4 Weeks Old!!

Gibson is 4 weeks old today!! We're so proud of him and what he's accomplished thus far. He's such an amazing and strong little man. He spent the day just chillin and healing. Not much went on today. Which is good! We keep getting told that it's deceiving how great he looks because he is still so sick. But it's true! He does look great. The pneumonia is getting better and his chest x-ray this morning showed that his lungs are clearing up. They are continuing with the chest PT (which he loves) and it seems to really be helping him out. His Carbon Dioxide level has come down some since his lungs are clearing up so they were able to wean the oscillator part of the ventilator down a few settings. They're still keeping it slow and steady, just how Gibson demands things to be done. We definitely want him healed fully before they start pushing him and working towards getting off of this ventilator again. He's still so fragile. We're convinced we have the cutest and most alert baby in the Unit. Dr. Null comes in bright and early every morning and checks on him first. They hang out and talk for a little bit. Dr. Null says he's happy with how alert he is and how great he responds to voices considering the two brain hemorrhages he's had from being on ECMO. This is a great sign! They increased his feedings to 5ccs over an hour. Still no poops on his own, but they gave him two enemas last night and they helped him out. We keep hearing from everyone that babies just get backed up sometimes and it'll start working how it needs to, but what everyone needs to understand is that his insides were in his chest and it's a lot more complicated than a normal baby. He's 4 weeks old and still hasn't passed much of the meconium yet and he's getting milk now. The girth of his abdomen is measured every few hours to make sure he's not distended too much. Him being on morphine doesn't help his bowels move so we're kind of stuck. Hopefully he has all the connecting parts to aid him with the digestive tract. We're definitely learning to have patience. Or at least that's what we're working on having. Even Dr. Null. Still, we're so proud of Gibson and couldn't be happier to be lucky enough to be his parents! He has changed our lives and we know he's changed many of yours. Happy 4 week Birthday man!!


Gibson lost his umbilical cord today! Cute little belly button!