Aiden and Evan - 7/30

This was one of those roller coaster type days that they had warned us about earlier in the week.

Janel and I arrived today to find out that both of our boys were not doing as well as they had been on their breathing. They did the sonograms this morning and this probably wore the babies out. Evan had had few apneic spells and they had to increase the oxygen levels back up some. Also, Evan had another attempt at putting his PICC line in but again his little veins wouldn’t take it. We think that Evan has Janel’s veins and is a “really hard stick”.

We then talked to Dr. Landers, the neonatologist, who gave us the wonderful news that Evan’s brain sonogram showed no signs of bleeding and that Aiden only had two little spots of bleeding. Aiden has a level one and a small level two (lower the better) bleed in an area normally filled with fluid and not in any of the actual brain tissue. There is little chance that the size of the bleed will increase and should actually decrease as Aiden’s body reabsorbs the bleed. Dr. Landers said the probability of a level two bleed becoming problematic is only 20% and Aiden’s was on the smaller side of level two. She sounded optimistic that Aiden wouldn’t have any problems from his.

Dr. Lander’s also informed us of another potential concern with the boys. The blood vessels in the retina of the eye are in the process of developing right now. There is a 20% chance that these vessels may not develop correctly and the result could be as minor as a lazy eye or serious as blindness. The most critical factor is the controlling of the blood oxygen saturation levels. If the vessels receive too much oxygen while they are developing, they will not do so completely. This is why (or at least one of the reasons) the monitors start beeping any time the oxygen level goes above 95%.

The other news from Dr. Landers was that they are going to try giving the boys some of Janel’s milk again. As of this evening, both boys are getting feed every four hours and so far they seem to be taking it well.

Around 5:30 PM today Janel got a call saying they were placing Evan back onto a ventilator. I guess his blood saturation levels were not staying up high enough. They have replaced a tube back to his lungs and are using a normal ventilator. We are a little disappointed that Evan had to go back on a ventilator but we were warned early on that they would probably have to go back on ventilators several times.

Janel and I are holding up fairly well through all of this though there are times when the enormity of all of this hits and you can’t help cry a little bit. Knowing that so many people are praying for our little boys really is comforting and we can not express our thanks for this enough.