Sunday, February 15, 2009

Journal Entry

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JOURNAL
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Posted Feb 20, 2007 9:35am

Ryan had a pretty good day yesterday. They went down on the ventilator rate, but a blood gas came back "not good", so they had to go back up on the rate of the ventilator. He has been doing well on just 21-25% oxygen, but for some reason last evening he was needing about 30%. We aren't for sure why he is suddenly needing more oxygen, but a nurse did tell us that it is pretty common for the oxygen needs to fluctuate. Ryan's weight yesterday showed a loss of 11 grams, so he is back down to 1 lb 3 oz. again. This is another thing we are unclear as to why it happened. I hope to talk to the doctor about it today. They took his umblical arterial line out yesterday which we knew was eventually going to happen, but now they have to stick his heel for every blood test. It absolutely breaks my heart. Last night they did a blood gas and during the heel stick he just cried and cried (of course with the ventilator you can't hear him). The nurse ruined the first blood sample, so about 10 minutes later she came back and stuck his little heel again. We had to leave. It was just too hard. He is supposed to have a PICC line inserted sometime soon. This is a type of central line that will start in his arm or leg and travel up and into his heart. I really hope that they will be able to do blood draws from this new line.

Now, I'm going to have to vent a little...Last night our little peanut had a nurse that I 100% did not care for. I left the NICU crying like I haven't cried in a while, and I spent most of the night praying over my son for his protection. Here is why I don't like her...Ryan only has "touch times" (times when we can actually touch him and be a part of his care) every 4 hours. The NICU is "closed" from 6:30-7:30 for shift change. When we went in for the 8:00 touch time we walked in the door at about 7:40 and the nurse had already completed everything except sticking his heel. I was furious. We only get to be there for 2 of his touch times, and Wade only gets to be around for the last 1 at 8:00. I talked to the nurse about waiting for us, and her excuse was the RT was standing there and she needed help. I know that the RT stays all night, so the RT could have come back 15 minutes later. I asked the nurse about his higher O2 settings, and her response was "that's the way it was when I got here." He was satting around 98-100% and ALL our other nurses have made sure to adjust his O2 settings so he sats between 83-93% explaining that higher concentrations can be damaging to his body, especially his eyes. The nurse talked down to us, and wouldn't volunteer any information. When we told her we were leaving for the night she said "ok". I called during the middle of the night. Again she offered no information, and when I finally got her to tell me he was doing fine, I said "thank you". She promptly hung up without saying anything! I don't know if it is appropriate to pray that Ryan NEVER has this nurse again, but I sure hope he doesn't.

Prayer Requests: Please pray that Ryan gains weight, and that we can get some information as to why he lost weight again. Please pray that the procedure for placing the PICC line goes well without any complications. Please pray an extra prayer that God guard him from infection. One of the biggest risks with a PICC line is infection. Plese pray for Wade and I. Our emotions are on a roller coaster. Please start praying about Ryan's ultrasound of his head. This will be happening tomorrow. They will be looking for bleeding in his brain. Pray that we get another good report. Please also continue to pray for Kenzie. Last we heard she was still doing well.
Thank you for all your prayers!

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