The Bruckners: Monday, May 21st: Playing Catch-Up

Christine--
So, lots has happened with Finnegan since we last updated the blog... here goes nothing!

Switching him over to the nasal cannula. Don't mind
his deformed head from his CPAP hat.

Exploring without his CPAP...Where's my nose!?

On Friday, Finnegan went off his cpap and instead went on a 3 liter high flow nasal cannula. As soon as the "hat" from the cpap came off, you could tell his little head was starting to regain a normal head shape. It was wonderful seeing him more able to open his eyes and just seeing his face in general for longer than 5 minutes at a time was wonderful. They were concerned that he was only gaining on average 11 grams per day, so they decided to up his calorie intake. Pretty much, that just means they add extra fortifiers to the milk he's already getting. Unfortunately, he only got a day of that before Finnegan had a bad day. We were told there would be ups and downs and that life in the NICU would be like a roller coaster. So far, we'd just been coasting because Finn was doing so well.

Well, Saturday was our big dip in the coaster, so to speak. When his nurse was changing his diaper she noticed his tummy seemed a little bigger than usual. She asked another nurse and they both determined that his belly was a bit distended. By the time I saw him that afternoon, he looked like a little pregnant baby. Immediately, they ordered an xray of his belly and stopped his food. That made Finnegan a not happy boy. The xray showed at first that part of his bowel wasn't working properly. Until they could get some blood results and do a follow-up xray later, they weren't sure what it really was. They started him on antibiotics just in case and started an IV with sodium, sucrose, and potassium so he would have some nutrients in his system. They had to put the IV in his head, which was hard to be in the room for, but it only took one stick! He also go what is called a "replogle" tube which is just like his feeding tube, except it has perferations in it. Over time, they inserted sterile water into the tube and then used a suctioning devise to get out any leftover gunk in his tummy. The idea is to see what was coming out after they put it in. So, if they put in 5ml of sterile water, they should get 5ml back. All his "secretions" were clear, which means he didn't have any undigested milk left somewhere in his intestines. While all of this was going on, Finn started having back to back apneas. Previously, we were just having issues with bradys. Well, this time when his heart rate would drop, so would his pulse ox/oxygen saturation. They put him back on the cpap. As the day went on, we got some blood results. Luckily, all his bloodwork came back normal; no infections! After his second xray later that evening they determined that he had what is known as an ileus or blockage in his intenstine. Essentially, part of his bowel wasn't working as well as the other part. The only way to treat this is to use the replogle and rest his digestive system, which means no food. Again, that equals a not too happy Finnegan. His next xray Sunday morning showed more improvements, but they still weren't happy with how it looked, and his belly was still a bit swollen. So, they continued the no food restriction, but started him on TPN (IV nutrition) again. This is exactly what he was on when they started priming his belly for food a couple weeks ago. Needless to say, we were worried parents, but we were confident that Finnegan would get over this little bump in the road. I mean, seriously...he's pretty amazing already.

Had to add a happy picture of Kylie! :)

When we called Finnegan's nurse last night, we learned that even though he was without food for 2 days, he actually gained weight. Finnegan is now 2 lbs and 4 oz and is just a smidge shy of 14 inches long. If that isn't surprising enough, when I walked into Finnegan's room this afternoon, I found my little boy without his cpap and back on the nasal cannula! Finnegan broke the mold again and bounced back super quick! The respiratory therapist said that they were taking their time playing with him and massaging his newly deformed head, and they realized that he had been off the cpap for over 15 minutes and his o2 levels were amazing. So, they took him off the cpap and put him back on the cannula. :) I also discovered that my little dude's belly looked like a normal baby belly! His xray this morning looked a lot better than yesterday's, and the doctor said if his assessment goes well this evening, they won't do another xray and start him up on feedings again tomorrow! They stopped his antibiotics and took out his replogle tube and just put in a regular feeding tube to get out any extra saliva or gunk. He's still getting his IV nutrition, but hopefully we can get that IV out of him tomorrow or very soon afterwards. He is so alert today. In my first five minutes of being here, he pulled out his nasal cannula and then shoved it back in. I'm not sure how he did that, but he's talented that's for sure. Finn's nurse said that his doctor and nurse practitioner were shocked at how quickly he's bounced back from this and how well he is doing considering he hasn't been on food for a couple of days.

More pictures of Finn exploring his face without his CPAP!