Pictures

October 14 - Day 17

Mason had a repeat head scan today to look at the small bleed he had on day ten.  IT WAS NORMAL!!  The doctor was very happy to see that everything was fine and he would just need a routine follow-up scan at 30 days of life.  They are very impressed with this because of everything that Mason has gone through he is at such an increased risk for a bleed. We are advancing his feedings more today since he is tolerating them well.  Plan to continue to decrease his Fentanyl drip (pain med).  They also lowered one of his pressure settings on his ventilator today and will check a blood gas this evening to see how he is tolerating it.  Big day for dad today....he is going to hold Mason for the first time this afternoon! Pictures to come later today :)

October 13 - Day 16

So far so good today.  Mason is down to around 30% on his oxygen requirements on the ventilator. The everyday air we breathe is 21% oxygen.  He is still at the same settings for pressure requirements though. The doctor said it will just take time because his lungs are so immature yet. He will finish his course of steroids today.  They are starting continuous feedings.  He will be getting 0.7 ml of breastmilk per hour.  The plan for this afternoon is to spend as much time as possible with Mason on my chest.  Hopefully he does as well as he did yesterday. 

October 12 - Day 15

Mason had another good day.  Feedings continue to go well.  He is requiring less oxygen today than previous days.  Joe was a little nervous about holding him yet, so I spent two hours with Mason on my chest.  He did AMAZING!  Joe and I read him his first book while he was on my chest as well. We are beginning to really appreciate the nice uneventful days in the NICU. 

Day 14

Mason is two weeks old today.  They were able to turn his ventilator settings down some and he tolerated it well.  He continued to receive the small feedings and tolerated them.  They are also weaning his pain medicine drip.  I got to hold Mason again last night.  Joe wants to wait until he gets a little bigger. 

Everything was going really well last night until the nurse decided to retape Mason's breathing tube.  Somehow during this he was extubated (breathing tube came out of place) and they had to use the ambu bag again to help him breathe.  His pulse also dropped drastically so they had to start CPR.  The doctor was able to re-intubate him after some time.  After that he had a decent night although agitated from all the events. 

Day 13

Mason is still on the new ventilator.  He is on a high setting for his age, but it is still a lower setting versus being on the oscillator.  The doctor said it is a good step forward.  After tonight's doses they are stopping the antibiotics Mason has been on because all of his labs are looking better and he has been on them for seven days now.   The feeding have been going well so far.  They will continue the small 1 ml feedings for five days to make sure he can tolerate it and then advance him. 

Today was a big day for mom and Mason.  I got to hold Mason for the first time.  It was the most amazing feeling in the world... although a little scary.  The nurses and nurse practitioners were there to place him on my chest and make sure all the tubing and wires were ok.  I was able to hold him for about two hours.  He did so well!!  Dad's turn tomorrow :)

Hopefully Mason's blood gases are good throughout the night and we will be able to wean his ventilator settings and nitric tomorrow.     

Mason's sign that his nurse made for him

 Mom giving Mason his first feeding

Mason's home with new blanket from Grandma Bonzi

Wide awake

Mom and Mason

Day 12

This morning the doctor came in and said we weren't going to change alot today and have a nice easy day.....that didn't last long.  He came back about a half an hour later and wrote a page of orders.  Mason was doing so well on the oscillator and his settings were so low that they decided to take him off of it and try the regular ventilator.  This was a huge step forward for him.  They still have him on the nitric because they want to only do one thing at a time.   He is doing so well on the ventilator right now.  He also started feedings today.  He got 1 ml of breastmilk every three hours today and tolerated it very well.  This is just a small amount to get the gut ready.  They will continue to increase this as he tolerates it. All in all, Mason had a very good day.  He sure impressed all the nurses today.