Dennis went back to work today and with him went the laptop, so updates will come in the evenings now. Though he hated being away from Edmund and me, he did have a good day at work.
Edmund started showing several signs of withdrawal last night and today. He was very fussy, had some vomiting, was very rigid, and was running a fever. If he gets too upset from the withdrawal, then he'll have trouble with the feedings. Yesterday we started trying two 5-10ml bottles a day so that he can practice sucking and swallowing. In order to keep moving forward with the feedings, we have to keep his withdrawal under control. So, today he started a drug called methadone. He'll get a very small dose orally every 8 hours. The dose is actually smaller than what he could have with his weight and often it's every 6 hours instead of 8, so hopefully it won't take long to wean off that once the fentanyl is gone.
Edmund is now eating 40 ml every 3 hours. The doctor said that hopefully in another 4-5 days he'll be on enough milk to be off the TPN and lipids. Also, he should be off the fentanyl by Saturday. All that means that, Lord willing, he'll be able to get the PIC out of his head by the end of the weekend! Then he'd only have 2 cords and nothing poking into him, except the feeding tube up his nose:)
It's a very slow process which seems strange consindering there seems so little left, but we're grateful to be here with such great nurses and doctors. We're especially thankful for Nurse Jacky who is so wonderfully patient and caring. She's worked in the NICU for 12 years and reminded us today how far we've come. He was one of the sickest babies she's seen in a long time. We've still quite a road ahead of us, but God is sustaining us one step at a time.
Thank you for your continued prayers,
Dennis, Heidi, & Edmund
No comments:
Post a Comment