Day #20

Jennifer had a little bit of a rough night last night. She was distressed a little, running a fever, had high blood pressure, & a high heart rate. They turned her oxygen back up to 80% & increased her pain medication & sedation. She is no longer breathing on her own right now. Her heart rate & blood pressure have gone down, but are still a little high. They also used Tylenol & ice packs to get her fever down. They did a thoracentisis to draw fluid from around her lungs.

Today was a little better. Her heart rate & blood pressure were still a little high, but she seemed to be resting better.

They did dialysis again today, but when I spoke to mom about 4:30, they weren't finished with it yet so I don't know how much excess fluid they got. The dr's were hoping to get 7 liters of excess fluid today!

They did a swallow test on Kacyn to make sure he's able to swallow. He passed the test! Swallowing was something the neurologist who studied Kacyn's MRI results said he might not be able to do! The nurse told mom today Kacyn did have a couple of episodes yesterday where his heart rate dropped a little. They had increased his food a little & think it may have caused an acid reflux type reaction in Kacyn. They have decreased his food back to what it was previously & he hasn't had this happen again.

I want to thank Linda at It's No Monkey Business (http://www.itsnomonkeybusiness.com/). She brought me a cute gift basket for Kacyn today. It contains a baby blue stuffed Ty beanie baby monkey, a cute little outfit with dogs on it, a disposable camera, a blankie that looks very soft & cuddly, a journal, & a little booklet of mom-to-mom advice on having a baby in the NICU. It's also in a neat little container that can be used for storing things. I cried when it was delivered to me today. I'm just still overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness & love that has been shown to our little family.

Even though it's not as quickly as we'd all like, Jennifer is getting better. She will probably continue to have good & bad days, but she is slowly getting better. There are more good days than bad days. And little Kacyn is doing great! The prayers are working! Please continue to pray for Jennifer & Kacyn & the rest of the family.

Thank you!
Love,
Lynn