Getting Stabilized..

I feel like Clay is now the most stable he's been since this reherniation--thank God! I called our nurse this morning & he is on 38% oxygen (down from 100% yesterday) and his blood gases are better--they've even been able to come down a little on his high ventilator settings.

...But not without a cost. All of this is a pretty big setback for us... Even though the ECHO ultrasounds on his heart show no signs of Pulmonary Hypertension (PH), docs say clinically he's acting like a PH baby...his blood gases are poorly oxygenized & he was requiring more O2 from the ventilator.. So they put him back on inhaled Nitric Oxide. My heart dropped when I seen that machine rolling back in--it's another one from ECMO days. The NO relaxes his blood vessels to promote better blood flow & better oxygenation. Once they hooked it up, Clay responded almost instantly...his oxygen saturation levels went up, so his O2 was able to be weaned on the ventilator. The next blood gas test also showed quite a bit of improvement.
...So that means we are dealing with PH again. Hopefully it will just disappear after his hernia is fixed & his body isn't under as much stress. Pray that it will!
...Today, the docs plan to try giving him Sildenafil (Viagra) orally..which is kind of iffy, considering his stomach is in his chest. But hopefully his body will respond well with it, and the docs can wean on his Nitric Oxide. The pediatric surgeons will feel more comfortable operating on him if we can get him lower on the NO (or off all together).
...The urinary cultures & respiratory cultures are clear so far (have to wait 48 hours to be conclusive), and the analysis of his urine showed his white blood cell count at 15, whereas it was 120 on Friday. So that's a good sign! Pray infections are gone & stay gone!
...He his still completely paralyzed, so his little body is puffy. But he's been peeing really well, and I think he looked less puffy last night than yesterday morning, so that's good. 

Please continue to pray for a stable, infection-free baby...for strong lungs & strong heart. We need to get this hernia repaired so we can get on the mend & get our Claybug back!

Thank you all for your thoughts & prayers..you all have no idea how much it means to us. Our prayers ARE being heard & we WILL get us through this...

Much love to you all!