6:30pm: Just wanted to post some pictures that Kristen took today. She was able to hold Reid for about two hours and he stayed awake the entire time. He has a new best friend in the stuffed dog the Hospital gave him:








2:30pm: Sorry that I haven't posted earlier as I have been either on a flight or slammed with work. I did, however, get a chance to talk to Dr. Piazza this afternoon, so I wanted to let you in on the details:

• PEEP was reduced to 6 (from 7). Vent settings are now as low as they are going to get. BMP to remain at 14.



• Methadone drip was started last night to start the weaning process for the Morphine. Today, the morphine drip was cut in half. Tomorrow, he will be fully weaned off the morphine and be 100% on the methadone. We will probably see some side effects from this: 1) Return of the "shakes"; 2) diarrhea; 3) fussiness.



• The dexamethasone will be fully weaned in about 3 to 4 days. They have already significantly reduced the dose, and will continue to do so until he is 100% off. To compensate, last night, they started an increased dose of the hydrocortisone and this will eventually take the place of the dexamethasone. He is expected to be on the hydrocortisone for the next two and a half months. We were originally told that the prednisone steroid would take the place, but endocrinology decided for hydrocortisone instead.



• No eye test this week. Instead, he will have one next week (Thursday), and one probably every two weeks until he is 2 months old (gestational corrected) --- about the end of February or beginning or March. If everything checks out OK, he won't have another test until he is 1 year old.



• I haven't talked about this much, but he has been producing quite a large amount of saliva and was actually needing fluid replacement as this saliva was being pulled out of his stomach and collected (for about 3 days now). This extra production has now stopped and they have subsequently stopped the replacement fluids. This is most likely a result of the dexamethasone.



• And lastly, and most importantly, they are going to attempt an extubation tomorrow if everything remains steady as it has over the past 4 days. He seems to be stable enough and his vent settings are low enough, so this is the next logical step. When asked, Dr. Piazza said that he is going to attempt to put him straight onto the high-flow nasal cannulas (HFNC) (instead of going back to CPAP) at a rate of 10 liters per minute. CPAP, apparently is very traumatic on older babies, and will only be used as a possible back up to the HFNC. This is very exciting news, but also makes me very nervous. Unfortunately, I am out of town and Kristen has to work tomorrow, so we will be on pins and needles until we hear of the outcome of the extubation. Kristen and I have been ready for this day to come for quite some time!!!