Two Pounds And Counting!
Greetings to everyone.
It's been a few days since our last post. Many things have been going on, including Rebecca's mother flying in last week to help us out. What a blessing; she really helped get the Southern Outpost fixed up both for mom and baby.
Rebecca is doing well, though still a little sore from her surgery. She has been doing so well, she often forgets she underwent major surgery. She is getting more active, but still grows tired after (increasingly more) exertion.
Xavier is doing really well. He passed the two pound weight Thursday and as of this morning he weighs 2 pounds, 3.8 ounces. He has been putting on about an ounce a day since his staph infection was cured.
He is back on high-flow and on 2 liters/minute at 35% oxygen. He had gone down to 1 l/min and 21%, but he was having to work hard at breathing and was having deep retractions (retractions are the deep indenting of his chest when he breathes in). Strong retractions mean his energy is being spent breathing rather than growing. He is expected to go to 1.5 l/min today.
His is up to 10 ml milk every two hours. This is awesome and bypasses the 8 ml he had just reached before his bout with staph. The doctors want to get him to 12 ml every two hours, which will happen at midnight tonight.
His antibiotic regimen ends today and his ramping up of feeds has been timed with this. He will no longer need his daily electrolyte and lipid cocktails. This leads to even better news: his PICC line will no longer be necessary. His PICC line is scheduled to come out tonight about midnight. With the PICC line removed, he will only have his breathing tube and an NG. And, no more pokes to check electrolyte levels! Every day I have to ask the nurse, "Hey, what's this bandaid for?" We are glad he will be poked so much less. We think Xavier will be happy about less pokes as well.
Finally, Xavier looks really good! His skin is a healthy pink color and no longer looks papery. He has grown notably. He is alert, always watching during his handling sessions and diaper changes. He has developed a butt, his glutes are forming nicely. His is not as fussy as he was last week leading up this the diagnosis of his infection. He really does look like a miniature baby now!
Always, we thank you for your prayers. When you see Xavier, you see the answers to those prayers.
An iconic shot of mother tenderly caring for her son.
A closeup of Xavier. He still is not fully able to regulate his body temperature, so trips out of the pod require a little hat. There are little tapes on his upper lip and along his septum to help ward against the irritation of his high-flow cannula.
This is the Ogden's first family photo. As has been his modus operandi for months, Xavier does his best to keep a low profile.
Grandma holding her grandson. Penny flew in to assist Rebecca and me in setting up the Southern Outpost to make it more Rebecca-friendly. We so appreciate her efforts; some of the walls in the house have not been so clean in years!