The Ups and the Downs...

Good days and bad days. They said he'd have them and this week has definitely been more challenging for our lil guy. Up to this point, he really has been doing very well. Wednesday things starting to be a little more of a concern. As said in a previous post, his secretions turned a bit yellowish and they took a swab of it and sent it off to the lab. They tested other things as well - this and that and levels were high for his white blood cells which means he's fighting an infection. They also took a blood sample and sent that off for testing.

Results:
Prayers are highly needed as Lochlan has a blood infection. There are two types of bacteria one being positive germs and one negative germs. He has the negative one which basically means what the word does - it's the bad bacteria to have. The more aggressive type. The good news is that he was started on antibiotics as soon as they suspected he had an infection. Hopefully in a couple of days it will kill all of the bacteria but he will still be on antibiotics for a few weeks to make sure it gets every last one of those suckers! They aren't sure what type of bacteria it is but will know more in the next few days.

They may end up doing a spinal tap to make sure he doesn't have meningitis. But it is quite the process to get the right positioning and it will depend on how well they think he will tolerate the procedure. So to that end, they are hoping the antibotics will take effect and therefore rule that out.

Apparently it is not all that uncommon for preemies to get infections and be on antibiotics. His nurse today said she can't believe he hasn't been other than when he was first born. In a way that brings me a strange comfort.

They have stopped his feeds for the time being and will hopefully resume in the next few days. But not to worry - he won't be going hungry as he is back on TPN and he's getting his protein and fats, etc.

They also had to sedate him since yesterday because he is being too active for his own good. And it's tiring him out and therefore he was requiring a bit more oxygen and he was desat'ing as well more frequently. He tends to want to try to breathe on his own and ends up breathing against the vent but then gets too tired to finish what he started. Another great thing to note is that he is not acting sick. Most babies that have this type of infection, especially when it's super serious, they are not active and instead are more like a limp noodle. Not the case with Loch.

His nurse last night said that she thinks he's going to have a bit of a temper just because of how he reacts to certain things they do. But I like to think he's Mr. Independent just like his sister is Miss. Independent! He's tired of the vent doing it for him and all the other things that are happening. He wants to do it all on his own. And I get that. But not yet my dear sweet boy. He was getting upset yesterday at one point with the tube and I had to talk him through letting the vent do its job. He settled down a bit after that. I like to think he listened and was comforted by his mommy.

He's a warrior for sure and as my mom says, a trooper. Please keep him in your daily prayers.
Jenn