WE'RE MOVING UP! Tuesday, December 16, 2008

"The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song."
Psalm 28:7



Today was another AMAZING day with Tyson's progress! This morning the nurses took out the arterial line in his leg and I also got to give him a bath. He actually is wearing clothes now too since he is no longer in the bed with the overhead heater but in a "real" crib now. We started bottle feeding him too! Once he can comfortably take at least 2 oz from a bottle, they will also take out his Ng tube. For now, he is taking about 1 oz at a time and the rest goes in his Ng tube. I am spending only 15 minutes at a time giving him the bottle, and then the rest will go into his tube. This is because they do not want Tyson burning too much energy on sucking and then he won't be interested in the next feeding.

Last night they gave Tyson a blood transfusion because his sat's were lowering and he wasn't getting enough oxygen. With all the bloodwork that they take all the time (every hour right after surgery, then every 4 hours, now it's down to every 12 hours) his hemoglobin level was low. So now his levels are back to normal and he is breathing well again.
This morning Vicki and Melissa W came to visit and they also took me out for lunch. It was nice to see them again. This afternoon Brian's parents came with Tante Hanna for a visit. This visit was a lot shorter than we had hoped for, since Brian's Dad helped me move things from my hotel room. I didn't get to see much of Mom or Tante Hanna but I am thankful that I got things moved out of my hotel room.

The plan as of this morning was that I would move directly into a private room with Tyson and skip the "Step Down" room altogether! This was because Tyson has made so much progress in the last 48 hours and he has pretty much done everything that he needs to do in Step Down (getting rid of tubes, introducing bottle feeding, etc.) But as of now, because of staffing issues, we will be moving to Step Down after all. This means he will be in a room with three other babies before moving into our own private room. I haven't checked out of the hotel yet because I know that there are always little glitches along the way. I didn't want to be left without a place to lay my weary head! So I will most likely be spending one more night in the hotel, it just means I have to take some minimal things with me since we moved everything over to the hospital already! LOL There is a possibility that there will be a place for me to stay on the fourth floor but nothing is ever known for sure until later in the evening.

Our Social Worker Mayola informed us that we do not need to check out of our hotel until Tyson is discharged, just in case he for some reason has to be moved back to ICU. Then we wouldn't want to be without a place to stay. So it looks like Brian and the kids will have a place to stay this weekend if they come up to visit, which is loosely in the plans, but nowadays we don't know anything for sure! We have requested a travel attestation to celebrate Lord's Supper in Toronto, since we will be missing it in Orangeville. Either way Brian and I will be in Toronto for the weekend, but we aren't sure yet about the kids. It all depends on where Tyson is.

So as of right now, Tyson is still in ICU but will be moving later tonight, and I will most likely be staying at the hotel again until we are in a private room. If all things go very well, we could very well make it home in time for Christmas, or shortly thereafter! We have been praying that we can be home for Christmas, for the sake of our family life. It would be so much better to celebrate and enjoy the holiday season if we were altogether. But we will have to be patient and wait to see if that is what God also has planned for us too!

I feel so encouraged and optimistic about Tyson's recovery today! Yesterday was a great day too, but considering Tyson's respiratory difficulties and the collapsed lung that Tyson struggled with on Saturday and Sunday, we are amazed at God's goodness and grace in his life! All praise and glory be to Him alone!

As for the possibility of me beginning to nurse Tyson, it looks like they want to err on the side of caution and continue with the portagin. Seeing as the fluid disappeared so quickly, they cannot say for sure if this was a result of the portagin or not. The nutritionalist would like to stay on the course we are on and continue with portagin, but the cardiologists upstairs may differ in their opinion. For now, we are continuing with portagin. The problem is this: if I start breastfeeding and the fluid does return, then we know for sure it is chylothorax. And then we have to begin portagin again and start counting 6 weeks from that date. If we stay on this course, at least we are a week ahead of the game and I can begin nursing in about 5 weeks time. This means that I would be beginning breastfeeding at home, and I would definitely be calling in the help of my trusted Robin Berger (lactation consultant who I have known since Braden was born 7 years ago) and I am sure she could help me find a way to get that little guy to nurse. I am not too concerned about nipple confusion, at least this way maybe one of my babies will actually take a bottle when I need them to! LOL

So that's the update for today. Hopefully I will have some more good news tomorrow!

Take care,

Mel:)