Life is Good

Hudson has been a busy boy! He had another bronchoscopy a month ago and ENT surgeon was pleased with the apperance of his airway and confident enough to try and wait 3 months until his next bronchoscopy...yippee!! Hudson is continuing to eat well and gain weight and just struggles with some daily congestion due to allergies..but very manageable. He has cut 2 teeth just recently and continues to try new big boy foods..not his favorite thing to do though...He has now been to the Fort Worth Zoo, the State Fair of Texas and has probably spent the most of his time recently cheering for the Texas Rangers in the post season. He loves playing in his exersaucer and being outdoors and probably has the most energy I have ever seen for a 6 month old...he truly doesn't want to miss a thing! We are so very thankful to have such a wonderful little baby...he doesn't cry much and immunizations don't seem to faze him a bit...We are looking forward to cheering the Rangers on in the World Series and dressing him up for Halloween!!!

I love helping mommy

Tube Free

So we have been home 4 weeks and Hudson has continued to improve daily. Hudson loves to be outdoors! He has been on several walks and finally got to go swimming...he absolutely loves the water!! He has had multiple doctor's visits and 2 more bronchoscopies. The first bronchoscopy revealed more scar tissue which was debrided once again and we have continued to do daily breathing treatments. He has worked so very hard at eating and mommy and daddy decided he didn't need the feeding tube anymore. He has been tube free for 2 weeks now and continuing to eat like a champ and thrive! Last week he had another bronchoscopy and for the first time the tissue in the trachea did not return!! He still has one area of concern but much improved!! The breathing treatments are finally paying off!! The current plan is to repeat another bronchoscopy in 3 weeks and continue to eat, eat, eat!! We love having our baby boy home!

Home Sweet Home

So...it finally happened!! After 10 days out of ICU, Hudson braved another bronchoscopy and mommy and daddy brought their sweet baby boy home! He completly weaned off oxygen and narcotics and came home with only a feeding tube, pulse oximetry(measures his blood oxygen saturation)and minimal meds(aspirin and prevacid). The bronchoscopy revealed more scar tissue (ENT surgeon debrided once again)...but overall looked much improved. Since coming home he has been taking more from the bottle each and every day and getting regular breathing treatments to hopefully continue to treat the scar tissue. He has had baths every night in his big boy bath and got to go for his first walk around the neighborhood in his stroller!! He is working so hard to wean off his feeding tube! His best day at the hospital consisted of 50 cc's in 24 hours and since coming home (only been home for a week) has worked up to 400-475 cc's per day! Mommy and Daddy are soo proud of our strong fighter that continues to amaze us again and again!! He went to his pediatrician this past monday and the pediatrician couldn't believe his eyes...he never thought Hudson would look as good as he did..he left the room and then preceded to come back in before we left to tell us how fantastic he looks and to keep up the good work....this put a huge smile on mommy's face) Next week Hudson will have another bronchoscopy and then will follow up with all the specialists on a monthly basis to monitor his progess. It is truly amazing what our little boy has been through over the past 4 months. It is such an inspiration to know how brave and strong such a little baby can be and it is such a blessing that we have been chosen to call him our son!!!

Rockstar

Hudson is now 14 weeks old and well over 12 pounds! Hudson had another bronchoscopy last week to reevaluate his airway and the ENT surgeon and cardiothoracic surgeon decided that overall they were pleased with his airway and they wanted to try and treat the remaining granuloma/scar tissue with nebulized steroids and IV steroids and reevaluate in 1-2 weeks. Since the bronchoscopy Hudson has proved once again that he can overcome anything! He weaned completly off all IV meds and escaped ICU this past Monday!!

This week Hudson has made more progress than anyone could have anticipated!! He is off his methadone and diuretics and in the process of weaning valium with no problems...chest xray looks remarkable and he is also tolerating his feeds in his stomach extremely well and is taking a little more from the bottle each and every day!!! As of yesterday..he is completely breathing on his own..NO more oxygen is attached to his littel face!!! Amazing!!! He is holding steady and breathing with ease. Mommy, Daddy and all the family are so very proud of our Hudson...then the surgeons got word of how well he has done this week and they did not believe the news.....the exact words were, "that little boy is a Rockstar!"

