12 days old

Today was another good day here at UNC. The speech therapist (Jen) was busy today so she never made it to our room. I (Julie) tried to follow some of the advice she gave me yesterday when she made her initial evaluation. She suggested I try to start the rooting reflex by gently rubbing the bottle nipple on Ethan's top lip until he opened his mouth and started curling his tongue. I also watched his respiration and tried to make sure that it was under 75 before trying to give him a bottle. At his noon and 4pm feedings, he was able to take 20 cc's of the bottle (his goal is 55 cc's) then we had to feed the rest by NG tube.

Ethan was also taken off one of his heart regulation medications, Amiodorone, today. This was the new heart medication that the doctors put him on when he came back to the PICU on Tuesday. This drug was helping to mask the foreign signal that was making his heart beat extra. This drug has a long half life (meaning it stays in his system several days) of nearly a week, so we know that Ethan will be in PICU at least until that medication is out of his system. He also has to get off his other heart medication, Milrinone, before he can leave PICU and be taken back to CICC.

The good news is that we're in great hands here in the PICU and we know God is still in control as the ultimate Physician. We also know that with being here at least another week, we'll get to meet our new found HLHS friend - Shelby and her parents. Shelby is just a little over 5 months old and will be coming to UNC on Tuesday, August 28th for her heart catheterization in preparation for the 2nd stage of surgery. We look forward to meeting this family, as they have been a great encouragement to us over the past month since we found each other's websites. Please be keeping Shelby and her parents in your prayers over the next week as they make the journey to UNC and prepare for the next step in the process.