Ready for Food!

Caelin's progress has continued to be monitored closely by the team of doctors before making any big changes. So yesterday there were no big changes because they wanted to watch how he continued to do without the ventilator and on the half dose of Fentanyl. They only slightly lowered his oxygen level and flow through his nasal cannula. We are thankful it was a pretty basic day because Caelin was irritable.

Monday night he did not sleep well. Tuesday he still did not sleep well but was happier during the time he was awake. Then Tuesday night he did not sleep well again. Within a 36 hour window, Caelin slept for maybe 12 hours. When he was awake, his temper varied. But today (Wednesday) has been a little bit better. This morning Caelin finally slept for about two hours, was awake for about an hour and a half , and is back asleep going on three hours now. It is so hard when Cael goes through inconsolable moments, not because they last for a decent period of time but because there are so many variables as to what could be causing him to be upset. It could be because he has gas, is hungry, is experiencing withdrawl from his large dose of Fentanyl, is in pain, is uncomfortable laying in the same place, etc. It seems like the possibilities are endless. So we have been doing everything possible to calm him down- thank goodness for swaddling and a binky because that works most of the time.

This morning Caelin got his somanetics sensor off his forehead and his oxygen level through the cannula was dropped to 25 with the flow changing from three to two. Since the flow is now on a "2" he is able to get feeds. He has an ND tube which goes through his stomach into his small intestine. This is the feeding tube he had in place after he came out of surgery so they did not have to put in a new one. Once his body gets a little bit of food, they will pull it up a little so it goes directly into the stomach (NG tube). Then after he has gotten food in his stomach, they will start transitioning to mouth feedings. Although it sounds like it would be simple to do, it is a relatively challenging and unpredictable process. Each child is different in their transition with respect to time, comfort, and physical ability to adjust to normal feeding. The physical therapist, occupational therapist, and speech therapist will all be working together to help Cael adjust to oral feeding and life outside of the hospital. We are really hoping Cael's body will be ready for breast milk and that he will adjust comfortably to oral feedings! Here is a detailed website that explains enteral feeding and transitioning to oral feeding.

That is pretty much where he stands as of now and hopefully he keeps moving forward! Thank you all for reading his blog to check in on him. Keep on reading and we will keep on updating! Check out the number of views he has gotten on his blog already- he is a popular kid! :)