The current plan is for Hudson to have his 10th bronchoscopy next Wednesday to look in the airway a final time prior to discharge and address any areas of concern at that time. In the meantime, Hudson is working hard at trying to feed from the bottle, receiving his immunizations and sleeping and pooping! AND....if all goes as planned we should be set free from Children's Medical Center of Dallas late next week...

Tough Cookie

Hudson is now 3 months old and still fighting! Last week he had another bronchoscopy to reevaluate the airway. The trachea looked nice and open (no evidence of granuloma/scar tissue)...so that is some good news!! On the other hand, they are still concerned with the healing in the distal airway (at the carina) where a patch was used to widen his right main stem bronchus..the patch is floppy and causing some obstruction..so they used a balloon to try and dilate this area and will look back in the airway tomorrow to reevaluate with the cardiothoracic surgeon. Hudson is still weaning off IV narcotics and 5 liters of oxygen but doing well with all the changes. The feeding tube is in his stomach now and he is tolerating his feeds pretty well with slow changes every couple of days. Hudson has now tried to suck from a bottle 4 or 5 times and this has been quite a challenge for him. He has never taken milk/formula by mouth and the swallowing phase of eating is going to take some time and work. Speech therapy feels that he has the sucking skills he just doesn't know what to do once there is something to swallow and it frightens him. Mommy and daddy are trying to work with him but know that this will be a slow process and it is highly likely that we will go home with a feeding tube but that is ok...Hudson will do it when he is ready!! He is growing well...weighing about 11 1/2 lbs now and continuing to get stronger! More to come after bronchoscopy today.

Bye Bye Granuloma

Mr. Hudson can finally breathe!!! As you all know the past week has been rather rough on the little big guy! After the bronchoscopy last Wednesday he was reintubated and breathing with the help of the ventilator again....but was extubated on Saturday morning. He tried to cry but nothing came out...poor thing..his vocal cords have been through soo very much....but he was breathing fine on his own with the help of vapotherm again....this time all the way up to 16 liters! Sunday he started to have a lot of trouble breathing again and the ICU team considered putting him back on the ventilator...but after going to 20 liters per minute (the maximum) on the vapotherm and starting IV steroids Hudson seemed stable enough to wait it out till Monday evening when he was scheduled for another bronchoscopy to address the granuloma obstructing 90% of his airway. Hudson is such a tolerable baby..he went without food for 16 hours Monday..then bravely went to the OR for another bronchoscopy. The ENT surgeon, Dr. Johnson, was able to debride almost all of the granuloma in the trachea and some of the scar tissue deep down at the carina (where the trachea splits to each lung). Dr. Johnson felt very confident about the results and feels that the remainder scar tissue should be managable through nebulized breathing treatments and future bronchoscopies. Therefore, Hudson is receiving respiratory treatments every 6 hours consisting of steroids, antibiotics and bronchodilators, etc. Dr. Johnson will then do another bronchoscopy later this week or early next week. As of today, Hudson is still on IV steroids and vapotherm but has been able to get back down to a vapotherm level of 8!! Now we just have to keep moving forward! More progress to come!!!

