42 Days

We had a very hectic weekend here at the NICU, but things have been starting to settle down for a bit. 

Liam Josiah:

Since last Wednesday night (when our little sweetheart became very sick), Liam has been responding well to his antibiotics. The doctors told us that they had been very worried about him, and it really sunk in emotionally a few days later- especially when the other two triplets started having issues as well. The blood cultures never showed what the infection exactly was so Liam was prescribed a week of general antibiotics which seemed to have done the trick. The reason why the blood cultures and tests were inconclusive may have been because he was already on a different type of antibiotic for his last infection and meningitis. We were very thankful that his lumbar puncture came back negative. On Sunday night, Liam needed a blood transfusion to bring up his hemoglobin and we again noticed an improvement in his physical appearance.

As for the PDA heart surgery, Liam needs to be entirely infection free and well again before a date will be scheduled. We continue to wait in the next few days to see when the doctors deem him well enough for surgery. 

Looking at our little man, we can see huge improvements from Wednesday and Thursday especially. He opens his eyes more and moves around more. We are also very excited that our oldest and biggest triplet is now 3 whole pounds! 

Taylor Joy:

Our baby girl has been having a great last few weeks and we almost started getting too used to it. On Sunday evening, she started acting a bit unlike herself and having a lot of dips on heart rate and oxygen saturations. Some blood work and preliminary test results indicated she might have had an infection and so she was started on general antibiotics. At 2 in the morning, we received a phone call that they were taking Taylor off her CPAP and inserting a breathing tube to better support her breathing needs. On Monday, we received a phone call for consent to do a lumbar puncture as well. Similar to her brother Liam, Taylor's blood cultures did not show what kind of infection it was. However, x-rays of her lungs and stomach seem to show an infection in the intestines or bowels around her stomach. As a result, her belly was really round and not allowing her lungs to expand adequately. In addition to this infection, Taylor was having a lot of nose secretions that might be indicative of a small cold. Nose and lung secretions are normal for babies who have a breathing tube in because the body is trying to fight the foreign object in its nose, throat, and lungs. However, the colour of Taylor's secretions might indicate she is a sick and unable to get enough air in through the CPAP. As of Tuesday evening, Taylor is still considered sick but is doing much better. She is way more active and spunky. She has started getting small amounts of breast milk again and this will slowly go up to full feeds over the next number of hours. The healthcare team believes that she will be ready to be extubated tomorrow or the day after, if she continues to do well! 

While CPAP is way better for the babies, we have really enjoyed seeing Taylor's sweet little face and head these past few days. It was a really strange feeling seeing her face without the CPAP hat and mask for the first time in weeks. It hardly even felt like it was our baby girl! Being able to see her face has rekindled all sorts of paternal and maternal feelings in us, and we are falling in love with her all over again!

Malachi John:

Our youngest little man has also had a busy weekend. On Sunday afternoon, Jodi was holding Malachi while Nathan was sitting beside the chair when we heard Malachi's voice make some little noises for the first time. In any other situation we would have been overjoyed to finally hear his little voice, but since he is intubated we knew it was not a good thing. The respiratory therapists immediately took him back into his incubator and assessed him to figure out what was going on. It turns out that Malachi has a small leak around his breathing tube in his throat. In certain positions, some air can leak out and cause him to lose the pressures the machine is giving him. It also allows some space between his vocal chords so they can vibrate and make noise. The next size breathing tube is too big for him, so the healthcare team has to be careful with how they position him. 

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, Malachi started vomiting three or four times on Sunday evening and through to Monday. He was tested for an infection and again nothing yet has showed up in the blood work. He hasn't been vomiting any more, but he also hasn't been having very much milk. An IV was started on Monday when they stopped feeding him entirely. On Monday evening they started him on 4 mL of milk and on Tuesday 5mL. A full feed for Malachi is arojnd 16 mL so they are just taking it slowly. Malachi has an echocardiogram scheduled for Wednesday because the doctors suspect that his PDA might be impacting his breathing needs more. Thus, heart surgery is staying on the table.

We continue to covet your prayers. We have learned again this week to never take anything for granted. It is so up and down in the NICU that we need to rely on our Father one day at a time for His grace.