Today is not just July 4th....today Peter is 8 weeks old!! In his short life he has gone through more than most of us will in a lifetime. A 7 day facial treatment in the Springs (the oxygen mask), a couple of days and nights under disco lights (jaundice treatment), a therapeudic ambulance ride with three hot babes, messing with doctors by going blue and trying out kidney failure, keeping Papa and Mama up day and night at home, and showing off (literally) his heart for all to see. Peter is being forced to slow down for a bit and rest :-). Yesterday Peter did the two things they wanted him to do - show improvements with the third of his right lung that collapsed, and pee. Although he is still healing, the x-ray taken last night showed a drastic improvement from the one earlier in the day. The right diuretic cocktail and the pee keeps flowing. Way to go Mr. Peter Bear!! Today they tried for a second time to take Peter off the ventilator, but not successful. While he is breathing on his own, he still has some pulmonary edema (fluid around the lungs) that makes him need the ventilator to keep his oxygen saturation rates. They are going to keep treating the edema and give him periods of time to 'practice' being off the ventilator. They are hoping that maybe tomorrow he can come off of it. Our friends from the NICU/ICC area said it is actually good to have him still on the ventilator as it allows him to be more sedated to manage his pain. Having your chest bone cut open, spread apart and then closed up with stainless steel 'stitches' is painful for anyone to go through. Because Peter has been doing well, a lot of the other tubes were removed today. The two 'drainage' tubes were removed as well as the pace maker wires. The bandage was taken off the incision and I was very impressed with what a nice job they did. I was expecting him to look like he had a zipper down his chest - it is actually not much more than a pencil mark with the stitches on the inside. Peter is starting to loose some of the swelling and look more like himself. He has periods of extreme rest and some of wakefulness where it looks like he is dancing the can-can as his legs kick up and down sending his blankets flying. His heart rate and respiratory rate would indicate that most of the time he is comfortable, which as parents is very reassuring. We are so proud of our little man and all he continues to accomplish. We look forward to holding him in our arms again soon!! Thank you again for all the wonderful support you have given us....and especially to April, Ben, Chris and Tita whom made surgery day so enjoyable and shared in our joy of seeing Peter after his surgery. Love to all, catherine & john
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