Future Boxer

More hurdles

Hudson is now 10 weeks old and holding strong in the CVICU. The past week has been one of the tougher weeks during his long journey to recovery. Last week his feeding tube was pulled to his stomach for the first time. This was quite an adjustment for Hudson and after several changes to his feeding regimen, a visit from the gastrointestinal team and time he began to tolerate his feeds. Over the weekend his valium was lowered more and he was down to a vapotherm level of 3...all huge steps!! Monday we met with the ICU physician and had scheduled a care conference to meet with all the physicians, nurses, therapists, surgeons...etc..to come up with a plan to move him up to the recovery floor. Then came monday evening. Hudson became very agitated, unconsolable and began to show signs of respiratory distress.....mommy started to notice that he seemed to be gasping for air. Yesterday morning..after a long 2 days of trying to keep Hudson comfortable the ICU team, ENT surgeons and cardiothoracic surgeons felt that it was urgent for Hudson to go back into the OR for a bronchoscopy to see what was going on within his airway. After 2 hours in the OR, Hudson returned to his ICU room intubated once again (on the ventilator). The ENT surgeon found a granuloma (mass of scar tissue) obstructing 90% of Hudson's trachea. He was surprised by the size of the granuloma and said that he has never quite seen a case like Hudson's before... After long discussion with the ENT surgeon as well as the ICU team, it was decided that the safer option for Hudson was to leave him intubated to rest his airway. Yesterday was a hard day...not only did Hudson have to go back to the OR.....but he was stuck over 10 times for IV access and extremely uncomfortable and scared. He was hit with multiple narcotics once again which did not seem to work as effectively as in the past. Sweet boy!!! This morning Hudson lost his IV due to all the kicking and irritability overnight (his IV was in his foot because this was the only place they could get one in)...his central line was pulled over a week ago so he had no IV access... Currently, Hudson is intubated, on IV steroids and narcotics and scheduled to go back in for a new PICC line (IV) in the morning..uugghh They have also pushed his feeding tube back into his small intestine...no more stomach feeding for now..and the ICU team plans to try and extubate him tomorrow afternoon. It is amazing what a strong little boy Hudson has proved to be and his mommy and daddy are so very proud of all the hurdles and challenges he has overcome...he is such a fighter!!! Please keep Hudson in your thoughts and prayes as he continues to push through these difficult times. More to come.

I love my hoodie!

More Improvement

Hudson continues to get bigger and stronger each and every day. He is currently still weaning off narcotics and his vapotherm at very slow rates...and tolerating the changes!! They have tried weaning him several different ways...but slow is the the only way he continues to improve... He is now on clonidine for opiate withdrawal to try and help him have a more comfortable transition to life without methadone and valium...won't that be nice! He has been on heavy narcotics his whole life so it has been quite a challenge. Also, he is now on the lowest level of vapotherm (5 liters per minute..and we started on 12). He has been on vapotherm for almost 3 weeks and once he proves that he can breathe without distress on 5 they will pull the vapotherm and start a regular oxygen nasal cannula with is a lot less flow. This will be a huge transition! He did have some pulmonary edema show up (fluid in the lungs)but with extra diuretics we have seen much improvement...whew! Mommy and Daddy were so very thankful that it was only fluid...his chest xray had been worsening for a couple of days and we were very concerned it could be a perfusion problem (blood flow to lungs)and he would need a cardiac catherization....but so far that is not neccessary. Since he is nine weeks old this week and has never seen life outside the CVICU we have tried to make his life as normal as we can. He probably has the coolest ICU room ever at this point...of course the safari animals...we call it the "Safari Suite"....his one of a kind giraffe swing with the best surround sound noise maker ever...and all sorts of cute toys/eye candy for him to stare at and develop good eye coordination! Oh..and I almost forgot..we now have his own bathtub in his room and we have given him a real bath for the past 3 nights before bed to try and get him on some sort of a routine for when we get to go home. He's not too sure about bath time but always chills out for a couple of hours after his bath and just stares at his toys....so I think he really likes to feel clean.....not to mention the only time he wakes up crying the past couple of nights is when he has dirty pants....smart boy!!! He likes to be clean!! And...if all goes well this week and he can successfully get off the vapotherm then we will be moved up to the recovery floor....yeah!!!!

Getting Closer

This past week has been pretty mellow. Hudson is gradually weaning off his methadone and valium at a slow rate. Sweet boy has been extremely sensitive to any changes to his medications so we are just letting him tell us what he can handle at this point. He is still on vapotherm but gradually weaning down on that as well. He is now in a big boy crib and has a colorful mobile that his Mimi brought him to help with his eye coordination. Mommy and Daddy are continuing to dress and bathe Hudson daily and by now seem to know all the hospital staff. Hudson is 2 months old now and weighs 12 lbs 2 oz!! Mommy thinks Hudson is the cutest baby she has ever seen...even the ICU nurses fight over him... The current battle plan is to get him weaned off of his narcotics and vapotherm to a regular nasal oxygen cannula and then they will take him to the OR again for another bronchoscopy before we are moved upstairs to the recovery floor....but we are definetly getting closer!!!

