Cranial Ultrascan

Went to see Reyes last evening, he was lying on his tummy. The CPAP was off him since 10:30 am and he seemed to be coping alright.

He has also increased his milk intake to 3.5 ml/hr.

There was a report on cranial ultrascan which came back today. I was not aware of it and no doc has ever explaint it to us before, in fact, it is already the 3rd time he has done this cranial scan, the first time was on the 17 Mar, subsequently was 19 Mar and then yesterday 23 Mar.

The attending nurse had to call the doc to explain the report results to us. We were told that there's a cyst that is 0.2 cm present in the left germinal matrix of his skull. Its a grade 1 intracranial bleed. Doc told us not to worry since its grade 1.

Another finding from the cranial ultrascan is that there are periventricular flares at the side of his skulls as well but they noticed that those have not thicken so there's no worry for that as well.

So we asked if surgery would be necessary if the flares were to develop into cysts but doc said won't recommend that but probably Reyes' brain development might be impeded. Doc mentioned they will be monitoring and doing more scans and keep us updated.

I'm praying real hard that all will be well. But deep down I know my Reyes is a strong baby and all will turn out fine.

I put my hands into the incubator, touched him and told him to be strong and mummy will be back to see him again.

Off most medications already!

Hubby brought EBM to the hospital earlier before attending a friend's wedding. Just called him to get an update.

Basically, Reyes is off all medication except the caffeine for Apnea. Apnea of prematurity is defined as the cessation of breathing by a premature infant for more than 15 secs and this is a result of his central nervous system immaturity.

Reyes has increased his milk intake to 2.5 ml/hr. He is still on the CPAP though, but will probably have it removed tomorrow and see how he respond to it.

Hubby also commented that he opened his eyes earlier and viola! He had double eye-lids! Like me!! So happy to hear that!

Yippee, I can see him tomorrow again!

Further updates

Was at the hospital last night with Mum and Hubby to see Reyes. Noticed that the CPAP is back. -_-'
Upon getting an update from the attending Nurse, was happy to learn that he is now taking in 2 ml/h and I still have loads of supply of EBM for him. He is also off the phototherapy light as his bilirubin level is at a normal level already, however we were told they will monitor him for another 2-3 days to see if the light is needed again.
We were also told the PDA medication worked on him and that the PDA is able to close and thus causing him to breathe better. The CPAP is on 5% and giving him 21% oxygen just like normal air, its just to help him a little and not entirely pure oxygen.
I also noticed the 2 little patch on his chest, it's the sensory patches for ECG, that is to monitor his pulse.
His weight is now at 1075g, dropped a little but not too bad.
This little fellow kicks a lot and he was even able to kick off his tiny pampers. ha!
Generally, seeing his good progress lifted my spirits!
I also noticed that he last toe is longer than his fourth, just like me!
Reyes, be mummy's good boy and grow strong fast!!

Good Progress!!

Hubby just sent my latest batch of EBM to the hospital and he called to give me an update on Reyes' condition.

He is off CPAP again and I hope this time is for long term. His bilirubin level (jaundice) has also dropped to 85 which is a good level but the Docs want to put him under phototherapy for another day or so to make sure.

His current weight is at 1110g, 10g more than yesterday. Any little progress is wonderful news to my ears and I'll be seeing him tomorrow!

Phototherapy

Went to see Reyes last evening, there's this blue light on top of his incubator and his eyes are covered. That is because of the high bilirubin levels in the blood due to an immature liver. The level of bilirubin in him is now 115 down from 119 but he has to reach 75 for his current weight. He has made some progress on his weight gain, he is now back to 1100g.

Remembered I mentioned the CPAP was off him, now its back on, I guessed he needed some assisted ventilation. But I do see some abrasion and dried blood on his nostrils and that made my nose twitched a little holding back the tears.

I was told that the 2 umbilical Artery and Venous Catherer was removed from Reyes at about 4:30 pm and they are monitoring to see if he is coping ok and if there will be any bleeding. He is digesting my EBM well and thats a very good piece of news.

Again, I reached into the incubator to touch him and talk to him and he was murmuring something. Are you talking to mummy, Reyes? Be strong for mummy ok?