March 25, 2009

David here. Today we are having a better day than yesterday. Melissa and I did not sleep much last night, as we worried, so we called in a couple of times for updates. He was fussy and had to be given a couple of doses of morphine to calm him down. That must have worked because when we arrived this morning Caden Marshall was settled and quiet. The doctors took a number of x-rays and blood work for the lab which all came back okay. The doctors are doing a bit of trial and error to identify the relationship that is causing the low renal readings. Right now they believe it is due to the feedings so they reduced the amount each feeding. He should be up to 55cc’s (about 2 oz) however they are not allowing any more than 40cc’s to see if at that level it makes his renal sats better. We will see if that makes a difference.

The speech therapist was in two times today to work on his feeding. After about 10cc’s Caden wanted nothing more to do with feeding orally. I will have a talk with him later today about stepping it up on the feedings : }.

Today Melissa and I have taken turns most of the day just holding him and loving on him. Caden is awake a lot more than he has been since birth and it is nice to look at him looking at us. His eyes track us pretty well which is really great for us to see as it is an indication that his neurological development has not been severely affected. We also enjoy some of the faces he makes. Whether it is when he purses his lips or just lets out a big ol yawn it is fun to watch. Even when he is fussy and crying it is nice to see his many faces.

They put Caden Marshall in a little shirt today and he looks great. (See some of the pictures to the side). The shirt also has a purpose. Caden was getting really good at pulling at his feeding tube and the oxygen lines and the shirt now covers his right hand so he can’t grab them in-between his fingers. Now however he is grabbing them with his fist much like you would grab something with mittens on. He is doing really great today and his mom is having a good day as well.

Today is a good day to give a progress report on machines (hence the picture above). Remember with March 17ths post we took a picture the day after surgery to illustrate the sheer number of machines and monitors Caden was attached to. You could see in the picture (see March 17th post) that the room was a maze of technology. The count at that time was: 7 Medications, 5 Saline flushes, and 4 Blood products.
Today we are down to: 1 constant medication, 0 Saline flushes, and 0 blood products. Also removed since March 17th are; two right Atrial lines, all two chest tubes, and two heart pacer wires. Caden Marshall has truly made us very proud over the last week and a half. We know that he is not doing this alone. They have great doctors and nurses here at CHW and we believe the hand of God is guiding all the progress.

Thanks for all the support and taking this ride with us.

David and Melissa