Another Rocky Weekend

This weekend was not one of our best. It all started friday when the ICU team decided to try to wean Hudson off his vapotherm too quickly. He immediately failed and was quickly struggling to maintain his airway. He was put back on vapotherm at a higher flow than he was initially on when extubated. Then came Saturday...the ICU team decided to adjust his narcotic schedule and he began to experience narcotic withdrawal. This was probably one of the worst things for a mommy and daddy to watch. Sweet baby boy was not having a good day and was not the same baby we have loved since the day he was born..he was a completly different baby. He was inconsolable and uncomfortable to say the least.....Saturday night he developed a fever of 102 and got completly worked up for an infection. Blood cultures came back positive for Staph again...but this time within the bloodstream. One by one..the issues have been addressed. His medication schedule was changed back...within 24 hours his fever was under control with tylenol and IV antibiotics and his breathing isn't as good as it was when extubated but we have definelty seen some improvement in the last 24 hours. Yesteday, he was a happy baby again. He was smiling, lying in mommy's arms and had a big time in his giraffe swing that daddy brought from home. It was sooo good to see him feeling better!! Currently, the plan is to continue IV antibiotics..keep his breathing stable and give him a couple of days of recovery from this gradual spiral down over the weekend. Oh yea...and he pooped on mommy for the first time yesterday..an explosion through the diaper.....luckily mommy had on a brown shirt....but it sure was stinky!

Over the Hump

It finally happened!! Yesterday afternoon the ICU team decided Mr. Hudson looked good and pulled the ventilator. It was the best moment yet!! He handled it very well. He was a little frightened at first but when he realized the tube was no longer down his throat he started looking around and wiggling his arms..he attempted a cry but of course it was very faint and hoarse. Mommy and Daddy finally wrapped our arms around our sweet baby yesterday and only put him down when he needed xray or breathing treatments. He is now on vapotherm (warm humidified continuous oxygen through a nasal cannula) and they have already started weaning down the vapotherm today because he is doing so well! So far, so good! Hudson is so happy he has not wanted to sleep since being extubated so mommy and daddy are both pretty tired..he is ready to party!! This morning was wonderful!! Hudson was happy, smiling and making noise!! We haven't got to hear him make any noise since he was intubated at birth... so his cry's, cough's, sneeze's, coo's all have been the most wonderful sounds mommy and daddy have ever heard! He was seen by physical therapy today and did an excellent job of holding his head up...what a strong little guy!!! He also discovered his fist's and has been putting them in his mouth as well! The next steps are to wean him off the vapotherm, methadone and valium and get him feeding on his own. We will start working with speech therapy tomorrow to trial his swallowing ability and mommy and daddy plan on getting that feeding tube out by early next week...he already has the sucking down and we know he can do it!!! Such a little fighter!! What a wonderful way to spend his 6 week birthday!!! GO Hudson GO!!!!

Choppy Waters...but Smooth Sailing Ahead

This weekend was a little rough on Hudson. Late Saturday and early Sunday he had a couple of episodes of dark brownish vomitting (old blood). He showed all the signs of a gastrointestinal bleed. They stopped all his feeds and started him on IV nexium as well as put down a nasogastric tube to evacuate the rest of the old blood pooled in his stomach. He was a little anemic but with time his blood work came back normal. He was a liitle cranky the past couple of days at times due to lack of food...poor guy. He has also had some wonderful moments of being very awake, alert and happy! Today he went back into the OR for another bronchoscopy to look into his airway and possible extubation. The ENT and cardiothoracic surgeon seemed pleased with his healing but felt that they would need to leave him on the ventilator another 24-48 hours to get all the swelling down from the trauma of the surgery today. He has been pretty uncomfortable tonight..and he ended up having to be sedated and paralyzed AGAIN so that they could change out the size of his tube (where oxygen is delivered via ventilator) due to a bad air leak. Poor guy is going through the ringer! They currently have him on IV steroids to reduce all his swelling from all the trauma today, but the good news is that they feel pretty confident that they will be able to get him off the ventilator tomorrow or thursday.....YEAH!! Hudson will be much happier without that big tube and so will mommy and daddy!!!

