Moving in the Right Direction

Now that everyone is finally caught up on the events leading up to today, I'm thrilled to report that Dade had a great night last night, and a great day today!  Two things we were concerned about yesterday were fluid that had built on his good lung, and a pneumothorax that had developed after he went back on ECMO.  These things weren't unexpected and are actually typical when going on ECMO, but they still needed to be taken care of.  A pneumothorax, for those of you like me, is a pocket of air in his chest cavity.  Why we can't just call it a pocket of air in his chest cavity is beyond me, but I digress.  Dr. Anderson and company speculated that the pneumothorax could have been a contributing factor to Dade having to go back on ECMO, though that isn't definite.  It's a moot point now though, because Dade's X-ray from early this morning showed that his good lung had begun reinflating and pushing out the fluid, and that his pneumothorax is gone!  Needless to say, we were very relieved to get that news, and to know that after a long, tough weekend, Dade is slowly moving back towards his old self - the one that doesn't know how badly he's supposed to be doing!  Over the next few days, Dr. Anderson would like to see his heart continue to migrate to the left of his chest, and to see that right lung continue to aerate.  If you want a specific prayer request, there you have it! I imagine that after the events of last Saturday, they'll be much more cautious when taking him off ECMO this time, though that's not to suggest they were under cautious the first time.  That said, Dade is continuing to show baby step improvement on his ECMO and ventilator settings, but no there's indication yet on when he might be ready to try again.  We aren't going to rush it.  We tell him every night when we leave to keep up the good work!

Another bit of exciting news is that if he seems up to it, the nurses will start giving Dade very small trickle amounts of breast milk in the next day or so to start priming his digestive system.  We're miles away from bottles just yet, but we absolutely love any step however small in the forward direction.

We also continued to build Dade's library today.  He's now the proud owner of his own copies of The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and Fox in Socks.  Tomorrow we'll bring him a few books that his Uncle John, Aunt Sarah, and cousin Anna McWilliams gave him, as well as his copy of Where the Wild Things Are that I've been keeping for him since before he was born.  I realize he can't yet grasp the nuance of Sam I Am's struggle to teach the world about delicious-but-weird-looking pork and poultry products, but it gives us something fun to do with him!  He already has a copy of On the Night You Were Born that I tried to read to him last night, but I teared up after the first page.  We're going to save that one for later!

As always, thank you all for your love, support, and prayers.  We are all three overwhelmingly blessed by the community that has developed around Dade.  I can't wait to see what God is doing with this little human.  

We love you all!