NICU Day #5️⃣5️⃣ 🦈🦈🦈

Please consider donating below: If every one of our friends donated $1-$5, this would be substantial towards our goals so I can continue to remain off work when Kye comes home! All proceeds come to us + Help Me Bounce takes no fees! 

https://www.helpmebounce.org/campaign/churchill-family

I’m going back to work next week to try to save for when our little man does get to come home 💞

Kye is trialing off oxygen again today but still talk of coming home on oxygen due to his poor stamina to take a bottle 😬

Low hemoglobin this week so we are now doing iron supplementation and watching bloodwork closely🩸 

BUT taking 20-30% of feedings by mouth at this point 🥰 AND over 5.5 pounds now 😍💪 We are so proud of how strong and determined our little guy is! 

We have no expected discharge date at this time but we are taking things day by day with our little man 💞

Overall Kye is still doing well! Some days better than others but we have a long road still ahead. After trialing the oxygen more than 5 times and not being able to sustain himself, the NICU team has decided to do a chest x-ray, heart echocardiogram, and blood gases. Today we learned Kye has a PDA, PFO, and the right side of his heart is enlarged due to his preemie lungs working so hard. PDA is the open passage of blood flow in the Ductus arteriosus (usually closes after birth). PFO is the open passage of blood flow in the Foramen ovale (usually closes after birth). Both of these open holes in the heart, shunt blood away from his lungs making it more difficult for him to breathe. The enlarged heart is due to Kye working so hard to breathe, increasing the workload of heart, so there will be no more off oxygen trials until he is taking 100% of feedings by mouth and otherwise stable. Currently he is taking approximately 10-20% of feedings by mouth everyday. We will repeat the heart echocardiogram in approximately 1 month and if the 2 holes in his heart are still open, they may have to complete a procedure on his heart to close them. His expected discharge date is still between 7/27-8/12 but depending on these concerns the NICU team has expressed that he may be in the hospital longer now. In the meantime the NICU team is keeping a close eye on our little guy and giving him the best care possible! 

So far Kye has spent 35 days in the NICU. He is still on oxygen due to having multiple apnea and bradycardia spells. He still has an NG feeding tube and is now seeing speech therapy as he is struggling to understand bottle feeding. He has also unfortunately been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and is being followed by pediatric endocrinology. It is possible for him to outgrow (around 3 years of age) but told us to expect lifelong daily medication to manage. On the upside Kye is overall doing great! He is now maintaining his own temperature and is in an open crib. He is growing and gaining weight as expected and has passed his eye exam with flying colors too!
 

We can’t wait until Kye improves and can come home but are asking for donations as Kaitlyn’s paid leave is up August 4, 2023. Kye’s expected discharge date is 7/27/2023-8/12/2023. Brandon is not able to pay all monthly expenses himself and being self-employed has no paid time off. We are hoping to alleviate some financial burdens so Kaitlyn is able to stay off work and Brandon can take some time off work when Kye comes home.