Making Progress

Hudson is growing so much!! Almost 10 lbs!! This has been such a wonderful week for him. Daddy is so proud to say that Hudson smiled at him 3 times!! It was so cute! He had a cardiac MRI tuesday to evaluate his pulmonary arteries and it showed that he has near normal blood flow through both his right and left PA so it will not be neccessary to precede with the cardiac catherization! YEAH!! He also had a PICC line put in yesterday and needed little sedation for this. This morning they pulled his 2 intracardiac central lines and there was very minimal bleeding so no transfusion was needed...even better! Now they are just continuing to wean his methadone and valium levels (it is a gradual titration down that they have been weaning for the past 2 weeks)...and he is scheduled to go back to the OR Tuesday for another rigid bronchoscopy to evaluate his airway and possible extubation!!!! He has one more setting to wean down to on the ventilator to be able to be extubated and they are going to drop the ventilator down today. Later today mommy will be able to put his first outfit on and wrap her arms around him...she can't wait!! And....there was another delivery last night Ernie the elephant.....a special gift from his loving Daddy!! More good news to come!

My safari friends

Hudson is having a wonderful memorial day weekend just resting and healing. He has had a couple of additions to his room. Aunt Angela came in town from California and brought him Jojo the chimp. Jojo is adorable and loves spending most of his time sitting on Leo the lion. Then came Allie the alligator. Allie was delivered by Ms. Alicia...her and Ms. Marilyn wanted Hudson to have an alligator..and Allie quickly fit in and bonded with Jeffrey the giraffe. And sweet Logan (Alicia's youngest son)sent Mr. Hudson 2 little frogs which are just chillin with all the animals. Hudson loves all his animal friends and can't wait to get them home in his playroom!! Thank you everyone for all your ongoing support, thoughts, prayers, sweet cards and words of encouragement!!

1 month old

This week has been Hudson's best week yet!!! He has been very comfortable this week. His labwork and chest xray look much improved showing that he has cleared the infection and on the mend. He is no longer on IV narcotics and they are weaning his oral narcotics as well. They are continuing the aggressive breathing treatments and repositioning him every couple of hours. He is such a happy boy..he is more awake now and loves to stare at his toys mommy has hung on his bed. Physical and occupational therapy come a couple of times a week and mommy works with him daily. He is still intubated (on the ventilator), but they have weaned him down to minimal support and he is doing most of the work himself now. This weekend he will just rest and continue to heal. He is scheduled for a MRI Tuesday to evaluate his left pulmonary artery..if neccessary they will precede with a cardiac catherization. AND...they are planning on extubating him late next week when he goes back to the OR for another bronchoscopy. There is light at the end of the tunnel!!!

Resting

Things have been pretty calm the past couple of days. Hudson has been resting and recovering from his infection since friday and since he is finally stable they have decided to not go back into the OR today. Mommy and Daddy are very happy with this decision. They have become more aggressive on his breathing treatments as well as the IV antibiotics and feeds. He is finally back to full feeds through his feeding tube and his labwork is gradually improving showing that the antibiotics are starting to work. All his cultures are final and the good news is that he does not have MRSA..he just has MSSA (staph infection). He looks a lot more comfortable today since his swelling has come down quite a bit and he continues to pee and poop!!! The next step is to have a cardiac catherization and another bronchoscopy thursday. His cardiothoracic surgeon feels that he may need something done to his left pulmonary artery...this artery is small and was originally wrapped around his trachea so they will possible put a stent in thursday if neccessary. The bronchoscopy will show us how things are healing in the trachea/airway and will help guide the surgeons and ICU team what their next step will be with the airway reconstruction...

