Alexander and Emily both took a turn for the worst yesterday. Both have breathing difficulties because their lungs are so immature. Emily is doing a little better than her brother and seems to be responding to the steroids to help her lungs. Alexander is in serious trouble. His yeast infection seems to have set up in his bowels and he is now extremely bloated. The doctors don’t dare put him on steroids for his lungs because it will make the infection worse. Both babies need 100 % oxygen and the special ‘puffer’ ventilators now. Yesterday the doctor told Jennifer that Alex wouldn’t survive another day, and his oxygen saturation levels were in the low 20 %’s. Jennifer asked that he be put on NO like his sister, and the doctor was initially reluctant to do so because he thinks it will at best be a temporary reprieve. However, shortly after being put on the NO, Alex’s saturation levels went up and his blood gases got better. His blood pH is good, and his CO2 levels have come down. Yesterday afternoon we were told that his oxygen levels were still lower than the doctors would like (he was pretty much staying in the 70 % range), but it was a definite improvement over the morning and that as long as his blood gases continued to look good, there should be no long-term problems. We made the difficult decision to go home to try to get some sleep last night. When we left, his gases were still good and his saturation levels were slowly moving up into the 80% range. We’re about to leave for the hospital. I called the doctor this morning and found out that Alex had an ‘event’ at 4 AM requiring recussitation, but that he’s been pretty stable since. As of now, his oxygen saturation levels have climbed up into the 90% range.
We are hoping that the medications will keep the yeast infection in check and that his respiratory situation will stabilize. If he requires less respiratory support, the doctors say that they can intervene surgically to remove some of the yeast causing his bloating. After the infection is under control, then they can start him on the steroids for his lungs.
Keep Praying,
Tony