8.12.08

"Real Men Wear Pink": Nurse Lisa last night wrote that on Ethan's pink stocking cap that holds his CPAP in place; all of the nurses here at the NICU have been tremendous, and extra little glimmers of humor such as this only help, especially for me.

Last night, Momma Lisa (I'll surely get punched in the arm for that one,) wrote about the "slow and steady road home" which is a pretty accurate timetable of sorts for Ethan's eventual discharge from the NICU; being weaned off the CPAP is our first goal.

It is getting more difficult and tiresome to watch Ethan have to wear the mask or prongs and go through fits of agitation where he just desperately wants it off of him and thrown out the window. But as Dr. Barden's mantra states, "Nutrition is the path to salvation." Because of Ethan's open PDA valve, the subsequent surgery, and the recovery from it, he hasn't really been able to eat. He's been kept alive and functioning with an injected cocktail of glucose and lipids and only last week was able to be put on full feedings.

So here's how the dominoes need to fall: With Ethan on full feedings and maximum calories, his body will grow ahead of the curve, giving him and his lungs the fortitude to let the diuretics strip the excess fluid away without making him weaker. When the fluid goes, his lungs will be able to work on their own. When he can breathe without assistance, he can then learn to eat, which will get him into a car seat of his very own, that will fit into our van, that will carry him home where he and his sister can work in tandem to insure that Lisa and I will never sleep again, yet for good reasons.