| The NICU Experience | Aaron update 21 |
| Subject: Aaron update 21 Date: Tuesday, December 24, 2002 10:42 AM From: Kevin Quick To: Aaron Update List I called and talked with nurse Lisa this morning. Aaron is fine. He does have some bacteria in his lungs, which isn’t too serious. They’ll be putting him on a second antibiotic for this. Also, he gained 70 grams in the past day, which is a bit too much, so they’ll be giving him a diuretic to help him pee out the extra water. We don’t want him to have too much water, as this water collects around his lungs and makes breathing more difficult. His oxygen concentration has had to be increased over the past day or so, meaning that his lungs aren’t working quite as efficiently as we’d like, but we’re hopeful that the antibiotic and diuretic will take care of things. Actually, I had noticed that Aaron had gained 80 grams in one day about 3 days ago (this was the day before I had mentioned in the update that he was now 910 grams), and then for the following two days he lost 10 grams, then 20 grams on his own. So, he CAN lose this water on his own, but we want to help him along with it today. Aaron is still using the tiny plastic breathing tube that he started out with since birth, so Lisa has asked Dr. Lee if he could put in a larger-diameter one today, and he agreed. They’ll probably be doing this this afternoon. A larger-diameter tube will allow for greater air flow without having to increase the pressure and air velocity (hey, I knew that fluid mechanics course would come in handy someday). We want to be as gentle on Aaron’s lungs as we can be, and this should help. It’s good that our growing boy needs this bigger tube! Aaron’s feeds will probably be increased today from 4cc every 2 hours to 5cc every 2 hours. Yes! Nurse Susan from Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport just called to wish us a Merry Christmas. Susan is the one who took the bull by the horns and prepared Kathleen for airlifting, organized the helicopter flight, and got Kathleen down to San Francisco in time for us to have a living, viable baby. She is such a sweetheart. Thank you again, Susan. We love you! THANK YOU for the best Christmas present anyone could have given us, our baby’s life. Here’s a picture of Aaron in his new Christmas outfit. Nurse Lisa gave it to him; another nurse in the NICU made it herself. And, of course, Aaron is wearing his favorite hand-knitted hat from Grandma Quick! Tomorrow, on Christmas Day, Aaron will be 4 weeks old. Have a very Merry Christmas, everyone. It will certainly be very meaningful one for us! Lots of love, Kevin, Kathleen & Aaron |
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