January 9, 2018

Charlie is three weeks old today!

These past three weeks have been filled with many great days and some rough ones too, but today was a good one. It is true when they say the life of a preemie is like a rollercoaster, but we know every day is a blessing, no matter how bumpy it is. Charlie was pretty unstable last night but he started to improve today, and continued to do well as the day went on. He did have to be put back on some blood pressure medication, and received his 10th blood transfusion which has helped; his pressure is stable and above his goal. He had an ultrasound done on his kidneys and bladder because his urine output had decreased to almost nothing throughout the night. Luckily, with MUCH care, they were able to put in a catheter! They have tried a few times before this and they haven’t been able to get one in, so we were excited it worked! Charlie also had an echocardiogram which showed that his PDA is still open. For now, there is not much else that can be done to close it because of his size and development. The doctors are going to reevaluate in a week or so, and who knows, it could even close on its own. Charlie was taken off mom’s milk for now. He was spitting up too much so they increased his other fluids, (and nutrients) for the time being, and took out his feeding tube. He has had quite a few abdominal X-rays done to check on his little tummy and intestines to keep an eye out for NEC, (an inflammation of the intestinal walls that can be very dangerous). The images look the same; not better nor worse. They are keeping a close eye on this and giving him antibiotics as a precaution.

These are all the major things going on with Charlie right now. For specific prayer requests, please pray for his PDA. If we can get it closed, it could potentially resolve some of the other issues he’s having, so this is a big one. Another would be for his possible stomach issues to be resolved. Any and all prayers are so appreciated and we thank everyone for keeping up with Charlie’s progress.