Cohen's main issue is still his lungs. He has a pretty big leak on his ventilator which is causing them to have to try a few different things to try and make up for it. He was intubated right after he was born and has grown since then so the tube no longer fits as well as it should. Today they changed some sort of settings on his ventilator (I didn't really catch what they were talking about) but he seems to be doing a lot better. Before they changed it he was starting to have an increasing number of episodes where he would drop his heart rate and his oxygen saturation but would fix it himself. This morning he had a few times where he would drop but wouldn't be able to get himself back up without stimulation, which was a little scary for mom. So, last night I told the nurse that he never used to do this and that I was concerned and she brought it up to the drs who decided in rounds today to change whatever they did on his ventilator. And he has only had a few episodes since then but none like the ones this morning. I feel a little better now.
Danny is the best man in his friend's wedding next weekend so he went camping for a night for the bachelor party. He went fishing today and caught a fish that he says is probably as big as Cohen...(I think I would have to see a picture :) and he also got to go hiking. I'm glad he got to go out for a little adventure, its good to get away from the hospital for a little bit and spend some time with his friends. I also took a little time out with a friend to see the sunshine which I think was good for me. I like to be with Cohen as much as I can but sometimes its nice to just take a little break. Gramma Rinehart got him a few new books for his 4 week birthday that he got to open a little early. He likes "Spot Goes to School" but I think he was glad to hear a few new stories. His new favorite is "Goodnight Moon".
This weeks prayer requests: That he will continue to do well with his new ventilator adjustments and that his lungs will respond well to the steroids that he will get sometime this week. If the leak in his ventilator continues to get worse or they are really having to adjust his ventilator they will have to take out the old tube and reintubate him, which isn't ideal. Also, they may start to think about dealing with his PDA this week and we are really hoping he doesn't have to have surgery. There is a medication that they would try first to see if that would close his PDA, however, it is most effective if they use it in the first 10 days after he's born. He is quite a bit past that time but they are still hoping that it might work and that he can avoid surgery. So, basically we are hoping that 1) The steroids help his lungs enough that he can wean more on his ventilator settings and they would wait for his PDA or 2) The medication works to close his PDA if they choose to give it to him.
Also, the place that we are staying at is a little expensive and so we started to look at apartments a little bit in hopes of finding something cheaper. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of many of our friends, family, and even strangers and we really want to be good stewards of the things we have been given. However, when we started to look we decided that it might be best to stay where we are a little longer. I feel a lot safer living here because there are a lot of people coming and going. While I have my mom with me here most of the time, eventually I will probably be here by myself. Everyone who stays here is here because they or their family are being treated at UW, so everyone is kind of in the same boat. There is also a free shuttle that comes by and I am able to ride the bus to the hospital which is very convenient. So for now I think we may stay here unless something else comes along or I decide to start couch hopping :)
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