So much has happened in just a weeks time it seems like we've been in the NICU for much longer than that. Today was a BIG day for Lucas, HUGE. When we left last night he was on the lowest ECMO settings so they decided this morning to begin trials off the machine. Lucas responded really well and is doing a great job of supporting himself with help of the ventilator. So what we thought could be days of trials ended up being less than two hours once they decided he was ready to come off ECMO. This is a big step in the right direction. He'll come off some of his sedation in the upcoming days so we'll be able to get more of a response from him. We'll also be able to touch him more and soon he'll be able to take my breast milk through his feeding tube. I'm really looking forward to being able to hold some time in the near future.
For now, he's getting re-settled and recovering from all of the days events. The doctor's are still unsure why he produces fluid in his chest and that is now their main concern among other more minor health issues. It continues to drain through his chest tubes so it doesn't effect his breathing and is slowly decreasing in volume. Lucas will most likely have a long stay in the NICU so it may be that the issue resolves itself over time. We're hopeful that the doctors will arrive to a diagnosis soon.
All your thoughts and prayers are doing their job so please keep them up. We very much appreciate it.
