January 17 & 18

Saturday, was a pretty quiet day in terms of Caden's status. He continued to be stable yet breathing a little fast. My mom and Cheryl brought Kyler over in the morning and he actually asked to see Caden in the hospital while they were driving over. So, Greg and I took him in to see Caden before he ate lunch and had a nap. He was very sweet and gentle with him and even said “I love baby Caden.” Very cute!

Then, after Kyler's nap, I asked him if he wanted to see Caden again and he said he did. So, we went back over to the hospital and went into NICU again. This time, he sat in Greg's lap and wanted to touch Caden and inspect him a little closer. It was very cute. He ended up spending about 20 minutes in with him and was so good and sweet the whole time. It was adorable.

Saturday evening, a good friend of mine from long ago came down to visit. We had a nice time and she also got to see Caden briefly. Greg's parents also arrived in the evening. They were staying in a hotel locally and were going to keep Kyler overnight with them. That way Kyler wouldn't interrupt any sleep that Greg and I have the opportunity of getting.

Sunday morning, I continued my routine of getting up, pumping, and taking the shuttle to the hospital. When I got there, Caden's nurse updated me and said not too much had changed. So, I went to the cafeteria and ate breakfast before pumping again. When I went back to Caden's bed, his nurse told me he was having a little bit harder time. She had taken his blood gas levels and they weren't as good as they had been. And, his breathing was very rapid (as it has been for the past week) but it has maintained a very high rate and wasn't really coming down. So he's definitely starting to have a harder time.

Shortly after I talked with his nurse, the neonatal attending physician came in to give me an update. He said since Caden was having to work so hard, they were going to try to help him a bit and wanted to put him on CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure). This blows air pressure into his nose and helps keep the airways open. This would give him some “back pressure” in his lungs so they would be able to inflate a little more and not have to work so hard at breathing, therefore lowering his respiration rate. The attending also said that since Caden was doing a little worse, he was going to go over to CVICU and see if he could “stir the pot.” He was going to let them know that surgery should take place sooner as opposed to later. In some ways I was relieved by that because it means Caden might have surgery sooner. But it also means that Caden is not doing as well so that's not good.

I continued to sit with Caden for awhile and while I was there, a cardiac surgeon came in the room. This is the first time I have seen a cardiac surgeon in NICU. We've had plenty of cardiologists, but never a surgeon. I thought maybe he was coming to see Caden and get consent for surgery. I thought if the neonatology attending had gone over there to talk to them, it was a possibility. But, when he came by Caden's bed, I asked him if he was there to see him and he told he thought Caden was doing pretty well. I told him what the neonatologist had said about him having to work much harder and starting to “deteriorate.” The surgeon said he would let Dr. Reddy know that and he made a notation of it on his paperwork. I have no idea what will happen at this point, but I feel like there have been some changes and it might mean surgery could be soon. I hope so.

I left Caden for a little while and when I came back, they had put him on CPAP by then. He looks awful! But the neonatologist fellow I had talked to said that it made him look sicker than he really was so to keep that in mind. But to see your baby on this contraption is hard. And, the nurse told me they still needed to put a tube down his throat into his stomach. They want to do this in order to keep some of the air pressure out of the stomach. If it gets too full of air, it would put pressure on the liver which in turn could push the diaphragm up and the right lung which would defeat the purpose of doing the CPAP in the first place. So, the next time I see him, he will have even more tubes. But the positive side is that it appeared the CPAP was making a difference because his respiration rate had lowered already after being on for only a few minutes. The neonatology attending told me if they didn't get the result they needed from CPAP, they would probably intubate him. So we'll see what happens later this afternoon.

Greg went to visit Caden this afternoon and said he had the tube down his throat and that he was definitely more uncomfortable. He wasn't resting peacefully anymore and didn't seem to like the CPAP and tube. Can't say I blame him! The nurse talked to the neonatologist and apparently his being on CPAP does not make him more of a priority on the surgery list. And, she found out that there are surgeries scheduled for tomorrow and Caden is not one of them. So, we continue to wait.

I guess if Caden's lungs are dried out more tomorrow, they will take him off CPAP. And, then they'll let him breathe on his own again until his lungs build up more fluid and then put him on CPAP again if necessary. But if he has surgery first, they'll have to put him on a ventilator for that anyway. It's just hard to see your baby on that contraption. But it really has made a difference in his breathing so that is the most important thing.