Recovery

So far, my little guy is doing ok.  They put him on a ventilator to breathe while he recovers from surgery and adjusts to having the ductus closed.  Although he is still on it, they are trying to wean him off, and have already been able to lower the settings and the amount of oxygen he is getting.  He also still has a tube in his chest to help drain the fluids from his chest and lungs, but I am hoping they will be able to take it out soon so that he can begin to heal.  I think that tube might be more painful for him than the actual incision from the surgery.

Right now, the nurse is trying to keep him comfortable, while also weaning him off the ventilator.  This is a very fine balance.  Because he is in pain, which is also causing his blood pressure to be high, they are giving him morphine.  But being drugged up on morphine hinders his ability to breathe entirely on his own.  So they are doing the best they can.  Obviously, they do not want him to be in pain.  We are hoping that by tomorrow his pain will be more under control and they can get him off the ventilator.

This morning they were able to start his feedings again, slowly, and he is tolerating it well so far.  For the time being he is only getting 20 ml every three hours (before surgery he was eating 60 ml).  One good thing about this is that it gives me a chance to get a little ahead in pumping milk for him.  I was getting behind, as he eats more in a day than I can pump.

Overall, he is tolerating things well.  It is so incredibly hard to see him hooked up to so many tubes again, after feeling like we were past all the IV's and breathing aids.  And it is definitely hard to see him squinting in pain.  But we're hoping by this time tomorrow the worst will be over, and being so small and young gives him a huge advantage as far as recovery goes (babies bounce back much faster than older children, and much MUCH faster than adults). 

Thank you so much for all your prayers.  We absolutely see God at work in our son's life, and continue to trust in His plan.