Just Resting

Hudson has finally had a couple of restful days. Since friday he has been heavily sedated to give his body a chance to fight off the infection he has in his airway. He is continuing with breathing treatments, IV antibiotics and steroids as well as steroid/antibiotic drops directly into the trachea to treat the bacterial tracheitis. They scheduled another rigid bronchoscopy in OR Tuesday, but this is tentative on how he is doing...He finally got started back on foods and is trying out laying on his belly for the first time...He likes his belly!! He has had several visitors this weekend and had a special delivery from his Great Aunt Darlene....a friend for Jeffrey...Leo the lion!

I am soooo tough!

Hudson has had a rough couple of days. The past couple of days Hudson has been having trouble with his oxygen saturation. Yesterday he had a bedside bronchoscopy with minimal improvement and last night he had some pretty low oxygen levels...so they did labs and cultured some sputum and diagnosed a bacterial pneumonia. He has been started on 2 powerful IV antibiotics to try and knock out the infection. Today, he had a rigid bronchoscopy in the OR with the ENT surgeon and they had a lot of trouble visualizing much because he was dropping his oxygen levels too low. They were concerned for his heart and stopped the procedure. They were able to clean out some pus plugs and have ordered steroids and some other meds for the tracheal swelling...they are also putting drops down the ventilator tube to prevent infection within the tube. He is currently heavily sedated and paralyzed so that he can remain comfortable through the night. The plan is for Dr. Forbess (the chief) to do another bedside bronchoscopy in the morning to try and clean out deeper within the airway..Right now we are all just taking things one day at a time.

We need more time

Hudson ended up going in for his bronchoscopy around 1:45 this afternoon and they were in and out pretty quick. He came back out of the OR still intubated. The scope showed that his right main stem bronchus (the branch from windpipe/trachea to right lung) still needs a lot more healing. Curently, the plan is to keep him intubated for possibly another 1-2 months. He needs time to grow tissue and make this airway nice and stiff so it won't collapse. They are adding another bronchodilator to his breathing treatment regimen as well as do a flexible bronchoscopy twice a week her in his ICU room to clean out the secretions he continues to build up on that right side. They will just try to keep him as comfortable as possible with drugs..uugghh...until he can safely be extubated. I know he is going to pull through, his little body just needs more time!!! He is soo tough...he has been through a lot. One day mommy will have him in her arms....only time will tell when that day will be....

On Stand By For Operating Room

Today we are just waiting to see when a cardiac anesthisiogist is available to head to the OR. Hopefully, later this afternoon Hudson will have another bronchoscopy and possible extubation..they will put him on high flow oxygen and see if he is strong enough..healed enough to keep his airway open without the assistance of the ventilator. He has been a little figity through the night and this morning since they stopped his food around 2 am..so mommy is just trying to keep him calm....mommy is tired! This could be a big day! More to come as I know more throughout the day:)

It's Monday

This morning was a little hectic for Hudson. He started off the day a little upset and spitting up/choking quite a bit...which is no fun! His abdomen was xrayed to check the placement of his feeding tube and it had moved a little.. so that was repositioned and hopefully he won't be as uncomfortable! Also, he has been collecting a decent amount of fluid in his face and neck so they decided to order an ultrasound to rule out any obstruction/mass/congestion etc. Ultrasound came back negative for anything unexpected so that is good news!! The swelling should resolve with time... The plan is to go back into the OR sometime this week whenever the ENT physician/intensivist and cardiothoracic surgeon can all coordinate their schedules to try and extubate little guy and do another bronchoscopy as well... They are not sure how well he will do off the ventilator since he is still requiring quite a bit of support from the ventilator but the only way to find out is to try...so there is a big chance he will have to be reintubated. We are all optimistic and are praying that he will be strong enough to breath on his own with the help of either vapotherm or some other form of high flow oxygen. Mommy and Daddy are keeping our fingers crossed! We would love to pick our sweet boy up and just love on him!! Somedays are more frustrating than others but we are hanging in there!! We just want him to get better and be more comfortable and right now we are all just taking it one day at a time:)

