June 17, 2012- Father's Day

Brandon celebrated his first Father's Day with a present from Will.  Will gave him a nice set of grilling tools.  We were so excited to celebrate Father's Day when we got to the hospital, but Will had other ideas.  Will was still having problems keeping his oxygen saturations up and he was still breathing really fast.  We spoke with the nurse practitioner and she ordered a chest xray and some labs.  Will did not like his chest xray, but he didn't cry for his labs.  I held his hand and one of his legs so he would stop kicking the nurse and he was so content with me next to him. 

The chest xray came back and showed that he had atelectasis which means that the tiny air sacs in his lungs were collapsed and he needed the high flow oxygen again.  This, of course, devastated me!  He has been doing so well and I didn't expect this setback.  Brandon and my parents had to remind me that Will has been doing great up until now, and that this is just a tiny setback.  The nurse practitioner also said that his lab work came back and were perfectly normal and showed no signs of infection.  He will have the same labs drawn in the morning to make sure that everything stays the same. 

We went back to the hospital tonight for one more visit.  Will's weight tonight was 3 pounds 10 ounces!  Will gained another 2 ounces!  I was able to hold Will and snuggle with him, but we weren't able to rpactice breastfeeding due to the amount of oxygen he is on with the high flow.  When I was holding Will, he was rooting around looking for his food and he was very interested in sucking on his pacifier.  These are great signs for when he is off his high flow and ready to feed by mouth.
All in all, this was a nice Father's Day with one setback but with other promising signs that Will is doing well.  I have to remind myself of the good things and that his lungs will soon be better and he will be off the oxygen soon.  Although this is hard to remember, I am so lucky to have Brandon by my side going through this with me.  I couldn't ask for a better partner in life and a better father for my son.  Will and I are so lucky and blessed to have him in our lives.