October 12th - Day 54, 8:45 pm
posted on 10/12/2007
Bennett had another good day and we thank God for that. He had a good blood gas this morning and his air-flow pressure was reduced from level 3 to level 2, so we are thrilled about this. Once the change was made it did not phase him at all, and he continued to go throughout the day requiring very little oxygen support. These are huge leaps for our sweet baby boy whose lungs have been so incredibly sick. The lungs are still healing and have a ways to go, but as he gains weight and grows new lung tissue to repair the damaged tissue, his lungs should only get stronger and stronger.
Bennett spent most of the day wide awake and enjoyed another mini-massage with mommy and Aunt Lorraine until a dirty diaper interrupted us. He then spent 20-30 minutes lying wide awake in his crib looking at his new Rainforest animal mobile that plays Bach, Beethoven and Mozart music (he is already gaining an appreciation for the great classical musicians :)). He had lots of snuggle time with mommy and practiced more bottle feeding, so overall it was a wonderful day.
We have been told that there is a strong chance that Bennett will physically be moved to "the Hilton" sometime soon, so we will keep you posted. Since he was classified to Critical Care 2 this week, he is now considered stable and ready to start preparing to go home. For him the biggest issue is consistent bottle feedings to ensure that he has the endurance to feed and continue to gain weight once he is home. Since drinking from a bottle wears him out due to the effort it takes for him to breathe, suck, and swallow, we will patiently wait for his little body to build up the stamina needed. We have been told that this will eventually happen, so please pray for Bennett as he trains for his "bottle feeding marathon".
We found out today that Bennett's right diaphragm is definitely partially paralyzed, which confirms the doctors' suspicions that damage was done when the ECMO procedure took place. They did an ultrasound to see how much activity the diaphragm was performing, and it was very little. Over time it may recover and be active, or it may not - regardless, the doctors have told us that he should be able to compensate for it with his breathing as his lungs strengthen.
We are looking forward to spending time with our angel boy this weekend and taking some more pictures - he is changing every day! Today his hair was looking more and more red, so we may have a sweet carrot-top like Uncle Chris. The nurses and doctors are all so happy to see how Bennett has progressed and are amazed at the strides he has taken in these 8 weeks. We know that the strides taken are 100% because of God's power to save Bennett and heal Bennett. Thank you to all who have prayed to God for Bennett's healing.
Have a great weekend!
Love,
Kelly, Travis & Bennett
