Slow and steady

         Cohen had a hard night. He was really unsettled and so they gave him some versed (like valium). He settled down with it but it made his heart rate high and his blood pressure low. They also gave him Tylenol.
         We were hoping that Cohen's swelling would be such that his incision could be closed today but that won't be happening. He weighs almost 8.7 lbs and so he has over 1 lb of fluid to loose. They have bumped up the Lasix (diuretic) but he is loosing a lot of potassium. They check his blood every 2 hours and give him potassium to keep his levels good.

         Today they stopped giving him his Lipids and TPN which is made specifically for Cohen based off of his weight and blood. It contains dextrose, amino acids, vitamins, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus etc. They had these running through the umbilical IV but it is too close to the liver and is no longer usable. They came in and did an ultrasound of the veins in his arms but they are too small to receive a pik line. They have decided to put 2 lines in his right atrium (RA lines) when they close the incision which will hopefully happen tomorrow. There are some risks with the RA lines but they feel they out weigh the other options. (They can't put the TPN through a vein as it will eat right through the vein.)
         Around 9:30 pm the doctors were all discussing what would happen next. They feel he is dry enough to close the incision tomorrow morning at 7:30 am. He has done well keeping his heart rate down and his blood pressure up this afternoon. We have been told once the chest is closed he will start making more progress and things will move more quickly. Yeah!!