point that he can self regulate and come out again to an open crib.  They also want to do about a week of IV antibiotics, so he will stay back in the NICU for at least that long.  It is amazing how strong our little guy is though and how beautifully he has handled everything that he has been through in the last 24 hours.  Hopefully, this next discharge will be for good and this will be the end of his torture. 

We did contact another pediatricians office this afternoon and talked with them about their management of high risk preemies.  They were very responsive to our questions over the phone and want to meet us, including Paige, first thing tomorrow morning.  I am so hoping that we like them and feel comfortable with their care.  The pediatrician we had chosen before was incredibly liberal in her management and didn't think frequent weight checks and labs, as the NICU recommended at discharge, were necessary.  She also didn't seem to think a barely 4 pound baby with a temperature of 96 degrees needed help.  Our NICU team called her office last night, as a courtesy call, to let them know their patient (Andrew) had been readmitted and was pretty sick.  They never called the NICU or us today to see how he was.... This only solidified our decision to switch care.

Paige continues to do great at home. We are slowly increasing the volume of her feeds, as she is waking up hungry and taking the amount with ease.  You can almost see her growing in front of you.  She looks great and we are hoping to break the 5 pound mark when we meet the new pediatrician tomorrow morning!

Thanks for checking in and for all the calls, texts, emails, and support last night and today.  Last night was very stressful but we are ALL doing much better today (besides the exhaustion which isn't going away any time soon!).