4 months (hospital day #121)

Ryder is having a pretty good week.  He is back off the Sipap (for good this time I hope) and just getting positive pressure treatments with his his high flow nasal canula.  His chest xray still looks good!  He is back on bolus feeds, really slowly at first.  One of his blood gas numbers is on the low side so he will be wearing a NIRS monitor for today just to make sure everything else looks ok.  Ryder is doing much better with his head control and batting at toys.  He will catch up I'm sure, just will take a while...We have been looking for some [any] long term plans -- so...tentatively Ryder will be going to the cath lab sometime next week to see if his pulmonary pressures are ready for his next heart surgery.  Crazy.  The next stage, "the Glenn" is usually done between 4-6 months when baby weighs > 4 kg, though.  So, apparently he is actually that big...see for yourself!

In the meantime, our nanny has started (respiratory viruses = really bad news for heart baby = keep Ryder at home) and is probably 10 x busier entertaining Addy than she would have been if Ryder was already home!!  Yesterday they went swimming, made pink cupcakes and made red, white, and blue 4th of July handprints.  I know, seriously - Addy's most likely over mom already!  I am on call this weekend and then will be essentially finished with my fellowship consults/call which is really exciting news too.  Hopefully this last weekend will treat us well...who am I kidding though - July 1st?  Maybe that's why Ryder looks so apprehensive - don't worry little warrior - interns don't rotate through the PICU!