Saint Marys - Day 15

There's not much new and exciting today, either. Garrett's respiratory rate still seems to be high, although nobody said anything about that at rounds this morning. When I last asked about it, it sounded like they think it will just slow down over time. Perhaps his body is just adjusting to the changes in blood flow.

Last night Garrett was still throwing up a lot, but he's done much better today. Other than spitting up a little (well, a moderate amount, but not an entire stomach full) when I fed him at 3, he's pretty much kept it down all day. I think I just needed to back off a little and not try so hard to get him to eat and gain weight. He does a great job eating, but maybe I wasn't giving him enough credit. Maybe I've been encouraging him to eat longer or more frequently than he needed to and his stomach just couldn't handle it.

Taking a more relaxed approach, together with being better about burping him and not nursing him if he couldn't eat and breath at the same time, seems to be making a difference. We'll see what the scale says tonight and tomorrow. His weight was down a little this morning from yesterday -- which I expected, considering how much he's been throwing back up, but it was a little disappointing nonetheless.

He has another echocardiogram scheduled for some time tomorrow. I'll be eager to hear what the cardiologists have to say about the results. They seem to be pleased with Garrett's progress so far, so I wouldn't think there'd be any problems, but their conclusions will play a factor in how soon we get to go home.

The neurologists and neurosurgeons still seem satisfied with how Garrett is doing, so it looks like it comes down to the cardiologists and pediatric care team being comfortable with his condition before sending us home.