Monday, January 18, 2010

Ayden is such a trooper!


There is never a dull day with Ayden. Poor boy can never catch a break....


In my previous post I had mentioned how much Ayden loved his applesauce. Well, the next night his nurse gave him pears (technically he wasn't allowed to be given this) but didn't seem to be as big of a fan as he had been with applesauce. This nurse also evidently didn't know how to correctly give enzymes either... (which I would think was a common sense type of duty considering the nature of the enzymes all together) ... So this nurse only got 2 spoonfuls of pears to give him and just sprinkled the enzyme powder on top of the spoons. Doing which of course defeats the purpose of the applesauce/pears all together because the inside of the mouth is having direct contact with the enzyme without any kind of additional coating. I watched her do this the 1st time and said something about it but she just told me that she knew what she was doing and it was ok. This was a night shift nurse and so we went home about an hour after this feeding... So 10 hours later when another nurse came on (who knew how to give enzymes correctly) and fed him he seemed less than enthusiastic about a bottle but managed to take 60ccs with a struggle...the same happened at his next feeding...

By the time his 4'o'clock feed came around he refused to wake up at first, didn't wake up during his diaper change even, but screamed when trying to start his feed...After giving him the first bite of applesauce&enzymes he began spitting out blood. It continually bled for about 30 minutes even with placing gauze at the site. An NG was placed, he wasn't allowed to take a bottle for a couple days ,he was given tylenol, and the enzymes were stopped. Soon we started seeing open sores on his bottom as well, evidently the enzymes had came out through his stool and had caused breakdown of his skin there as well. So he was in pain and was so irritated that he kind of shut down at that point instead of crying. He slept for 8 hours without even waking up for his diaper changes or assessments as they put his feeds down the NG. Somehow he managed to putt his NG out 2 times this night tho!


Saturday the doctors decided to take him off of his TPN/IV nutrition because they thought he was gaining enough weight. This is a bit frustrating because the only reason he was gaining weight was because of his tpn. His tpn was turned off @5pm. So at this point I know he is going to lose or at least not gain. So, I still cant wrap my brain around why you would stop the tpn of a baby who has a history of weight issues, who has a pancreas that doesn't work correctly, & of which you just stopped the enzymes that are supposed to help with that. When they weighed him at 8pm he had gained since the day before and had finally reached the 3000 gram mark...he weighed 3014 grams. Later that night they attempted to give him a chance to take a bottle but would quickly take 25-30ccs in about 2-3 minutes and then he would stop and fall asleep. He continued to do this until his 12'o'clock feed on Sunday where he took 65ccs. At 4'o'clock they started the enzymes back up with his feeds too. Sunday they also realized that the skin under Ayden's neck had began to break down & sluff off and was very irritated. And they started him with some powder under his neck...he really doesn't like that process! When they weighed him Sunday night he had went down to 2964 grams. Within one day of being off of tpn he had lost 50 grams already! Hopefully they realize what the issue is b/c he is definitely one baby who cant afford to lose weight. With weight loss comes temp issues again and then we would be in that never ending circle we were in in December. I hope these doctors get this under control fast!

This process never seems to get easier.


So on a brighter note...the physical therapist said that Ayden wasn't showing any signs of the spastic type of cerebral palsy and there is no tightening of the muscles yet. Another nurse had said he had shown early signs of it when he gets angry and arches his back or straightens his arms and legs as he is screaming. I never thought this was abnormal. Don't nearly all baby's do that when they are mad?...Anyways, I was happy to hear the good news from the PT!


I know I promised a picture of my lil' man's room so here it is!....



What do you think?

4 comments:

  1. I found your blog through Chloe's blog and just wanted to introduce myself. I gave birth to twins at 23 weeks, 1 day in August 2007. My son, Logan, went to heaven when he was 1 month, 1 day old. My daughter, Olivia is now a happy, healthy 2 year old and doing very well. Miracles do happen. Friends of mine had twins at 23 weeks also, who went to Michigan for numerous eye surgeries similar to what Ayden went through. Their blog, Kinnick and Carver is linked through mine. Please know that you are not alone. . there are so many wonderful people who have been through the pain of premature birth. I was sent home from the hospital too when I knew something was wrong. God bless you and your family. I hope you get to bring him home soon. I adore his room that is waiting for him.

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  2. Are you kidding me? Sigh.... grrr.... The NICU is a frustrating place for so many many many reasons, and you have highlighted a few of them. I hope they can get their crap together. Be bold, be brave. At this point you DEFINITELY DEFINITELY know your baby and understand his history better than they do. His room looks fantastic and soothing!

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  3. I gave birth to my first son at 25 weeks and 0 days 8 years ago when we were on vacation in Paris, France. It was quite a struggle to deal with all of the trauma and difficult times alone. God Bless you and your beautiful Ayden! You are so strong and will get through this- one step at a time. My former preemie got to look at some of the pictures of your little guy on your blog. He is finally becoming aware of his own beginnings and struggles. When he saw the first picture of Ayden when he was born- he responded, "Man, he is one strong baby!" We will continue to pray for you all.

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  4. Hey Sweetie! I'm thinking about you guys. I sue hope this past week has been better for your little man.

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