Roller Coasters Have Downhills Too

Well, today has certainly been an exciting day to say the least. This morning Jeffrey was doing really well, the docs even suggested that we start looking toward releasing him. Unfortunately when Brian came back for the noon feeding Jeff seemed a little listless and was having some trouble breathing. His heart rate was elevated for about 15 minutes or so and the nursing staff suggested that he may have an infection. Apparently a lot of preemies have problems with infections around days 7 to 10. The nurse stopped his feeding and they put him in the isolette to keep an eye on him.
When I arrived at 3pm, there were a cluster of people around Jeff’s isolette and a doctor immediately came over to me and said they were just about to call me. They let me know that it is apparent that Jeff has an infection and that they believe that they caught it early. They were running a number of tests; they were collecting blood, urine and doing a spinal tap. Some of the results will be back tonight and some will take a few days to come back. They started him on antibiotics to be proactive and not to waste any time. They took an xray of his belly and chest to look for NEC. Those films came back showing that his belly was distended and his bowel walls were thick. This doesn’t necessarily mean that he has NEC but could mean that he was heading in that direction so it was a good idea to scale back on feedings.

While I was there he had a number of apenic episodes and the nurse told me that it was very likely that he would go back on some type of oxygen therapy. After a number of these episodes, his nurse Jeanne said that he would likely go back on the ventilator because the positive pressure of the CPAP would aggravate his belly and bowel. Before we went home, they intubated him and put him back on the ventilator. It was set for 30 breaths per minute and it basically breathes for him so that he can relax. After going back on the vent, he’s able to spend more of his energy fighting off his infection instead of worrying about his breathing.
We went home for the night at the urging of our nurse. She recommended that we go home and get some sleep. They said that he will probably go downhill for the first 24 hours before he starts to improve. He’s in the best hands possible and they caught this very early. We’re really hopeful and everyone says that this is something that every baby in the NICU goes through. Wish us luck and keep Jeffrey in your prayers.