A Reading From The Book Of Pooh

As we reported earlier today Elias had his chest tube removed. When we arrived at the hospital he was resting comfortably and quickly started "peeking" when he heard our voices. We watched him sleep most of the afternoon and after his cares at 4pm he was a little cranky from being messed with, suctioned, and repositioned into what would obviously turn out to be the wrong position. He is a VERY strong little tike. He managed to kick out the blanket roll supporting him on his side and moved into the position he wanted. The other day he kept pushing his feeding tube and sometimes grabbing it, I thought he was trying to pull it out as did the nurse, but he was simply trying to move it because it was blocking his view and he could not see daddy. Once it was moved he stopped. He definitely will let you know when he is not happy about something or if he does not like things. His nurses always get a kick out of his tantrums, saying how cute he can be. We brought a few books to read to him in the hopes of soothing him while he slept. Katharine pulled out the "Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh." She read this to Elias while she was pregnant and it was as though he remembered. As she read the story he began to calm down, breathing more deeply and relaxed. He laid there and stared at mommy for 35 minutes while she read to him. He was moving around in a relaxed manner and quite obviously enjoying himself. The nurses were amazed at how captivated he was and thought he was so adorable. Mommy was happy too because this was a sign that Elias likes stories!! She read him 2 stories today, "A house for Eeyore at Pooh Corner" & "Tiggers don't climb trees." It was truly adorable and something we are looking forward to doing more of, especially once we can hold him.

Tomorrow the vent tubes come off. Keep your fingers crossed, as there is not a 100% guarantee it will be a successful extubation. Though there is a very good likelihood. He is getting steroid treatments over night to prepare him. These will help with any inflammation or potential "closings" that might occur since the tubes have been in for over 30 days. The next focus will be on getting him to feed without the feeding tube. Other than that we are not 100% sure what the next phase will be. We do intend on asking tomorrow if the extubation is a success. We are both very excited about this step and anxiously await the news, as we are sure all of you are too. So with that, tomorrow has the makings to be a very big day. Keep those positive thoughts and prayers coming. We look forward to updating everyone tomorrow, hopefully with pictures!!