12-30-2008 Zachary Update

So far he's doing well on the nasal cannula 24 hours + and going strong. They've now moved him to the level II NICU (that's the next step up). He's got his own room but that comes with a catch. One of the reasons they moved him was he was ready for level II and not needing the acute care in Level III. The other reason is he's been found to have a colony of MRSA. Now he doesn't have any active infections from it persay so they're not giving him any antibiotics but they're going to keep him in isolation meaning we have to wear gowns, gloves, masks when we see him. That's going to stuck for the next week /sigh. Upside is his private room will have a couch in it and we can rest there and it's a lot more privacy since I'll be starting to feed him soon.

Course now I'm more paranoid than I was about germs. I already have hand sanitizer everywhere in the house and already get on people about using it. I'm going to have to get more anal about it too. The reason we have to wear gowns and masks is so he doesn't infect us. I'm worried now that this nagging nasal congestion which is common for me could be something worse since it's not going away. Which if it doesn't get better in a few days I'm going to the docs and making them do a culture which they almost never do. Last thing I need is some nasty skin infection from it where I lose some flesh or worse it goes to my organs especially after all my organs have been through in the past few months.

On a more positive note he's up to 4lbs 7 ounces and he's 45 cm long which is 17.7 inches. He's eating 36 ccs x 8 per day which is a whopping 288 ccs. So he's gaining weight fast and eating a lot! He was even hungry before it was time to be fed which is rare for him after they raise his feeds. So I wouldn't doubt it if they raise his feeds again. This is going to be troublesome to make enough milk to give to him during a few feeds I'm already up to 2-3 pumpings for a days worth. They won't let the milk be more than 48 hours old though I'm still pretty sure I'm within the time lines some of the nurses thought I was cutting it close by sending it the evening previous. Hence why I take fresh milk every morning now. IMO 6 hours over the deadline really isn't going to make a huge difference when breast milk is good for about a week in the fridge :P.

Anyhew I ramble on hopefully when they check him again for MRSA (next Monday or so) it will no longer be present and we can stop with the isolation proceedures. I've yet to see his new room/floor but I'll see it tomorrow when I go. I have a feeling I'm not going to want to hang around long if I have to stay in scrubs the whole time not to mention I tend to break out when wearing those gloves for any period of time. I've been able to hold him for about 1.5-3 hours a day but I'm guessing for the next week or so that's going to be considerably less which upsets me becuase he's been doing so well when being held. His oxygen requirements and his feeds go much better when he's held.

WRU super magic to eradicate this superbug .. sucks supposedly something like 60% of hospital patients (or more) are at the least carriers of MERSA. I know that 2-3 other babies in his pod (he just left from) had it and he was one of the last to not get it. Well hopefully I'll have good news come the next week or two and this nasty bug will be gone.

S