Today we met with the new “attending” doctor who is in charge of the NICU this week. She was incredibly personable and had lots of good of things to say. In general Barnaby is doing well.
Most of his concerns at this point are within the realm of normal for a baby born at 29 weeks.
But
That isn’t to say that nothing is concerning, his brain bleed isn’t showing signs of worsening but is persistent. He will continue to get spinal fluid drained through a lumbar puncture every morning until his head ultrasound shows reduced fluid in his ventricles. If it gets worse they will consider a shunt which is a more surgical option although still very safe and effective.
Right now we are back at the NICU reading to him and of course there is more news since our meeting this afternoon…
Because of rising white blood cell counts they ordered a abdominal ultrasound and found evidence of an infection in his intestinal tract. This means that he won’t get breast milk for 14 days (IV nutrition only) and is going on a run of broad spectrum antibiotics.
This type of infection is potentially serious and sometimes requires surgery but they are thinking that they caught it in very early stages and that antibiotics and resting the digestive tract should be adequate.
Barnaby 