The Greatest Day

First off I want to report that I got to hold my son on Friday for TWO AND A HALF HOURS. I'll get to that soon. Concerning Braden's condition, starting on I believe Wednesday is when his blood pressure starting getting a little low. The nurses had to put him back on his medicine (Dopamine). They also discovered some fluid in his lungs through a series of x-rays. This is what had been impeeding his progress of getting stronger and breathing on his own. Instead of lowering his oxygen rate, they have had to raise it, as of late. The doctors decided on a series of breathing treatments, similar to someone with severe asthma. After the procedure on Wednesday, his heart rate skyrocketed to over 200 beats a minute and his blood pressure was even lower. This is a common reaction after receiving this type of treatment, but had us worried all the same. So at that point we just waited. The following day on Thursday, we hadn't seen much improvement. We got to visit personally with Braden's doctor. He now wanted to give Braden a steroid treatment over the next two days. This would help with the liquid in his lungs and hopefully help them to mature more quickly. When we went back to see him on Friday, the results were amazing!

Braden's blood pressure had been so consistently good, they were able to completely stop the Dopamine. They removed the, painful to look at, IV from his head. Although the nurses tell us it causes him no pain, and is the best place to put an IV for a preemie, it still hurts to look at. Braden's heart rate had come down to the 150's and best of all, his oxygen rate had went from him requiring 50%, down to about 10% as of this writing. We really need for his lungs to improve. That is critical right now for his long term health. He is doing so well in all facets. We spoke with his Nutritionist and she told us Braden was right where they wanted him to be in weight gain. He is actually not that far behind what his weight would be still in the womb. Most babies are struggling at 25-26 gestation weeks to just regain their birth weight. Braden is so close to the 2 lb mark, which would be up 9 ozs from birth. To put it all in perspective, as of this writing, Braden was requiring much less oxygen, blood pressure excellent (no medication), eating VERY well, and digesting his food good, as Annie can attest to. She had the luxury of changing a couple of those diapers. I really feel for her in the years to come, having to change ALL those diapers on her own.

Now for more good news, Braden was doing so well on Friday, I finally got to hold him after 2 weeks, 4 days, 6 hours, and 15 minutes of him being on the outside. Basically, it was the same deal as in Annie's post earlier. You hold him, bare skin to skin against your chest and he just goes into hibernation mode. All of his vital signs seem to even out or drop. He just lays there almost lifeless except for his little heart beating. For the first time I could actually hear his breaths. They sounded raspy and a little scratchy, but he did well. On days when preemies are held, they tend to just sleep soundly the rest of the day, which is what Braden did, as we found out when we called last night. Speaking of calls, I received one at 4:30 this morning (Saturday). It took a few rings to sink in, then the horror set in. I was scared to answer, I have never felt that much of an emotional rollercoaster in a matter of seconds - when I found out it was just my work calling me in - I went from terrified, to confused, to mad, then to elated. Sure I'll come in and work, that is the least of my worries. Turns out some of my co-workers were sick so I am filling in today. Seemed like a form of cruel and unusual punishment receiving a call at that time, but I am actually happy to get the chance to make up some work for the weeks that I had to miss earlier.

So it has been an up and down week, as we were told from the beginning, was going to happen. This definately won't be the last one. We would love to write about only the good news & progress, but unfortunately thats not always going to be the way it is. But, for now, Braden has responded to the steroid, all vitals are good, and we are happy. Annie will be visiting Braden in my place today so I'll be anxious to get a report soon. Thanks for taking the time to listen to me ramble & more pictures coming soon.

~Steve Bunger~