Aiden and Evan - 8/10 with photos

Not much news to report tonight on the boys. Aiden continues to do very well and Evan is still struggling with his breathing. Evan needed 60 to 70 percent oxygen in his ventilator in order to stay at proper blood saturation levels this morning, which is very high in comparison to Aiden who is in the low 20’s. According to the night nurse, they were able to lower him down into the 40s during today but it is still a lot of up and down.

We talked to the doctor about Evan’s condition this morning and he tried to reassure us that Evan is still on a course that can lead to a normal healthy outcome. However, at the same time he started to layout what actions could be taken in the event Evan’s chronic lung disease continues to worsen. To sum it up, there is not much they can do. The course of action for now will be to continue to monitor Evan’s blood saturation levels and adjust ventilating as needed. The hope (and usual outcome) is that Evan would continue to grow and his lung’s new growth would allow him to breath on his own. If his oxygen needs continue to increase they will consider giving him steroids, however doing so would increase his chance at getting cerebral palsy.

Needless to say, Janel and I both are very worried about Evan’s condition. It was a good thing that we both went back to work today. Staying in the NICU watching the blood saturation monitor all day is emotionally draining. Our hearts sink every time Evan goes below 80 and anytime any of the alarms in the NICU goes off (there are so many alarms!) we look to see what his monitor says. It probably is for the best we get out of the NICU for a while.

It had been a while since we had taken some pictures of the boys so when the respiratory therapist changed Aiden’s cap we had to get the camera out.

Janel holding Aiden up.

Janel holding Aiden again, this time you can really see Aiden’s dark hair.

The nurse suggested we take a picture of Aiden with our wedding rings. Even Janel’s size 3.5 ring is a loose fit for Aiden.

Here both of our rings are resting on Aiden’s left foot.

I felt bad that Evan was missing out on all the fun so I tried to take a few pictures of him. Unfortunately we don’t want to stimulate him so his oxygen needs will be as low as possible. Since the light seems to bother him I had to shoot under the blanket so the pictures are not the best. Nonetheless, you can still see how Evan looks a little swollen with excess fluid. The big metal thing on his right arm is to protect his arterial IV line they have placed in him.

It’s hard to see our boys not looking comfortable and it’s been a few days since Evan’s really looked happy. Please continue to pray that God provides strength and comfort for both Evan and Aiden so that they might grow into normal healthy little boys.