Yesterday and today have been a little busier. His saturation level of oxygen in his blood has dropped below "normal" several times. This is the reason that he has been on oxygen in some of the pictures. They don't feel comfortable with sending him home with his saturation level dropping this often. They think that one of the reasons that they might be dropping is because he gets in a deep sleep and has brief pauses in his breathing. Therefore they ordered a sleep study for him. This will give them an idea if his saturation level is dropping because he gets into such a deep sleep. It's ironic that he's here because of spina bifida and they are worried about his sats dropping. It's almost scary having him hooked up to this many machines because when we go home, we won't have any machines. We will have to rely on our parental instincts.
Last night Matt signed me up for a women's spa night. There was a salon and church that donated their time and services. We had a very nice dinner followed by our choice of 2 out of 6 services. Each of the services were 30 minutes long. They had pedicures, hair cuts, massages, manicures, facials, and make-up. I chose to get a massage and my hair cut....wonderful! It was such a blessing for all of us. It was also comforting to talk to other women who are in the same position as you are, living at the Ronald McDonald House or having children who are hospitalized. Having Joshua in the NICU and going to this event has opened my eyes even wider to other people's situations. There are so many who have been here for months or even a year. With some of them it's an issue of recovery or maturation, and others have issues that they will struggle with for the rest of their lives. We are not in the worst position.
Today when the doctors were doing their rounds, we pointed out some fluid that we noticed leaking on Joshua's back. They paged the neurosurgeon who came to take a look at it. When he saw it, he decided to put an extra stitch in the place where the fluid was leaking. We don't know if it's cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) or fluid that has built up underneath the skin. It may not be CSF because it wasn't coming directly from the incision, which is where CSF typically leaks from. It was about 1cm away from the incision. Please pray with us that this isn't CSF. If it is CSF, it may be an indication that Joshua would need a shunt. We should know within 12 - 24 hours if it is. After they did the stitch in his back, they did an ultrasound on his head to look at his ventricles again to see if any hydrocephalus has developed. The CSF could be an indication of hydrocephalus. It looks as if his ventricles are still the same size. They have put gauze on his incision to see if it absorbs anymore fluid. He will be monitored closely during the next 24 hours and his incision will be checked often. He is laying on his tummy to avoid extra pressure on the incision. There is still hope for him!
We still don't know when we will be going home. I'm sure people are getting tired of seeing us in the same 6 outfits. We're tired of seeing ourselves in the same 6 outfits! As much as we want him home though, we want him home and healthy! All in good time....
LOVE the earmuffs :) Praying for precious little guy - we love him so much already and are so proud of him and his parents!
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