Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Even our little hero is ready to celebrate daddy's birthday today! Bryton is having a good day today, so in turn, we are having a good day today. While we wish our little man could be with us to celebrate, at least he's not far and he's doing great. We had a meeting yesterday with the neonatologist, the social worker, and his nurse so that we could all sit down, ask questions, and make sure we're all on the same page. While it's to early for an definitive answers about anything, at least we know what we need to be prepared for. On Wednesday they are going to take him down to the OR and do a bronchoscopy and there are basically 3 things they are looking for. 1) If there is any structural damage, they will be able to asses and repair it as quickly as possible. 2) If there is inflammation in the airways hopefully it'll can be treated with steroids. 3) If the main cause of his breathing issues is just the fact his lungs are still to severely damaged and scarred from being on the ventilator for so long, he will most likely end up with a tracheostomy. While the idea of a trach is scary and we're hoping to avoid it, I think it's best if we're all prepared for it. It will not be permanent. While there's no telling exactly how long he'll have it, we're told that most children have them for 2 years or less. I know it's not a pleasant thought, but the trach will allow him to start moving forward developmentally in other ways. He will be able to start having real tummy time and the best part is, it wont be so scary to hold him any more. It's a much more secure site that is also less prone to infection. Not to mention he'll be able to work on feeding orally. Nobody want's to see their child with a trach, but if this is the difference between him coming home, and not, then it's no question. With a trach we are basically guaranteed at least another 3 months in the hospital because while he has to prove that he can tolerate the change, mom and dad also have to go through some intense training. In order for him to be able to come home he'll have to prove that he can handle less support because the take home ventilator supplies significantly less support. One thing that should also help is the fact that it allows a larger airway which in itself should help. Like I said, this is not a sure thing. We will know more next week. For now all is well. They did the gastric emptying study yesterday and they didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. He has slow motility and his stomach empties slowly. He has no aspiration and extremely mild reflux. It's back to wait and see again. Yay. At least we finally got another good picture of him away. Go Bryton!!!