7.16.08

Hi everyone. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and well wishes for little Ethan and Allison! We will try to post updates here as often as we can, that way you can check on the babies and have the latest updates.

Ethan had a relaxing and stable day today. They were able to turn down the oxygen on his vent. He was resting all day looking just like this. No upsets or funky things with his oxygen dropping. Mommy and daddy love him, but we let him rest without bugging him too much today.

Oh, and Dr. Rosenbloom (??) talked to us today. He said that Ethan's lower O2 needs indicate that the medicine to close the duct (PDA) in his heart very well might be working. He also shared with us that in his many years at St. Luke's they have only sent a few babies to Iowa City for surgery to close the duct. I really wish that the other doctor would have mentioned that when he told us that would be the next step if the medicine didn't work. So, we are hopefull! We should know by tomorrow the results...

Chris called him Mighty Mouse today, and it seems to really fit him. :)


Ali had a big day today. All good news! Yesterday she graduated from the ventilator to the CPAP (continuous positive air pressure - like sticking your head out the window of the car!). She hated the CPAP and kept pulling it out of her nose! This afternoon she graduated again and just has a nasal canula with a little bit of oxygen. yeah!

They moved her IV from her hand to her head (this also happend to Ethan last night). I guess the hand sites went bad. The head site isn't pretty, but they have their hands free now, which is nice.

Ali also had the line to her belly button removed, which they tell me is an improvement. instead they put a PIC line in her foot, which doesn't seem to bother her.

The other exciting thing is that she was able to start breastmilk through her NG tube (that little orange one in her nose). She started smacking her lips when they started the feeding. I was able to hold her much easier today, since she isn't connected to big machines any more! That is so nice. Hopefully Ethan will be right behind her!

Ali loves her binki! The OT stopped by today and gave her a larger one to help prep her for breastfeeding. She sucked away for 25 minutes while we were talking to the OT. It is great to see her sucking. :)

It is definitely time for bed for me. The hours and days seem to fly by at teh NICU. We were planning to leave 'early' today... which ended up being after 9. Oh well, it is worth it to see them.

On that note, several people have asked if they can do anything for us. Thank you so much to all of you! We so appreciate your support. If you would really like to do something, we would most appreciate food that we can take to the hospital and eat for lunch/dinner. They have a fridge/freezer and microwave for us to use there.

Thanks again for all of your emails and calls and wishes of support. Check back here for more updates!
Lisa