Steps

It was another tough day in the NICU yesterday. The phrase "one step forward, two steps back" certainly applies. We went in to see Eli expecting that I'd get my turn to hold him again, only to see his ventilator settings had been increased significantly. This has been the trend over the past few days. I have tried not to worry but, of course, that is pretty difficult. Paul and I and our sister-in-law Melissa, who generously drove up from Philadelphia for the day to be with us, help around the house and see Eli, spoke to the doctor about Eli's condition. Concerned about Eli's breathing, the doctor ordered a chest X-ray, even though the one Eli had on Friday was completely normal.

This is one of those moments when you're reminded that, although medicine is a science, opinions can differ greatly when interpreting the data: The doctor thinks he sees another small collapse in the left lung, while the radiologist believes Eli has pneumonia. Although both scenarios sound scary, neither is an unusual development in preemies. Still, we'd like to think that our preemie could sail through without these complications--especially after having a string of trouble-free days.

To cover all bases, the doctor decided to treat both pneumonia and a collapsed lung, or atelectasis, as he called it, using a medical term we'd never heard before (this experience is an education in many ways). The staff started Eli on a course of antibiotics, which means he will have to have an IV put into one of his arms again and have that arm partially immobilized (understandably, he hates this). They also began doing physiotherapy on his chest again, tapping it firmly and repeatedly with a small rubber hammer to free up any mucus and reinflate his lung. The nurses told us we should start to see results almost immediately. We hope they're right.