Wed. night update on Seth and all

Hi all!

This happy mom is grateful beyond words to report improvement in Seth's lung x-ray; there is much less inflammation. In addition, he's on less oxygen and they were able to wean the ventilator a little bit today. The most encouraging thing to my heart was hearing from the nurse practitioner how healthy Seth is looking and acting! He was alert and sucking hard on his pacifier, had good color, no discernible swelling, no heart murmur (meaning his ductus arteriosis is closed), and in short "does not look or act like a sick baby." I just called the NICU and heard he's only on 38 percent oxygen; after being at 60, the 30's sound great to me!

There is still much to pray about, though. Room air is only 21 percent oxygen, so obviously he needs to continue moving in the right direction. He still has some inflammation, and his blood carbon dioxide level is still too high. He's remaining stable but not really improving in regards to blood gases. We PRAY his carbon dioxide decreases and the remaining inflammation clears up so they can wean him off the ventilator sooner rather than later and continue to wean his oxygen. He has 6 more days on a lowered dose of the steroid; please continue to pray that the steroid helps and does not hurt him in any way. In particular, we pray he won't get any infection or have any damage to his brain.

The nurse practioner says nutrition is key in helping his body and lungs to grow, mature, and start to self-regulate (although his kidneys are already producing higher levels of sodium bicarbonate to counter-balance his respiratory acidosis. Truly, we are fearfully and wonderfully made!). Thank God, he is tolerating his feeds really well and they have already stopped his IV lipids and decreased his other IV nutrition as his little belly handles more and more milk.

Gracie is doing great! She is only on 24% oxygen tonight! She also gained a bit and is now 2 lb 3 oz. Marcie is 2 lb 4 oz, and Will is up to 3 lb 3 oz. Seth and David both lost a bit since last night and are 2 lb 9 oz each (although Seth still has the advantage at 1170 grams; David is at 1150 g.). Will is getting all of his nutrition from my milk only; the other babies are all moving forward! An enricher is added to increase the caloric value per cc., from an average of 20 cals to 22 or 24, depending on the baby's progress. David might also be only on milk; I can't remember. :}

I got to hold David for over two hours today; Gavin's parents got to change diapers. I told them they are welcome to change as many diapers as they want! :)

Thank you for praying for ALL the babies and particularly for the concerns regarding Seth.

Love and gratitude,
Carrie