Day 35

R continues to improve! He was taken off of dialysis today at 1:30 and so far his vitals still look really good. He has not urinated as of 10:35pm, but the nurse said that it may take him several days. The team will evaluate him again tomorrow morning about when and how often to put him on dialysis.

R's ventilator settings continue to be dropped as well. He is breathing much more on his own with the machine doing only a little of the work.

He is tolerating his ng and g tubes (to the stomach) being clamped for longer periods than yesterday and his output in his ostomy was the best it had been since the transplant! (This means that fluid is moving through his intestines.)

We still have not heard the reports from the pathology lab, but will be asking about that tomorrow morning.

The kids and I were able to attend a meeting about g-tube feedings and the typical course a child who has received this type of transplant will go through when learning to take in nutrition orally. It was very good information for all of us. The kids learned that they will have a very important role. R will probably want to put food in his mouth when he sees them eating. She called that "positive peer pressure." The nurse giving the lecture also said that siblings are perhaps the biggest influence on positive oral experiences (eating by mouth) for these transplant babies.

Although this is some time away, it was exciting to talk about it with the kids and imagine what it will be like when R comes home.

I don't want to get ahead of things here. R still needs his lungs to heal completely, his kidneys to function, and his vitals to remain stable. We continue to pray that his new liver and bowel work perfectly and for God to continue the healing process in his other organs. Thank you for your continued prayers.