Tense Moments

Hearing that your son needs a surgical consult for his abdomen is not something that most parents deal well with. Certainly not us. We found out yesterday that Colin, again, had dilated bowel loops, only this time it was more involved. A surgeon was brought in for a second opinion to determine if NEC was present (this can be missed sometimes on the KUB x-ray). Thankfully, the surgeon deferred surgery for the time being and instead wanted to "monitor closely" the situation. As the day progressed, the dilated loops slowly got better but the situation is tentative.
Thinking that infection was likely despite the CBC results yesterday, they went ahead and started Colin back on gentamicin and vancomycin. We'll have to wait to see if the cultures grow anything, then modify the therapy from there.
Due to being NPO, his weight dropped again for the second straight day, to 1020 grams. We'll be glad once his abdomen settles and his feedings start back. If he doesn't resolve soon, there is a chance we're looking at either 2 weeks of no feedings or surgery or both. As I write this, we are awaiting the most recent KUB results which were taken this morning. We're praying for resolution, or at least improvement.
We were hoping for a better start to the New Year, but instead we find ourselves preparing for a rough road ahead - whether that'll be the case or not. One of the things that is so difficult to do is for us to keep an even keel - don't get too happy when good things happen, don't get too sad when bad things happen. Life in the ICN almost forces you to adopt this outlook.