Aiden and Evan - 9/11

It has been a high anxiety week in the NICU. I got a phone call from the NICU on Sunday night at 2:00 AM informing us that Evan was re-intubated because his breathing was worsening. His carbon dioxide in his blood was very high, indicating that he was not ventilating very well. Needless to say, this was very worrisome. Not much sleep that night!

Evan has been more stable since he has been back on the ventilator. He is not having near as many desaturations. He does not appear to be very comfortable, though. He flails his arms and legs quite a bit when he is unhappy. They are giving him some sedation to keep him calmer. He also has a lot of secretions in his lungs and has to be suctioned 1 to 2 times per hour. This is also very uncomfortable for him. The respiratory therapists have started giving him “vibe” treatments. This is basically a vibrating machine they place on his chest and back to break up the secretions from his lungs so that they can be suctioned out. Poor little guy!! It is so hard to see him uncomfortable. Please pray that Evan’s lungs will grow and develop into healthy lungs!

Aiden has continued to do well on his nasal canula. His color has continued to be slightly yellow/bronze. They re-checked his bilirubin on Wednesday and found that it was even higher than last week. They also checked his liver function enzymes and found them to be elevated as well. His liver is not functioning like it should be, and the doctors cannot seem to find the reason. He had a repeat of his abdominal ultrasound on Thursday and they could still not find his gallbladder. The gallbladder is really what they need to look at to find out if there is an obstruction or a cyst. They were finally able to collect some urine on Wednesday. We found out on Thursday that he does have a bladder infection. This could be what is causing his jaundice. He will get treated for 7-10 days with antibiotics to see if that helps his bilirubin come down. If not, more tests will have to be done. Pray that treating the urinary tract infection will heal his liver!

Both boys have gained weight this week!!! Today, they were both about 2 pounds 13 ounces. We apologize for not updating the blog as often as we should. We have both been very busy with the boys and work. Hopefully, we will find more time next week to update everyone (with pictures). Thanks for keeping Aiden and Evan in your thoughts and prayers. Please continue to pray for them!