We hope all is well with everyone and that you're enjoying the holiday weekend. Here is yet another update on our brave boy, Finley... he is doing great! We are still a little way off from coming home, but he is making good, steady progress. A few things have changed, number one being his eating or "feeds" as they are called in the NICU. Without going into too much detail, Fin's tummy loves breast milk! He has had no problem digesting and eliminating his milk and we are now at full feeds, no more TPN (IV nutrition). He had no setbacks with his feeds which is a HUGE deal for him. The fact that only 5 weeks ago, a good portion of his organs were on the outside of his body and now, not only are they inside but are functioning correctly, is beyond amazing and a credit to our sweet boy and his wonderful surgeon.
They will continue to up his feeds accordingly and the next step is to either fortify them for additional calories or to compress them which means that instead of a continuous feed like he is on now, he would receive larger portions at regular intervals. He is gaining weight slowly and will be able to start attempting bottle and breast feeding very soon which leads me to the next topic.....
It's the Bane Of Our Existence, our Arch Enemy.... The Ventilator. I'm kidding, it's really not, however, we just want it out of him! Now that he is so much more active and alert, he just HATES it and lets us all know it. The constant coughing and suctioning and worrying about the condensation in the tube going into his lungs.... it will be a very happy day when it's gone. They are slowly weaning him off of it as his lungs will tolerate it. The problem is that his newly placed organs are still causing pressure on his lungs and so he is not fully able to take deep enough breaths on his own. Again, without going into too much detail, suffice it to say that getting him off his vent is the number one goal right now and this week they are going to start to push him a little. We have an ultrasound Tuesday to take a look at his diaphragm and we will know more at that point.
The weaning of the fentanyl (pain medication) is going well. We don't think he's in much pain anymore, it's a matter of dealing with the withdrawal symptoms. It has gone much better than we had thought, he has had a few bad days but overall, not too horrible. He is just about weaned off... to give you an idea, his highest dose was 7 micrograms and he is now at 1. Almost there! Once he is completely off the drip, they will most likely give him spot doses periodically and then we are done.
His belly wound is looking great, he still has the wound vac on and will for possibly several more weeks. I have been pushing to get more info on this but it's difficult to get the surgeons to commit to anything concrete. Our understanding is that the wound will "granulate" meaning it will close on it's own but we're not sure how long this will take. The good news is that this process has begun and there is no infection.
Fin is so alert and love lots of stimulation! He knows our faces and voices, he loves looking at his mobile and his colorful rattles and toys and has started to reach for things. He has a bed full of toys and things to look at and mommy and daddy talk and sing to him as much as possible. He sucks on his pacifier really well, even with the tube in his mouth, which is a good sign that he will take to breast feeding. The nurses continue to dote on him... he is a favorite around the NICU. One doctor calls him the Famous Finley. Am I bragging? haha. We can't wait to see his precious face once that tape comes off.... we are hoping for next week sometime, fingers crossed. At that point, we should be able to finally hold him!!
Thanks for reading and thanks as always for all of your kind words and support, we can feel the love for our sweetest heart, Finley!
More news soon, much love to all!
xoxoxox Finley, Daria & Rick
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