Tired But Happy

Here's a video from a few days ago, of Andrew fighting off sleep. This is what I feel like right now, so I'll make it short tonight.

Andrew had a much better day today, even with some extra procedures. Because his arterial line has been coming out so much, they decided to pursue other options. Another way to draw blood is to take it from a central line, which is a longer catheter usually placed into a vein near the heart. The most common placement is in the subclavian vein, which is just below the neck and above the collar bone. It's often hard to get to, and requires a surgeon to cut open the area and dissect out the appropriate vein. Fortunately, they called doctors from the PICU (pediatric ICU) before they called the surgeons. The PICU doctors are used to dealing with larger kids, and were able to place the line without a need for surgery. Gases from this line aren't quite as accurate, but it's stable and hopefully long-lasting.

Between placing the line and re-taping his tube, they had to sedate him again. The sedation was relatively mild, and he was able to come down on the ventilator settings relatively quickly. He's back down at 12 breaths per minute, and the pressure has come down as well. He also is going up on his feedings....he's at 7cc per hour and will go up 2cc every twelve hours. More importantly, his temperament was much better than Friday and Saturday. He was awake and calm while we were there, managed to sleep peacefully, and didn't cry at all. It's nice to have our happy baby back.