Friday, 3/18

Well, I wish we could end this good week on a good note but unfortunately today wasn't the smoothest of days. Dinky was really up and down from a respiratory standpoint. In the midst of it all they switched him from the "jet" ventilator back to the conventional ventilator which is a big adjustment. So it was a very unsettled day from that end. They also had a pulmonologist (lung doctor) come in to do a more thorough assessment of his respiratory functioning. Part of the reasoning behind this is that they keep "stalling" in terms of his resp. function. He gets a little better for a day or two and then either plateaus or backslides a little. They are also concerned about the mucus in his lungs and the large amount of thick secretions that they suction out of his mouth. So the pulmonologist will begin the process of working up different possibilities and ruling them out. One thing they are working up, and will hopefully rule out, is cystic fibrosis. We are certainly hoping this is not the case and will keep you posted as the "work up" continues.

One thing I want to clarify that may have been confusing from my previous post: the fact that we are meeting with the surgeon Tuesday does not mean he is that close to having his next surgery. The main doctor who is attending right now just wants us to meet with them periodically to evaluate where we are and where he might need to be before we explore surgery. But we are certainly weeks (if not a month or two) away from that point.

Thank you all again for your comments, support, thoughts and prayers. Can you believe it has been 6 weeks?? Our parenthood has definitely begun in a way we never imagined but we are so thankful for this little boy. I think Martin had all the nurses lulled in during "story time" today...I wish you all could have seen how red he turned when they called for an encore. It was a special, sweet, and funny moment. So while our days are hard, they are also filled with happy, joyous moments like that.