Tuesday, August 10

Our big news is that Andrew is being weaned off his ventilator. He had an appointment on August 6th and over the last four days, the nurses have been slowly weaning him off his rate (the amount of times the ventilator breathes for him in a minute). They removed his rate for two hours twice a day for a couple of days, then four hours twice a day, and now they are trying him with no rate for twenty four hours. Yesterday was a hard day for him, and he was exhausted. They had to put his rate back on last night to give him break, but so far today, he's been with no rate. If all goes well this week, he will try a trach collar trial for an hour a day on Monday. This is where they will remove the ventilator completely, and he will have the trach with only a small humidifier attached. He's gained only a few ounces over the last few weeks, but the doctor says he's a slow grower. We are now feeding him two full bottles twice a day and pumping the rest in through the feeding tube. He does pretty well with it. Some times he's too tired to feed and can't complete the whole bottle. We're not pushing him, so he doesn't get turned off by bottle feeding. He is trying to turn over from back to stomach and still smiles all over the place.

Adelaide is doing wonderful. She turned over from back to stomach three times over the last three days. She lifts her head very well, so we put her in a bouncy entertainment chair. She bounced, laughed and hit the keys to start the songs. She's picking up her feeding amount after struggling for a couple of days last week. She's trying rice cereal mixed with pears once a day.

Mattie is doing great off her oxygen. We still put the monitor on her overnight, but during the day she's free as a bird. She's getting better at lifting her head during tummy time, but hasn't attempted a rollover. We love hearing her laugh when we make funny sounds or blow on her stomach. She's got a great laugh. She eats oatmeal with pears once a day along with her bottles.

Praise
Andrew's weaning off the ventilator and the changes they've made for him.
Andrew taking whole bottles.
Mattie doing well off oxygen.
Adelaide's development.

Prayer
Kevin has left his company and is seeking employment as a video producer/director. He's looking for a staff position.
Rest for Tara. She's exhausted.
Strength for Andrew during these trials.
Mattie's development would increase.