This morning was a little rougher start for Liam, but nothing serious it seems so far so thank goodness!
We were greeted by Liam with a fever this morning, they weren't sure why- but it was only one temp reading so they made no adjustments yet unless it persisted.
Also, the tube down his throat to his stomach was asking up. This tube drains fluids out of the stomach via continuous suction and is collected in a small container to view the contents. Usually green (it's expected to go more clear after surgery when his system is working properly), today the fluid had blood in it. It had started in the wee hours of the morning so they repositioned the tube in case it was sucking too close to the stomach lining and gave Liam some Zantac to soothe his stomach. He got some pain meds as well to help with the irritation- he had been extra fidgety that morning- and for good reason!
A few hours later, the pediatric surgeon did her rounds and pushed more intestines back into his abdomen. At first she had pushed in quite a bit, but the nurse and doctor said the remaining intestines started turning white, indicating lack of blood flow to the external guts (bad stuff) so the brought some back out until it got pink again. The amount she got in is pretty much the same amount she had gotten in each day so we were pleased. Liam had some more pain meds because of this too. :)
After lunch (and a great nap by momma) we headed back up to NICU. Liam's fever hadn't come back since this morning so that was great news. His gastro collection container had been relatively clear through late morning, but his stomach must have gotten irritated again because the blood was back. The doctor decided to pull off the suction for tonight to give his lining a break and is just letting gravity pull out anything it can instead. I think Liam was grateful! Another dose of pain meds. It seemed like he got a lot today, but they said he can have pain meds every 2hours. Usually he doesn't need more than 2-4 per day but today was a little harder, just seemed like a lot I guess.
Lastly, Liam's trifecta of needles in his head is now complete :/ He's had his PIC line for his nutrition and dopamine, as well as an IV just in case he needs anything else quickly (currently it's not in use, just open and ready). Today they put one more in his head to add antibiotics to his regime to prep his intestines for surgery. They had to start a new line rather than use the open IV so they still had an open port if needed. The last line should come out after surgery. Liam looks like a he has a crown on his head now with all the stuff sticking out of him. Poor baby!
Riley got to come visit us at the Ronald McDonald House after school and we were so excited to see him! He looooved the house and explored all over. He found the play area out back and coaxed one of the volunteers into playing soccer and basketball with him. What a great service to have someone run around with the kids if you've had a tiring day or are recovering. He loved it! Then it was time for homework and snacks from all the goodies in the kitchen. More exploring in the playroom, got a Wii hooked up in the family room so he was content. We all got to eat dinner together before it was time for showers and PJs. We got lots of great kisses and cuddles before Steve's parents drove Riley back to Daphne for bed. Hi mum reports that Riley feel asleep in the car rather quickly and went straight up stairs when they got home and was fast asleep in no time. Whew! Makes me feel better about being over in Pensacola, away from him.
We got another great treat when we went back to the NICU tonight for bedtime- Liam was doing great! One of his favorite nurses, Megan, was on and he always opens his eyes more when she's on duty. She said no signs of fever, the suction is off so he's comfy, and no pain meds since earlier in the day. He was honestly resting comfortably all snuggled up to his lovey from my mom. Also, his intestines appeared to have dropped in further on their own during the day- not much to go now!
He fell asleep for a good while so we just sat with him and enjoyed his peacefulness. Then he gave some good stretches and was kinda of awake so we read him his bedtime stories and played his music for a while before leaving.
So glad the day ended well. Maybe tomorrow we'll get news about when he'll have surgery!
No comments:
Post a Comment