February 25: NEC

Sorry that we haven't updated in a couple of days. It was a little jarring to us to have Ethan take a turn in such a short amount of time. The doctors have diagnosed Ethan with necrotizing enterocolitis; or NEC for short. NEC is a medical condition where portions of the bowel stop working and parts of the tissue could die. The symptoms are various, but the ones that were noticed on Sunday; the green residual from his feedings and his slow digestion were what prompted the doctors to take notice and to eventually make the diagnosis. NEC is seen in approximately 10% of preemies weighing in at less than 1500 grams at birth and can be serious if it progresses; sometimes ending with surgery.

In Ethan's case, he is doing as well as can be expected; maybe even better than expected. As the doctors say, it's Ethan; of course he's doing well. They are fairly confident that he will have a full recovery with no surgery required. It is comforting to hear them say this as up until last night, they had been erring on the side of caution through this whole ordeal and not giving us anything but the facts so as to not give us false hope. So, for now, he is on antibiotics and will get his nutrition through an IV for 10 days. They have stopped his feedings in order to let his gut heal. He has been getting daily xrays and blood tests in order to catch any bacteria that may be in his blood. So far, the tests are all coming back negative (which is good) and his xrays, although concerning, have not gotten any worse. Nana, our primary doctor, told me today that he has gotten through the first few critical days without anything worsening, so she thinks that we'll just need to wait out the next 7 days and then start feeds again. He'll have to start all over at only 3 ml per feeding and work his way up to a full feed again. They'll watch him closely and with luck, he'll tolerate the feeds and we'll get back on track.

Sunday and Monday were rough on Ethan. Sunday he was poked and prodded alot and didn't get much sleep. Monday, he was listless and pale...you could really tell he wasn't feeling well. They have him all hooked up to IV's again and he has a tube down his throat to help the excess bile and air come out. But, yesterday and today he seems to be doing so much better. He just looks more healthy... more rosy and alert and he seems comfortable. He is sleeping well and when awake, doesn't fuss. If you didn't know he was sick, you would never know that something this serious was happening to him, he's just as sweet as ever.

Even with this all going on, we've seen developmental progress this week. In general, he just looks bigger. His head is growing and he's looking more and more like a full term baby every day. And today, I noticed that he is honing his suck reflex. I was able to hold him and once Tracy, our nurse, put him on my chest, he found his thumb and starting sucking away, we could hear the sucking noises as they were loud and slurpy. It was a bright spot in our day and touched our hearts as he was comforting himself. Later, after he was back in his isolette, he was opening his mouth a lot so I got his pacifier for him. He has used this before, but just for a few moments and the sucks were short. This time, the sucking was significant and we heard the sucking noise again; he kept this up for a long period of time. He stayed awake and was playing with my finger for about an hour after I held him, following my voice with his eyes as he sucked away. He's so cute and to see him do these normal baby things keeps our hopes up and will help us get through this rough period.

We'll keep you updated on his progression this week. Please keep us in your thoughts and hope that he continues to beat this infection. He's a strong little guy... and I have no doubt that between his own strength and the love and support that he continues to receive from friends and family, he will be better in no time.