A little bumpy

This weekend has been a little bumpy for Mr. Hudson. Yesterday he had a pretty rough day. They adjusted some settings on his ventilator to try and prepare for taking him off the ventilator, but he was not ready. He spent all day yesterday in severe respiratory distress and they finally readjusted him back to a mode that gave him more assistance breathing for now. His biggest problem right now is his airway. The right bronchi (branch into lungs) is extremely narrow and he is having a lot of problems getting secretions out of the right side as well as fully expanding the right lung without quite a bit of ventilatory support. Therefore, I don't think we will be considering extubating (taking him off ventilator) him tomorrow as originally planned. Right now they are going to gradually tweek his ventilator and give him more time. He was pretty swollen yesterday as well and they readjusted his diuretics and he seems a lot more comfortable!! He had his sweet little eyes open this morning...and yesterday they were pretty much swollen shut. He's hanging tough though! Mommy has been letting him listen to baby Einstein and Jim Brickman lullabys and he seems pretty content at the moment!

I think I can...

Early this morning, Hudson went back to OR for another broncoscopy to reassess the healing of his trachea/bronchi. Dr. Forbess (cardiothoracic surgeon) and Dr. Lee (ENT) both felt that the airway looked good but the right bronchi (the side that was very narrow that was widened) was still quite swollen and was catching a lot of secretions so they cleaned it out and want to leave him on the ventilator a couple of more days until his lungs are a bit stronger. They assess his lungs by pressures, etc on the ventilator as well as physical exertion with breathing and all seem to be improving....it's just taking sometime. He is off the continuous drip of narcotics and now just on methadone and valium...so snoozing quite a bit!! Each day he has had a couple of hours of alertness where he and mommy practice his sucking with his green paci...and he is loving that!! They are maximizing his calorie intake so that he can be as strong as possible for breathing on his own..so he may be quite the chunker when we leave here...but that's just more loving for mommy and daddy! The latest plan is to go back into the OR on Monday to try and extubate him if they feel he is ready...that way he can be extubated under a controlled environment and they will have the ENT physician on hand with the scope equipment if neccessary...that way if he needs to be reintubated it can be done with as little trauma as possible.....wonderful idea!!

2 weeks old

Sweet boy is 2 weeks old today! Mommy and Hudson had a very nice morning together! He was awake all morning. He got to listen to the music therapist play the guitar and sing Mary had a little lamb and twinkle, twinkle little star. We had lots of mommy and Hudson time with the pacifier and now he is sleeping soundly. He is still weaning off narcotics and plan is to do another bronchoscopy friday to assess his trachea before stopping the ventilator. Once the ventilator is pulled, he will be put on a continuous flow of oxygen through his nose. Will know more throughout the day..

Beads of Courage

This is the necklace mommy has worn to support her tough little boy since the day of surgery. Beads of courage is a unique program that represents sweet Hudson's challenging and courageous journey while receiving care for his respiratory and cardiac condition. His collection of beads symbolizes his courage and honors milestones he has achieved through the management of his condition. Every time he gets any kind of test done, poked for an IV, surgery, repiratory visit, etc..he gets a different colored bead to represent what he has overcome each day. Mommy is so proud to wear the necklace!!

1 week from surgery

Today is Hudson's week anniversary from his surgery...and he is doing fantastic! Last night they removed his IV's in his left hand and right arm so his hands and arms are IV free for now...very nice to see more tubing removed! His echocardiogram looked good yesterday so he is now off all the heart meds. They are gradually weaning narcotics and the ventilator and plan to be off the ventilator at some point thursday! WOW!!! We have come so far since this time last week...and it feels so good!! He is trying not to throw too many temper tantrums..but with the Blank/Reeves gene pool he has been given he just can't help it every once in a while...and man does he have some strength in those little legs. I guess a little feisty is a good thing..he will keep daddy and I on our toes! Daddy had to go out of town for the next 2 days so Hudson and mommy are going to have a sleepover and get some good bonding time in:) Thank you everyone for your continuous love, support, thoughts and prayers...it truly makes all the difference!

