Bubble Boy Max

Max was in a bubble today. Well, not a real bubble. In testing the yeast infection on his bum, they also found evidence of MRSA being colonized on his skin. This, in and of itself, isn’t a huge issue, but it means that they have him in a more controlled environment which is also separated from other babies in the NICU. They’ve put up a see-through, heavy plastic curtain all the way around his area in his pod and we now have to wear gloves and gowns while visiting him. We have been told that kangaroo care will continue though, so the MRSA issue isn’t a huge one. It’s basically just that they know that it’s on his skin, so they need to do their best to prevent it from potentially getting out and infecting both him and others. He is not “infected” though, he just has it on his skin. Which is normal. In breathing news, he is still taking his time to getting to the point of breathing on his own. There is currently talk about him getting some steroids to help his lungs along a bit. They’re not really concerned about it, they just want to give him as much of a fighting chance as possible here.

We went back to the bubble later in the evening so that Brienne could get some of that lovely kangaroo holding done. He tolerated it well again. He was perfect up until he soiled himself. He really does not like having anything in his diaper. I’m happy to say that I totally knew what was going on. Once he was back in his incubator and changed, he started balancing out again. Brienne held him for a bit over an hour.

Like a cuddly G.I.Joe

We saw our little guy briefly today. He was doing well again. His bum was still a bit pebbly, but he was feeding well and breathing well enough with the ventilator’s help. Nothing really new was told to us. He’s still ridiculously cute, and he squirms very well. Brienne enjoys his Kung-Fu ^tm grip immensely. The little guy was trying to strangle her finger tip like he was a mongoose and her finger was a king cobra.

Yay Boredom!

We went to visit him late in the evening today. We got there and they had just re-intubated him as his previous intubation was becoming loose and the band-aid used to fasten it to his head had become rather saturated in his spit. He was quite fussy when we got there, but once the nurse changed him, he started to calm down again. Because of the “trauma” of the whole reintubation, we did not get to have Brienne hold him today. We did, however, get to watch him be awesome. His PICC had been removed as he no longer needed any fluids via IV since he’s now officially up to 10ml of EBM. We’re pretty stoked with this. He had another X-Ray today, and his lungs looked a bit hazy, but still on their way to being healthy. His FiO₂ requirements were set in the low-mid twenties, so they will most likely switch him back to PSV ventilation in the next few days. All in all, today was another “boring Max day” which means that he’s doing well and we’re breathing easily.

More holding.

I called at around 5am. His news is basically the same. He’s breathing a bit better, and he’s eating well. Ideally, this will continue.

We visited him at 6:30pm. The nurse was out for supper, so we didn’t get a lowdown of what was going on with him. We ourselves went for supper and are planning on returning later. He looked really comfortable and beautifully warm. He’s adorable. He seems a lot bigger than when he was first born. His ears are slowly growing into themselves, and his face is getting more “baby-like” every day we see him. Hopefully, when we visit him later tonight, we’ll have good, “boring” news and will be able to have Brienne kangaroo care with him. He’s up to 7.5ml of EBM. J

He’s up to 8ml now. Brienne held him for over an hour and she was serene and beautiful the whole time. Maximilian took very well to it again and only had issues when they had to let him back into his incubator. He’s got a bit of a rash on his bum again, but they’re treating it the same way as before. He’s doing well today, as is his mother.

Breathing better

I called in the morning, and the news was the same. Which is awesome. Boring updates are the types of updates we want, more or less.

We went to visit him and he was, again, doing really well. He’s tolerating his feeds still, and he’s reacting well to everything except for excessive handling. Which is fine. If his biggest issue right now is that he just wants to relax, I’m pretty happy with that. They also changed his breathing settings to PSV which means that he’s doing a lot more of the breathing on his own, but that it only helps him out if/when he really needs it. I like it. We didn’t get to do any kangaroo holding today because the nurse in charge of Max would not be able to pay enough proper attention to us during that time. We will try for later tonight, but will not be upset if we have to wait until tomorrow.

Hold on, little lady...

I called the nurses at the NICU at around 4:30am today. He’s doing really well and is peeing, pooing, eating and breathing properly. His lungs are still a bit wet, but it’s not something they’re worried about. There’s not a lot new to say, which is great.

We went to visit him this afternoon and he’s still doing well. He weighs a bit more, but there’s nothing much else going on. All in all, Maximilian is still doing rather well right now, so we hope that it continues like this for a while. His feeds are up to 3.5, and he’s doing what he needs to with that. In what will seem like no time at all, he will be at 10ml and we can start discussing changing his ventilation. We’re still very proud of him. We took some pictures. We’ll be taking more later.

Brienne got to hold him for a while again tonight, and she really enjoyed that. Max seems to really take to her. He was doing very well again tonight with everything in general, so I feel awesome about all of it. He was wearing a really cute toque that made him look like some type of preemie gangsta. Overall, he’s moving along the right path and should hopefully continue to do so. The last feed he had was at 4ml, so that’s pretty awesome. Today has been a great Max day. I’ll be calling in the wee hours of the morning to further inquire about his progress.

Adorable, Comfortable

I called in at around 3:30am and Maximilian was still doing well except that they had to stop his feeds temporarily while they waited for a bowel movement. It’s not worrisome, as all the signs point to his GI system being good, just “stuck”. They’re giving him a suppository in the hopes that it speeds things up a bit. I love the little currently-non-stinker.

We went to visit him today. He looked adorably comfortable. He pooped after the suppository and was doing very well today. Brienne got to change him. He’s apparently peeing so much that he has to wear diapers that are obviously bigger than they normally should be for someone his size. So once again, we’re riding the “Max is doing well” high. He’s back on protocol feeds. They had to start the cycle over again, and will hopefully be up to 10ml sometime by the first little bit of next week. If he manages to tolerate all of that, then the PICC line gets to come out.

We went to visit him again and it was phenomenal. He’s doing really well with everything still. The best part about tonight was that Brienne got to kanga-hold him for more than an hour. He fell asleep and tolerated it beautifully. It’s times like that, that I wish time would be able to just stand still forever. It was bliss.