This and That

I know I am thoroughly delayed in updating you all as to my son's progress, and for that, I am very sorry.  We had quite a busy weekend, and I have a sinus infection to boot.  Anyway, onto the update...

He is doing well.  Although his surgery has made breathing infinitely easier on him (and his heart), recovery from surgery was a little tougher on him and took a little longer than we anticipated (seems to be a theme around here these days).  It took a bit longer to get him extubated than they originally thought, longer to get off morphine, and longer to get used to being off morphine (he had to be on another drug-Ativan-to help calm him from agitation from no longer getting the narcotic).  But he seems to be doing much better as far as all of that is concerned.  He's happily breathing room air with no issues at all, and only gets Tylenol if he seems to be in pain.

Now, however, it seems we have a new hurdle.  He has been struggling since his surgery with high blood pressure.  At first, we assumed it was because he was in so much pain, as well as a result of his body adjusting to a now closed ductus, and all the blood flowing the way it is supposed to.  He has been treated with blood pressure medication, however, and it does not seem to be doing the trick.  It will bring it down for maybe a few hours, but ultimately he needs medication again later in the day.

Today, the doctors did an ultrasound on his kidneys to see if there was anything going on to cause the high blood pressure.  Apparently, high blood pressure can be related to problems with the kidneys (a problem with blood flow or some sort of blockage), so the doctors are checking those first.  Also, a blood pressure specialist (I'm not sure what their official title is) is going to be checking on him today.  So hopefully in the next day or so we will have some answers, and can resolve this issue for him.

He is still only getting a bottle three times a day, and so far hasn't been too consistent with his eating.  Sometimes he gulps down the whole thing, other times he will only drink half or so.  But I have been able to start working on breastfeeding again now that he is recuperated, and today he did fantastic!  So I'm feeling very confident that he will be able to do it when he gets home.

In other, totally unrelated news, MY DAUGHTER STARTED WALKING LAST NIGHT!  She has finally overcome her fear of letting go, and walked about three feet back and forth between me and my husband.  I got a little of it on video, which I will be trying (very hard!) to figure out how to post it later tonight (wish me luck!).  My husband, unfortunately, only managed to tape the kitchen counter.  So it's not very much that we actually have on camera, but maybe we can get some more footage tonight. =D

Whew.  Well, I think that's all I got!  Thank you for your concern and prayers for our little boy and family!!