Update on Kyle

Kyle is still in the All Children's Hospital NICU and the doctors say that he will most likely stay in the NICU until at least his scheduled due date of October 14th.

Wednesday (7/26), Chris and I went to see Kyle after my one week follow-up visit and were happy to find out that they had started him on breastmilk. He was only getting 1cc per every three hours but it was something.

Thursday (7/27), the doctors at All Children's put in a PICC line and removed the umbilical line. This was done for more long-term treatment. When my sister-in-law, Fran, took me to see Kyle, he was not at all happy about all the poking and prodding they had done. We're not able to hear his cries since he has tubes in him and his lungs are so tiny, but his expression howled volumes! The nurse had placed warm packs on his legs to warm them up. She said that it's common after having the PICC line put in and the umbilical line removed for infants to have leg spasms so the warm packs were to help with circulation in his legs.

The neonatologist, Dr. Stone, explained to me that Kyle had slight lung disease. She said it was common for preemies and just meant that he'd have to be on the ventillator longer than they had hoped. They were still going to continue trying to wean him slowly off the ventillator. I know that when she told me I must have looked panicked because that's how I felt but she assurred me that it was nothing as serious as with Eric and was just something they were keeping an eye on to be sure it didn't get more serious. Since Dr. Stone was the one that told me of the seriousness of Eric's condition, I trust her and know that she would inform me if there was anything immediately life-threatening.

Thursday evening, Dr. Stone called to tell me that one of Kyle's legs had not stopped spasming. An ultrasound of the blood vessels revealed that he had a blood clot in the leg. They called in a hemotologist (a blood specialist) who recommended a small dose of Heparin be administered. Dr. Stone explained that there was a possible risk that Heparin could cause bleeding on the brain so they were using the smallest dose possible, but without the Heparin Kyle could lose function of his leg. She assured me that they would be watching him very closely on the Heparin. I did not sleep well that night and was very relieved when the nurse practitioner called the next morning to inform us that the blood clot in Kyle's leg had broken up and they were now only concerned about tiny clots in a couple of his toes. They were continuing the Heparin to hopefully save the two tiny toes. I was relieved to know that he would not have to lose function of his entire leg, even if he does lose function of two toes.

The nurse practitioner also informed me that the Echocardiogram performed that morning had revealed that one valve of Kyle's heart that opens at birth was still open. She explained that the valve usually closes earlier than this but it was normal for preemies for it not to. She explained that another valve like this one had closed already which is really good. So, like with his lungs, this is nothing immediately life-threatening - just something they will keep an eye on for change.

When Chris and I went to see Kyle Friday night, his two littlest toes on his left foot were still very dark but I was happy to see that the rest of his leg had good color and he was looking pretty cosy and content. The nurse let me hold the small syringe of breastmilk to feed Kyle through a small tube. It was such a small thing but it felt good to take any part in his care. I'm looking forward to when he can be taken off the ventillator and I can hold him in my arms.