Today is Blake's last day for antibiotics, thank goodness! He has had such a rough time with his IV's. He's been poked so many times that the veins just weren't holding up. The other day they tried to put a new IV in for over 2 hours. Five different nurses had to attempt (and that was just while I was there) and they had no luck. They ended up giving one of his doses of antibiotics by injection. My poor baby has been through so much! After the 2 hour attempt, he was physically exhausted. He didn't want to eat and they had to put him back on oxygen temporarily while he got his strength back. Even though I knew he was just tired from the poking and trying to fight off the nurses, its still never easy to see your baby regress and need oxygen.
We were expecting Blake to come home on Saturday but that looks like its not happening. I have been fighting an awful cold so I can't be around him until I am 100% better and Blake had two heart rate drops yesterday. Not what I wanted to hear when I talked to the nurses. But they said that he had another blood transfusion and was off the oxygen again (besides when he eats). So hopefully that helps. His nurse said sometimes they can brady (heart rate drop) when they have reflux. They don't really know what caused it yet but they want to keep him and watch him to make sure he is stable before he comes home. He may have to come home with an apnea/heart rate monitor to give us some sort of peace of mind. On the bright side, at least I know I have a few more days to recover from this nasty cold and sanitize the house again.
When I called the nurse yesterday to check up on Blake, she told me he was just about out of breast milk. I told her Patrick would be in to drop some off when he got off work and to supplement him with formula if they needed to. Well, I guess Mr. Blake has a food preference already. She called me back a little later and said that he WOULD NOT drink the formula. She said he threw the biggest fit because he did not like the way the Elecare tasted. He's been on Elecare before but he got it through a tube and didn't have to taste it! So, apparently Blake is a breast milk kinda guy. Good thing I have a whole chest freezer stocked up for him.
I am so ready for him to finally be home. I knew we would hit some bumps along the way but here we are in the homestretch and we still don't have an idea as to when he can come home. I keep imagining the day that I can finally put him in our car and drive home for the first time. I look back at all he has been through it just seems like one big blur. I not only write this blog to update all of you guys, but I write it so that I can always look back and see what exactly happened and how far our little miracle has come. He has defied the odds over and over and it is amazing to see his progress and have record of it.
With everything that has happened since August, I must say how thankful I am to all of you who have reached out to us. I have met some of the most amazing people because of Blake. People who have been in similar situations and those who have not, have all come forward and offered us advice, comfort and love. When this all began, I looked into preemie parent groups on facebook. I was curious to see other mother's who have been going through the same things. Once you go through something like this, its like you want to be close to anyone who has a taste as to what you have gone through. I have become friends with a handful of preemie moms and it is so nice to follow each babies story and be there for the other parents to offer encouragement and support. One mother in particular has been beyond awesome. I was dead set on making sure Blake was able to have breast milk because I felt like that was the only thing that I could do for him while the doctors and nurses took care of him. But I needed help and she helped me. She went though all this just a year ago and has been able to provide so much information and support for me. She has been an amazing person to have around because she is truly a caring person. So Gwen, if you ever check and read this post, just know how thankful I am to have met you!
We are hopefully in the final NICU days. Fingers crossed that all goes well these next few days so that he can come home!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment