Saturday, July 4

A Blessing in Disguise

We suspect that last night we witnessed a blessing in disguise. A really, really great disguise for a blessing - so good in fact you can barely believe it could ever be a blessing.

At about 10:30 p.m. last night Bryce's nurse and RT for the night were re-taping his ET tube (the tube that the ventilator uses to push oxygen into his lungs). This is a common occurrence and though it had been a very trying day Bryce had finally settled and wasn't de-satting constantly.

Suddenly something went wrong and before either of us knew what was going on they were saying that his tube was out and calling for help.

Well, one thing I can say for sure is when you call for help around here, help literally comes running. Nurses and RTs and eventually the resident and Dr. Hodges showed up, alert and ready to save Bryce's life all over again. At this point they had begun "bagging him," which just means they were using a bag to manually push air into his lungs and he was not on the ventilator at all. His little heart was fighting hard but as he desatted (his oxygen went scarily low) his pulse began to fall from the 160s to the 120s to under 100 and lower still.

It was the second scariest moment of my life - I'm sure you can guess the first.

Caleb and I stood helplessly by as a team of people got his oxygen back up and his heart rate came up on its own. Then it was the excruciating task of re-intubating Bryce, an experience no parent should have to witness. Bryce was a trooper though, as usual. It took two tries by the resident and finally a third by Dr. Hodges and the tube was in. All this while, he is being oxygenated with the bag and satting high for the first time all day.

An xray was ordered stat to verify that the tube had been properly positioned and came back showing marked improvement over the 6 p.m. xray. At 6 p.m. his left lung was so collapsed you could hardly make it out on the xray and now you could not only see it but you could see it had air in it too. It seems that the high pressure from bagging him for that time had been enough to help pop his left lung open a little.

A blessing in disguise? Quite likely, but terrifying none the less.

He has been very slowly improving the oxygenation of his blood and getting his CO2 down over night. A 6 a.m. xray doesn't show much more improvement but it's our experience that when these little lungs collapse it's a struggle to get them open and working well again. We will just pray that his lung will reinflate and get his oxygen needs down again soon.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers yesterday and over night - I believe they are what got us through to this new day. We are eternally grateful.

17 comments :

  1. Trina,
    I could not get into the site yesterday when I tried. Even when I don't comment, remember I am praying for Bryce and all of you and am with you. I think about all of you every day and hope for improvement. It will get better. Love will prevail and Bryce and all of you have many people who love you. We are all thinking of you.

    We love you.
    Aunt Gene Uncle Lolo. Timothy

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  2. What great news! I am so proud of little Bryce. Thank you for reaching out to all of us yesterday. We will be thinking of you and praying for more blessings.
    Love you,
    Mary

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  3. Y'all are constantly in my thoughts & prayers!

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  4. So glad to hear there is improvement today. I will continue to pray for Bryce.

    Tami

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  5. Man oh man , Bryce is such a strong lil man!!
    I love him so & I know that things will work out in good time of course!! Stay strong I love yall with all of my heart!!
    I love ya' Bryce-Bryce.
    They FINNALY started workin on my dang car, so soon I will be there.
    I am more then excited to be with my baby cousin!! And my almost sister.
    <3
    Keep your head up.
    God is love & love is real.
    oxoxo
    DREA CLAIRE!!

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  6. Katrina,Caleb and Bryce,Please know that you kids are in my thoughts and prayer twenty four seven.I couldn't get in for the past couple of days.My prayers never stopped.I know it seems like it will never end but God is beside you to hold you up.He will never let you fall.And he has created a little mircle and he just needs a little more time to perfect him.Maybe this will be the best Christmas gift you will ever recieve.Bryce going home.Never lose faith.God is there beside you.If love and prayers alone could heal he would be walking by now.But like you I'd be happy if you could take him home for Christmas.I don't want to apear like I'm trying to rush God up or tell him what to do.Believe me he's working on it.I'll continue to pray for you and your little family.Each day is an added blessing.One day at a time.God Bless.
    Granny Spriggs

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  8. Yeah for a good night! I was thinking about when my son was in the NICU he received this little blue dog from my sister that was so soft and light weight. It was perfect because it had long legs/arms to wrap around him. My son loved his dog. I would take it home every few days and threw it in the wash. The nurses even commented on how perfect it was for a micro preemie.
    http://www.bunniesbythebay.com/product_category.cfm?Category=63&ViewAll=1

    http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u5/thebrg/CIMG0497.jpg

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  9. Katrina,

    I just want you to know that I have no doubt Bryce keep improving. There have been set backs, but he keeps surprising us all everyday. I'm extremely proud of all you.

    All of you are always on my mind and in my heart.

    Love you,

    Jen

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  10. Some of the best blessings do come desquised. I'll continue to pray for you, Caleb, Bryce and all those that are caring for Bryce. God does have a plan and your baby is strong and a fighter. We love you all!

    Weslea

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  11. You really have an amazing little fighter on your hands there! I am sorry that y'all had such a worrisome, scary and tense night. But Praise God for those blessings that come so disguised. I am happy to hear that there was some marked improvement on his x-ray. I hope he continues improving. You and your family are in our daily prayers here in Florida.

    Lisa

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  12. As always we are all praying for you and with you all through the ups and downs. Praying for more and more ups as these trying times continue. Bryce has proved he is a fighter again and again as have his great parents!

    Take care and my thoughts/prayers are with you always!

    Mandy

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  13. Bryce, Trina, Caleb,

    I love you. I want to see you in July. I want to play with you Bryce when you go home.

    Love,
    Timothy,gene.lolo.andrea, coco, lily, rufus and oreo

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  14. Bryce's mommy and daddy,
    I stumbled on your blog through other preemie blogs and wanted to drop you a line of encouragement. Our son Jack was born on January 2 this year and weighted 1 lb 9 oz (720 grams) He was almost 28 weeks gestation but due to severe growth restriction (IUGR) he was the size of a 24-25 weeker and acted as such. He had a pretty rocky NICU stay with a total of 8 weeks on the ventilator (oscillator and conventional back and forth) and a few surgeries and several complications BUT he finally came home June 10th (159 days) He is now almost 11 pounds, and is a happy smiley little guy! A few months ago, I would never have thought it was possible but he is proof that miracles do happen!! I know right now there is no light at the end of the tunnel, the ups and downs are so frustrating, right when you think things are going right, another curve ball is thrown at you and it feels like you can barely keep your head above water. My husband and I will be praying for you on this journey with Bryce, he is a beautiful little boy.
    It looks like you have a lot of support with family and friends which is great. We live far away in Washington state, but know we will carry you close in prayer!!

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  15. Praise God! Keep fighting Bryce! You too Mom & Dad!

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  16. I am going out of town, so I might not get to stop by for about a week. I pray that Bryce is doing OK. I hope you and Caleb are able to get a little rest. Bryce is such a fighter!

    Aunt Pat

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  17. With God Love & Prayer he will go home one day and play with the dogs and stay away from the cat.

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