Potential positives

Good morning, or evening, depending on how many are still catching up from last night. I know I kept you all waiting, so let's get down to it right away.

Patrick
Little Patrick is off of his Fentanyl. That's right, off the Fentanyl. Does everyone remember what happened last time he was low on that drug? He had ants in his diaper, and was super annoyed, right? Not this time. We were thinking back on the last time he was lowered, and we realized it was right before he started getting the infection, so that's probably why he was so annoyed. Tonight, I walked up to his bed, and said hello. He opened his eyes slowly, and looked at me, the best that he could, and gave me a little wake up stretch. He didn't seem jumpy, or like he was over stimulated. He seemed nice and calm. This is great. They did follow up x-rays again on his chest and abdomen. The chest looks a little hazy again, but they said that can be a side effect from the machine. It also could be because of the undeveloped lungs. They are going to start him on some respiratory drugs to see if it helps. The belly still showed some gas in the colon. We were thinking, as were some of the nurses, that maybe he has some built up fecal matter in the lower abdomen. The drain was placed in the middle of the intestine, so everything above it came out. What about the stuff underneath it though? The doctor tonight said that she is probably going to order a lower gi, or do a barium enema to see if there is poop, or a stricture. Then if it is okay, maybe do an upper gi study, then decide about food. They could still start feeding, and have a big issue. There still could be a stricture somewhere, so we are not out of the woods yet by any means. Craig did his hands on tonight because I was with Brady. He said all went well. He weighed 2 lbs 2 oz.

                                                                  Morning mom

                                                                                 I like my side

                                                            His signature dramatic pose

                                                                      shhhhhh, I'm going to sleep

                                                                    Out for the night

Brady
Brady is down to 20 on his vent setting. He is getting closer each day to a CPAP. The CPAP is scary in a few different ways. I told him that his nurse said that the mask is better because it means he is improving, but that if he has it on, we can't style his hair anymore. I let him know it was his decision to make, haha. Tonight, his nurse gave him a mohawk, and he looked cool. He had a bed change tonight, so I was able to snuggle with him again. This time we were able to get a longer video. His weight was 2lbs 4 oz. He is up to 6.3 ml of food. he is going to get big! His doctor has not seen either of them in a week, and she said she couldn't believe how much they changed in a week. She said she is happy with the improvement.

                                                                   Mohawk!

                                                                         I like it in here

                                                                            Love my little Brady

                                                          Hanging out with my mom, getting a back rub.

That's all from the hospital tonight. Hopefully I will be able to cuddle Patrick soon. Craig still has not held them yet, he has been letting me do it.  Best hubby ever! Let's hope that we have some good news for Patrick's belly. Lord knows he needs some good news!
Night
Em, Craig and the boys