Aiden's Monday Update

Holly and I wanted to have a night at home today so we visited Aiden earlier than normal.

We arrived at the NICU around 2pm. Aiden's stats were good and were told by Aiden's nurse (Dawn) that she didn't have to sedate him all day. He was sleeping peacefully all on his own :)

The plan for the day was to put a bag over his stoma. Since his surgery they had just had a couple gauze pads to cover it. Since Holly and I were there we were allowed to help out by keeping Aiden calm and to keep him still while the nurse fitted him for the bag. This procedure took about a 1/2 hour. Towards the end of the procedure the physical therapist came by to work on Aiden's arms and legs. Aiden was definitely getting alot of attention this afternoon. He was handling it very well though.

This is me and Holly holding Aiden up while nurse Dawn changes Aiden's bed linens.

The picture may look scary with all the wires, but most of them are just sensors. Aiden only has one IV along with the breathing and feeding tubes. You can see the newly "installed" stoma bag sticking out of Aiden's diaper. The bag is about as big as him.

After all the procedures were completed there was one time where Aiden's O2 levels started dropping. Among other things, stress can really play a role. His O2 dropped to 82, which really isn't that bad but it's better to be in the low 90's. He started moving his arms and legs a bit and was obviously becoming stressed. Holly put her hand on his feet and I put my hand on his head. His O2 saturation started to climb almost immediately as he calmed down because of our touch. Seeing his reaction on the monitor really made it clear of the impact we can have on our visits. Most of the time there is a feeling of helplessness. The NICU staff has always told us of the importance of parent visits and how it really is a benefit to the baby. It really made me feel good that our touch was soothing & beneficial to Aiden.