Home Stretch

First of all, I apologize for the drought of new posts the last few weeks.  Tara and I both have gone back to work, so in the infinite struggle to make our "To-Do" lists "To-Done" lists, the posts have suffered a bit.  Dade, however, has had no such struggle in taking care of his business.  He's kept us on our toes and has been checking things off along the way!

Dade had three main tasks to take care of as we moved forward: 1) Wean off of the narcotics he's been on since Day 1 and the methadone that helps him with withdrawals, 2) breathe well on a regular oxygen cannula after coming off of the ventilator, and 3) eat and gain weight.  We're almost 100% through that list.  Dade received his last dose of methadone today (he was practically off of it already because the dose was so small), he's been rocking along on his oxygen cannula at 0.5 liters/minute, and he's found his inner Tasmanian Devil - Dade is eating 8 times a day and taking between 2 and 3 ounces pretty regularly!

We did have a little hiccup last week when the little guy started losing weight over a few days, but we're moving in the right direction again.  He's had to fight some significant acid reflux as he's started eating more.  CDH babies are renowned for their reflux, and little D has been no exception.  It will sometimes hit him hard while he's eating, which understandably makes him want to stop because it hurts him so badly.  He wasn't eating as much as a result; hence the weight loss.  The docs have since upped his dose of Prevacid that he's getting to counteract the reflux, and so far that seems to have done the trick.  Dade is more frequently on the 3 oz. end of the spectrum and has been gaining back some weight over the last couple of days.

Happy Tummy = Happy Baby

One of the biggest things to happen since we last updated actually just came about a few days ago: we've moved rooms again.  This time, we've moved to a pre-discharge room in the back of the NICU... and that means exactly what it sounds like it means!!!  It's so overwhelming to think that we're closing in on this point so relatively quickly.  Way back in April when Dr. Anderson told us to expect 3-6 months, we fully expected to be on the 6 month end of that range.  Thousands of prayers and 3 months later though, here we are quite literally in the home stretch!  While nothing is set in stone, it looks like we'll have Dade home... really, really home, in his bed, in our house... in early November.  We're excited to be headed that direction, but we also don't want Dade to be at Children's a day less than he needs to be.  We'll continue to take it slow and do what we need to do.

That's it for now, but we'll keep you posted on our path home!  As always, thank you for your continued support and prayers.  We love you all!