slow and steady...

So far so good... things are quiet in Charlie-land! His blood work came back this morning and shows no sign of bacteria, so the antibiotics are working. He will be on them for 14 days total and they are considering today to be day 2 because they had increased the dose a little yesterday. 

He lost both his IVs through the course of the day, but they lasted the 24-48+ hours that we were hoping for when the infection started. Dr Bode really wanted to avoid any more procedures until things were under control. She was able to get another PICC line in today and this time they put it in his leg, right below his knee. I think this will be better than the one they had put in his head before.

Unfortunately, after how comfy and happy he was last night and this morning on his belly, the doctors nixed it. They are afraid that being on his belly will not allow his chest tube to drain properly and they obviously do not want it to back up. They are keeping a very close eye on his drain and want to remove it ASAP. Its still draining for now, but as soon as they think he doesn't need it they want it out. They really want to remove as many opportunities for infection as they can.

Charlie was due to move today to make room for the new CDH baby who is expected any time now. BUT, he had Nurse Lynn today and she has a way of getting what she wants. She is part of the ECMO team and knows what is needed for that set-up, so she convinced the powers that be to leave Charlie where he is and set the other baby up on the opposite side of the room. This took multiple other babies being shuffled around, but Charlie got to stay put. Where he is now is fairly quiet and she did not want him moved somewhere with more noise to aggravate him. He can be sensitive from time to time and this may get worse once his fentanyl withdrawal becomes more of an issue. So, we are very happy that he was not moved. It was very eerie to see the space across the room all set up and empty, just waiting. We know that is what our space looked like just three weeks ago and look what we have done so far and how far we have come! 

So, I survived staying home all day today and just went up with Vince when he got home. I missed Charlie though and could not help but feel a nagging sense of guilt that I was sitting at home when I could be there with him. Tomorrow Nurse Dee is on and I will be spending a good part of my day with her and Charlie now that we are caught up on laundry and dishes around here! Lets see how many of these good days we can string together this time!!