Day 51 - Loch's Buying Time for Weight Gain

Day 51 – Thursday, September 7, 2017

AGE: 7 weeks, 2 days old (32 weeks, 1 day gestation)

Lochlan: Weight is 3 lb 8.4 oz. (Birth weight: 1 lb 10.8 oz.)
                Length 15.4 in. (Birth Length 13 in.)
Lex:        Weight is 3 lb 1.7 oz. (Birth weight: 1 lb 10.8 oz.)
                Length is 14.8 in. (Birth length: 13 in.)

Lochlan: We met with the pediatric neurosurgeon for the first time in a couple weeks. He was surprised to know that a brain bleed showed up in the last cranial ultrasound. A cranial ultrasound done on 09/05/18 showed the ventricles were a little enlarged and that the midline shift was 4 mm instead of 5 mm. There are no symptoms to suggest that the temporary shunt is not working. The neurosurgeon still thinks he will likely need a permanent shunt. Right now, the temporary subgaleal shunt is buying us time until he is big enough to get the permanent shunt (he needs to be 4 lbs.) If we need to do something in the meantime, he can tap the reservoir to pull out excess spinal fluid. The plan for now is to look for symptoms (he has had none at this point) and to take weekly cranial ultrasounds and continue to measure head circumference daily. He has had no apneas or bradys and we continue to be patent as our warrior grows.

Lex is doing great. His O2s are in the low 40s and Dad was able to kangaroo today.