Day 6 is a good day

Well...the results are in....talk about the most nerve racking day of our lives!

Kale had his brain scan today, and we feel that we got pretty good news. His right side of his brain (which I believe controls emotions) was CLEAR...no bleeding :) His left side (which I believe controls his motor/speech skills) has a Stage II bleed. The doctor said that this is because he had a dilated ventricle and some bleeding. They seemed pretty positive with these results, and said that with a baby as small as him, they would have expected a more severe stage. They said this may have even been classified a Stage I bleed had his ventricle not been dilated, so they were happy with that! They will do another scan in one week, and probably a few more throughout his stay in the NICU to see if the bleeding is improving, getting worse or staying the same. They said that these bleeds can resolve on there own, and they see may Stage I & II bleeds resolve themselves before they leave the NICU. On the other side, obviously they have a chance to worsen, however that is why they monitor these closely. There is no treatment for this, Kale's body simply needs to continue to fight it and be strong. The 'danger' zone of 72 hours has passed, and now the risk of new bleeds is lower, so that is good news.

Kale was pretty stable today as far as his medications and other drips. His oxygen levels were a little bit all over the place today, they are still trying to get his vent settings figured out to be the most optimal for him.

His feedings were going well today, he had 3 rounds of feedings at 1 ml every 6 hours. They are increasing it now to 2 mls every 6 hours! To give you an idea of just how little that is, a normal baby bottle is about 4 ounces. There are 120 mls in 4 ounces. So our little angel is having about 1/120th of a 'normal' bottle every 6 hours :) Hey...we'll take it! He weighed 1 lb 8 oz. today, so a bit more than yesterday, however it's likely that this gain is probably some fluid retention, as 2 oz. overnight would be quite a bit for this little one!

Derc and I got to change his diaper today...cool huh?! We were both pretty timid reaching our hands in there and moving him around, but we did it together and got it done. His diapers are so teeny and moving his tiny little legs and lifting his small body is so nerve racking. Pretty neat feeling to change our son's diaper for the first time though...big smiles!!

We did hear from my doctor today on my blood tests. They said that I have the SSA antibody, which is an antibody that can cause Lupus. They said it's not confirmed that I have Lupus, it would require many more tests to classify it as such. However, when I go to my 2 week follow up appointment I will be able to talk with the doctor more about this. They said that this antibody is what caused Kale's heart block. They said it has the potential to affect future pregnancies, about 15% chance or so. However, now that they know there is a risk, I would be highly monitored and if the baby was developing it there is potential that they could do some type of treatments or monitoring in the womb so he wouldn't have to be delivered so early. Anyway, we're not overly concerned about that yet, we obviously have a long road ahead before we would even think about more pregnancies, so we'll focus on one little guy for now! I'll keep you all posted on what they find out about me and what future testing I'll need. As for now, I'm feeling healthy and am recovering well.

Thank you for your prayers, we know we had many, many people praying today and we are so thankful that his results came in where they did. We feel that with all things considered, his results are good and we're keeping a positive attitude about it! We thank God every day that he is helping him be strong and keeping the fight alive in him, and also that he is with Derc and I as we cope with all that is going on.

More to come tomorrow!