Making progress...

Jayden has been making lots of progress. He's actually surprising a lot of doctors, but doesn't surprise us because he is such a strong baby. Since the last post, Jayden had several IV drip lines going for different blood pressure meds, various nutrients, pain meds, etc., but as of today that has been reduced down substantially. He really only has two going, and that is to keep him hydrated and to keep the central IV line good just in case they need it. They were able to wean him off the oxygen completely, so all of his breathing is on his own now. His blood pressure meds have been reduced down to an oral med. For pain, he is receiving Tylenol, which is much better because he's more aware and not so loopy/drowsy.

We did run into a few minor complications last night. The chest tube he has, which is used to drain excess fluids from around his heart, started showing fat cells, which is an indication that a duct (forget the name of it right now) was damaged during the surgery. This duct is part of the lymph system and is used to help flush out fats from the system. This is not an uncommon thing to happen with this kind of surgery. They have a general idea of where the lymph nodes are in the body but every body is different and sometimes a lymph node is damaged during surgery. Because of this, Jayden will have to go on a special fat-free diet. This means he will have to eat special formula for 4-6 weeks and Crystal will not be able to nurse him (She is really sad about this).

Our goals now are to get the chest tube out and to have the central IV line replaced for a traditional IV (Poor baby has had too many pokes). They say that it might be a few more days so that they can make sure that the drainage from his chest is under control. Which means we might be celebrating Easter here (Thanks Shelley for watching Tysen...Dan will probably be coming home to see him. We will call you). We trust these doctors and they have been very meticulous. They double & triple check everything and we feel that they are being very attentive to his needs.

We will keep posting updates as they come. Jayden did smile today for the first time after surgery...of course it was at the pretty nurse, but he did smile nevertheless. We love you all and feel free to call us with any questions or just to chat...we will answer if we are available.