The Race Begins

We've seen some changes over the last day and a half. Some good, some expected, some worrying me and Jeff. 

Let's start with the good:

William responded well to my milk, so he now gets to eat every six hours. When I held the syringe today, he squirmed a little when he started feeling it trickle down into his belly ❤

William was a lot calmer today. Probably because they went up on his pain medication a little yesterday, but also because he's on a different respiratory machine today. 

The nurses replaced one of the IVs that went into his belly with an IV that is in his leg and can be much more permanent, possibly even stay there for a month.

We taped a picture of Jeff and me to the incubator, William is looking right at it. If he opens his eyes, he'll see us, although he probably won't be able to see much.

The expected and more complicated news that puts is on edge:

He got switched to a different breathing machine. That in and of itself isn't bad, but the reasons for that happening (the blood pressure difference between his lungs and the rest of his body, and the heart bypassing blood flow to the lungs sometimes, leading to undersaturation of oxygen in the rest of his body). So today, with the ventilator, he's also on another drug/gas that is being mixed with his air to relax the blood pressure in his lungs. At the same time, he's been getting dopamine again, and they've increased the dose somewhat throughout the day. 

In addition, he was testing high for carbon dioxide in his blood, so they've had to turn up the ventilator to force William to take more breaths per minute. Over the course of the day, they've gradually had to keep increasing the breathing rate. He's getting close to maxing out the speed of the machine, so he may need to go back to the oscillator sometimes tonight. His latest blood test tonight looked good enough for them to leave the settings as is for now.

What we really need prayer for:

It seems that we have now reached a point where it's apparent that William's lungs have exhausted themselves and he needs more help. Now, we're in a bit of a race. Can his body grow and heal his lungs faster than they are being damaged by the life support he's receiving? We hope that the increased frequency of feeding with breast milk will give him what he needs to heal and beat the clock. It's also good that he got a break from the oscillator I guess, to change the stress he's been undergoing. So, pray that William's lungs will grow and heal faster than they are being hurt.