One Step Back

August 2 11:30 pm

It was a rough day for Parker. So rough in fact that he was just exhausted. They warned us. We were told.......when they were both extabated within four hours of each other we were told that sometimes they have to be reintibated.......logically we knew it could happen......but emotionally it took a little bit of a toll. Parker just wasn't ready......he was just too tuckered out to stay off of the vent.....at least that is the best guess at this point and frankly the hypothesis that is easiest to accept. Once off of the vent Parker was doing much more of the breathing on his own. The CPAP was assisting, but the majority of the responsibility fell on his little shoulders. Late last night it just became too much too soon. He had the bad desatting episodes, his heart rate plummeted, he threw up while being bagged and possibly took some of it into his lungs. He just was running out of steam. They upped his peep and he got through the rest of the night, but the morning brought more of the same. Extreme desats as well as the return of the bradycardia (low heart rate). They didn't want to, but the docs eventually decided that it was better for him to be reintibated. The cost of being on CPAP instead of being intibated was now more problematic for him than just putting him back on the breathing tube. The decision was made and deed was done. In addition to the breathing tube they took him out of the isolet (the upgraded incubator that is more enclosed) and put him back in his original incubator. The need for immediate access to him in case of emergency prompted the bed change. In the isolate access is more limited and given the past twelve hours harrowing episodes, they need immediate access. There is still a lot of mucous in his lungs. The cultures haven't come back yet to show another infection, but the "better safe than sorry" and the "nip it in the bud" philosophies prompted the initiation of anti-biotics......once again. In order to administer the anti-biotics an IV had to be put back in......make that two IV's. In order to intibate morphine had to be given. So he went from no tubes whatsoever invading his body (except the feeding tube) to a total of four. Because of how traumatic the day was they kept him off of any feedings as well. As you can see in the pics below, he's just whooped......relatively lifeless.......a limp doll. They gave him another transfusion to up his red blood cell count (they transport oxygen in the bloodstream). It was probably the transfusion, but at least his color looked good. He was limp and mostly non-responsive, but looked good. The good news: Tomorrow they will restart his feeds....his x-ray this morning actually showed improvement in the amount of liquid in his lungs.......and our overall consensus is that he simply wasn't ready......he needs some more time to develop his lungs before they try to solo. So that leaves our little hero back on the vent, getting respiratory help and getting stronger for awhile. Parker had a rough day.

Tyler on the other hand is in complete cruise control. His respiratory assistance was lowered a tad bit today. We found ourselves able to hold him once again. Heather and I both took turns cuddling the baby boy. We are also finding him so much more alert and responsive. You'll see in the pics below he has his eyes open a lot more these days and actually seems to see you and focus on you......probably not....but it seems like it. He has been doing extremely well since the steroids and doesn't seem to be hitting any speed bumps. Living in the moment with his success as we know there could definitely be setbacks on the horizon.