Uncertainty...

Matthew spent most of last night and this morning curled up on his belly because it hurt so much. Tonight he's starting to uncurl and seems to be getting a little more comfortable. He's only received saline through his IV over the past 24 hours and he's starting to think we're trying to starve him. His cries seem to be more for food instead of the soft moans from his belly pain over the past few days. Hopefully they will be able to give him some fat and protein through his IV tomorrow so he won't lose any more weight. He still won't be given anything directly into his stomach so he'll continue to think we're neglecting him.

They're still aggressively treating him with antibiotics although there now seems to be some disagreement between his Doctors regarding whether he has Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) or some other gastrointestinal infection. Unfortunately there is no definitive test for NEC. The Doctors just watch for the symptoms and treat it accordingly. NEC is most common in premature babies, but it apparently affects a fairly high percentage of babies with hypoplastic ventricles because they have a hard time getting oxygenated blood to their tummies.

They're still trying to figure out the type of bacteria infecting his incision. The culture should come back from the lab Sunday morning. Once they know what type of bacteria it is they will be able to select the best type of antibiotic to treat it. The incision seemed a little more swollen tonight so hopefully they'll get this figured out quickly.

The good news is his blood pressure is still too high but starting to improve and he was able to come off the oxygen today as his saturation levels stabilized.