Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Ethan's Day 6 Update

Another day older, and our little boy continues to get better. Today Ethan had a really good day. Last night, Ethan decided he was tired of all of the breathing tubes, so he ripped them out. The nurses decided to let them stay out, and see if he could handle breathing without them. Sure enough, he did exactly that. He kept breathing, without desaturation all night long, and also all day today.

This morning's x-ray showed more growth in the lungs, and that is absolutely wonderful. He is doing very good with his lung growth and we couldn't be any happier about that. He also, as I mentioned yesterday, got his first meal through a feeding tube. He did alright with it, but this morning they found a little bit of brown substance in his belly. They believe that is was blood, ut they think it could have been from all of the tube being inserted and removed from him. As a result, they only allowed him a teaspoon of formula, four times today. He did however take it from a bottle, and that is wonderful. If there is no further evidence of blood tomorrow, they are planning on upping the quantity of formula.

And despite how good all of this news is, the best news of the day was that Jayme and I both got the chance to hold our little guy today. Jayme held him for a few hours in the middle of the day, and she got to feed him. Then I had my chance to do the same after work this evening. It was really a special moment for each of us.

The doctors tell us they love the improvements he has made, and they still expect that we will be able to get him home on Monday. We are all very excited, but we are trying to remember that things can change on a dime, so we are trying not to get too excited just yet.

That is all for tonight folks. We are all very excited, and Jayme, Loryn and my mom are all already asleep. Momentarily, I will be joining their ranks. Thanks again for all of your wonderful words. The emails we get in response to these posts have been very appreciate by all of us. Thanks again, and I will send out another update tomorrow.
Eric, Jayme, and Loryn Steinbach
Ethan under the lights. This is where he was supposed to be resting all day. (He had a mind of his own and wanted to be held all day). Hopefully his little temper tantrum won't force him to stay under the lights for more time.
Mommy feeding Ethan for the first time
Ethan in mommy's arms after he was done eating. They let me hold him for an additional 30 minutes. :)
After being put back into his incubator, Ethan proceeded to cry for an hour straight with no way to soothe him. The nurse decided he should be held again. He sure knows how to manipulate the system. As soon as I was holding him, he was quiet and back to sleep. (he stayed with me for about 2 hours)
Daddy getting to hold Ethan for the first time

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