PICU - Day 7 - Update

I know it's been a while since the last update, but now that I can hold Garrett, I've discovered just how tricky it is to type with one hand -- especially if it's my left hand.

Anyway, yesterday we tried nursing for the first time since arriving at the PICU. I was wondering how Garret would do, since he hasn't had anything other than a breathing tube in his mouth since Sunday afternoon. At first, he kind of checked things out like this was familiar, but he wasn't quite sure what to do. That only lasted for a minute, though, before he latched on and started gulp, gulp, gulping like he's been nursing for weeks already.

He's continued to do well with nursing, and the doctors are all very pleased, as that is one of the key signs that he'll be able to do fine on his own when he goes home. One of my main jobs will be to make sure Garrett is growing and gaining weight. We need him to get bigger so he can better tolerate the next angiogram, whenever that will take place. Also, with the extra workload his heart has to endure, he's burning through calories much faster than usual, so we need to ensure his caloric intake can support those demands.

Last night, Garrett's nurse Meghan and I were changing his diaper after a feeding, and Meghan began adjusting how his catheter was affixed to his leg just as Dr. Arteaga came in. Dr. Arteaga said, "Oh, we don't need that anymore, do we?" Meghan replied, "I don't know. Do we? They want to watch his urine output, but we can weigh diapers instead." Dr. Arteaga thought that would be better, so the catheter came out and Garrett has one less thing to get tangled up in when moving from his bed to my lap and back. Woo-hoo!

We really like Dr. Arteaga. =)

Yesterday, they also talked about removing his UVC line (the one running into his umbilical cord through which he's receiving various medicines), but they'd need to replace it with another IV. I'm not sure why they want to take that one out if they need to put another one in instead, but when it came down to it, they couldn't get another line in anyway.

They had trouble finding viable options, since he's already been poked so much. Remember the ER team in Wabasha tried several times to place a line before resorting to going straight to his bone marrow in his right leg. The staff here tried three times (twice in his right foot and once in his left arm) when Dr. Arteaga came in to see how things were going. She told them to try one more time, since they thought they might have a shot in his left foot, but if that didn't work, they should quit poking at him and just wait until today.

Did I mention we really like Dr. Arteaga?

Recently, however, they decided to try giving him his medications orally, so they could skip adding another line. He seems to be handling that fine. He hasn't gagged or tried to spit it back out (although he grimaces to show he doesn't like the taste), so tomorrow they'll probably just take the UVC line out and call it good. It's too bad they couldn't have decided that before poking him four times and making him cry and squirm.

That's mostly it for today. His creatinine level is down to 0.6, just shy of normal, so his kidneys are still improving. And they're talking about moving us out of the ICU tomorrow! That's another big step to take before getting out of here and going home. It also means tonight will be my last night in a sleep room, but since Garrett is nursing exclusively now, it's probably just as well that I crash in his room anyway.

Here's hoping for more good news tomorrow.