Update 20

Slow but steady wins the race.

There has been some concern because it has been a few days since the last update.  Not to worry. That was because I was back at school this week. By the time I got home, did the dinner/homework thing, and checked in with Dede, I was whipped. So now that it is the weekend I will try to check you up. We have had a few "hiccups" as the doctor calls them, but mostly it has been a week of small victories.
The last time I wrote to you I told you about the scare we had about a possible hole in the lungs. What we now understand is that there was a small hole in the lining in the lungs. This may have been caused when the chest tube was removed. This allowed a small amount of air to get trapped outside of his lung. The hole closed itself shortly thereafter, but the air was already trapped. To release the air, they inserted a chest tube. Once the tube was in, the air was out. However, they left the tube in for a few days just in case. This caused Thaddeus discomfort and gave him difficulty breathing and eating. Tuesday the navel line was removed so that Dede was allowed to hold him. Wednesday, the tried to feed him and got mixed results. Otherwise they pretty much just let him rest. On Thursday things got more interesting. They removed the chest tube. This resulted in him eating an increased amount of breast milk. They are aiming for him to eat 60cc's of milk from the bottle per feeding. So far he has maxed out at 33 cc's.  So he is over half way to the amount we want him consistently eating from the bottle. Right now they give him the rest through a feeding tube. Speaking of which, on Thursday the nurses convinced the doctors to remove the feeding tube and replace it with a smaller one. This also eased his eating and breathing. However, some of his numbers went up on Thursday, so they are again worried about a possible infection, so he is back on antibiotics. They also did a scope of his throat to check his vocal chords. With this kind of surgery it is common for the nerve that controls the left vocal chord to get damaged. This is a problem because it will then not close when he eats. This allows the milk to get into his lungs. We can compensate for this by feeding him when he is on his right side. As my students know, gravity always wins and in this case is our friend. We won't know for about 18 months if this damage is permanent or not or how severe it is. As far as swallowing goes, the other vocal chord will eventually compensate and keep the lungs protected. His opera career however, is shot. While this is kind of a bummer, it is nothing compared to getting his heart to get blood to the body.
Today we met with Mrs. Nuebauer's (Faith's 4th grade teacher) daughter-in-law. She works at Children's' and went through what we will have to do when we get Thaddeus home. We will need to weigh him and check his oxygen daily. We will also need to keep track of every cc he eats and when. This allows then to see any trends that may develop and give them an early warning of trouble. It will also let them know when he is ready for the next surgery. I am sure there will be more on that latter.
What hasn't changed is that he is still adorable and we have to keep an eye on the nurses. They keep talking about taking him home with them!

Caught In a Yawn 

What a Look

Charlie and Thaddeus 

Jeremiah and Thaddeus 

Daryan and Thaddeus

Sebastian, Ryan and Thaddeus

Dede and Thaddeus 

Quintin at the Ronald McDonald House