Two more feedings down, and Sam continues to stay the course. I was pleasantly surprised when we went down for the 5:00pm feeding. They didn't end up increasing Sam's liters per minute of oxygen. Instead, they just kicked the up the percentage of oxygen to 32% (from from 29%). This is still less oxygen than he was receiving before the Nitrous Oxide. I won't even try to do the math. But I'll take the 1/3 drop in something with a 4% increase elsewhere. In other parts of the world, they call this "math that makes you feel better". Yeah...
Sam continues to have better, more calm and measured breathing. It really is quite impressive in his change since he started received the Nitrous Oxide. Hopefully that means good things for his little heart. At our 8:00PM feeding, we asked a bunch of questions regarding the tests that they said they just ran. Apparently, it was standard stuff - a blood gas (?) that measures the pH, carbon dioxide, and oxygen levels. Everything looked good. He is also hold at 8 lbs. 5 oz, which is 2 ounces more than he was born.
The last part of our conversation with the nurse revolved around tomorrow. Sam will get his third echocardiogram and x-ray as they check to see if any progress has been made. I think you could consider it "D-Day". As in...deciding what to do next. If they see improvement in the echo, we will continue to hang out at St. Mark's and we can start looking to kick this and move forward. However, if we don't see measurable progress, we'll probably move to Primary Children's. If everyone could cross their fingers, toes, pinky toes, legs, and anything else that would provide good luck by crossing, we would appreciate it. Progress tomorrow (thanks to the Nitrous) would be a gift.
Before I sign off, Elisa and I just want to thank everyone for reaching out today. We are overwhelmed with your love, thoughts, and words. I think we've discovered a hospital's worth of doctors and nurses in our support network, and we appreciate your patience. Even if you aren't medically trained, your words are reaching us (and I'm confident are reaching Sam). It's amazing how a Facebook comment, text, email, or other means of communication catches me in a weak moment and I end up crying. You can rest assured I'm already planning a party when we can take our little man home.
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