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Preemies
a bunch of updates!
Hi Ladies -
I had posted that Ethan was having a swallow study last week to help determine if he needs the g-tube before he gets transferred to the rehab facility. It ended up being a crazy week so I never posted an update.
The swallow study revealed he was actually able to swallow most of the liquid which was better than anyone had expected, but there still was a little bit of aspiration. They ended up also doing an Upper GI to look at his reflux, but that test ended up being pretty normal. Because he did have a little bit of aspiration, the rehab facility is recommending the g-tube before he comes. They say it will be safer and make his feeding therapies more effective in the long run. We didn't want to put him through another surgery, but I guess it will be the best thing for him. He will probably have the surgery this Friday or Tuesday. That means we could possibly have him transferred to rehab sometime next week!
Ethan also had a follow-up EEG to confirm that he still wasn't having anymore seizures after this hypoxic episode in early December. No seizures! The neurologist said his brain activity also looks increasingly normal compared to the EEG he had right after the event. Good news 
Avery had her Early Intervention screening to see if she needs any special services. They said she is right on track for her adjusted age. She is meeting all of her 2 month milestones! No services needed for now, but they will come back to re-evaluate at 4 mths adjusted. So glad she is on track!!
On a sad note, two babies passed away in our NICU this past week. We have been there a long time so we have seen these things happen before and it always makes me sad, but this time it hit me harder. It made all the feelings of when we thought we lost Ethan all come rushing back. We had also become really friendly with the parents of one of the babies, which made it harder to deal with. After 151 days in the NICU, we are just so ready to get Ethan out of there...it is just too emotionally draining. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he will be transferred soon!
Hope everyone is doing well!
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Re: a bunch of updates!
That's such great news to hear that Ethan is finally getting to leave the NICU and that Avery's EI eval went well! Hopefully you will have both of your babies home with you very soon!
I also hate to hear that about the babies passing in the NICU. Luckily, that didn't happen in our NICU- it would have torn me up. Actually, Reagan was the smallest/most critical patient they had for the majority of her stay so she was the one that scared everyone- especially after her lungs collapsing and her stats dropping. It's just a reminder that the NICU is scary business and unfortunately, not all babies get to leave
Thanks for the updates! I always look for them. I understand your worry/frustration/excitement at the G-Tube surgery and facility transfer. Overtime I hope you find that the G-tube was a good decision. We certainly felt like the G-tube helped Lily. She ate twice as much her first feeding after the G-tube surgery than she ever had before.
How is Ethan doing on his trach? Is he still on the Vent? Any pics?
And, that is great news about Avery as well - you go girl!
Keep us updated!
BFP#2 3/16/11, beta 138; 4/12 Baby/HB DS born 9/10/11 at 29w4d due to partial abruption and PTL
BFP#3 8/19/13 Another boy! 17P, modified bedrest and Nifedipine helped us have a termie! DS2 born 4/19/14 at 38w5d.
Thank you
Ethan is still on the vent, but it has been on cpap settings for awhile now and he has been doing really well. The rehab facility has a vent weaning program we have heard amazing things about so they will aggressively work towards getting him off the vent completely.
How is Lily doing?