13 Days Old

The past 24 hours we have made more progress. Last night around 6 pm Mr. Hudson got his feeding tube put back in and started feeding again...and despite all the days without food he is only down to 8 lbs 2 oz....so he has only lost a couple of ounces. He had a good night's sleep to prepare for is big morning today. Today he has already had all his chest tubes/drains and foley catheter removed so he should be much more comfortable. He was xrayed and later today will have a echocardiogram of his heart. They are starting him on methadone to try to gradually wean down his pain medication he has been on the past 13 days...woohoo! They have also cut his lasix (the diuretic) down to every 12 hours so hopefully his potassium levels will balance out...once he doesn't need potassium replacment he will hopefully get his central lines pulled (IV access). He still has a central line in place as well as 2 peripheral IV lines in place and remains on the ventilator, but will hopefully be taken off the ventilator towards the end of the week. Once he is off the ventilator he will get a nasal cannula (oxygen directly through the nose). Mommy lotioned him up nicely and he is currently peacefully resting! Sweet boy is still hanging tough! We are sooo very proud of him and are counting down the days until we can wrap our arms around his precious little body and give him unconditional mommy and daddy love!

My cute toesies

Last night while I was snoozing my mom and dad rubbed lotion all over me, loved on me and took pictures of my cute toesies.

1st Mother's Day

Hudson made his mommy so happy this morning...he took his first pacifier and seemed to really enjoy it :) He got his dressing over his incision taken off and had one of the lines to his heart pulled where they left access for the pacemaker if needed. He is still getting weaned off meds one at a time and seems to be responding very well! They are considering removing his foley catheter later today if urine output remains steady....and we are waiting to see surgeon to confirm when feeding will resume.. Things seem to be moving right along which makes each day a wonderful day for mommy and daddy....

Day 11

So far Hudson's second Saturday has gone well. He underwent surgery this morning and they successfully closed his chest with no complications. He is still sedated, but will open his eyes every once in a while just to see what's going on. The remainder of the day will hopefully be a day of peaceful rest for him while the medical team carefully adjusts his medications. They hope to pull some lines tomorrow as well as start back the feeding tube. Mommy and daddy hope to be able to start giving him a pacifier tomorrow as well. Sweet boy tries to suck with his lips and we so badly would like for him to be able to have a paci!! Dr. Forbess (the surgeon) feels that he will be on the ventilator for another week...but each day is another day closer!!! Hudson is doing soo good and we are so proud of him!

I Love My Mommy

Sweet boy opened his eyes all afternoon friday and was a bit wiggly...had a good evening though. Got the swelling down enough to close his chest this am...waiting on surgeon to arrive. Night nurse had to put the arm restraints on because he is a smart little booger and tries to grab all the tubes...but he is peacefully resting awaiting the surgical team...

My mommy and daddy

Team Hudson

Julie and Todd Reeves

Daddy's favorite picture

Future Aggie and Fuzz the bear

Day 9

Last night was another quite, peaceful night for Mr. Hudson. So far, everything has remained stable and they are currently still adjusting lasix (diuretic) levels to find a happy medium to reduce his swelling enough to be able to close his chest tomorrow morning. They started him on electrolytes and lipids last night and discontinued his paralytic drug this morning. Todd is making sure I use my inside voice because we don't want to overstimulate him today. We bought him some new booties and socks last night so he can have a new wardrobe and despite all his tubes, he still is the cutest thing we have ever laid our eyes on! Hopefully later today he will open his sweet little eyes and Daddy and Mommy can tell him how much we love him and how proud we are of him!! He is currently still having sweet dreams. More to come throughout the day!!!

Jeffrey the Giraffe

My mom brought Jeffrey to my room to help take good care of me.

Day 8

Last night was a good night. Hudson had sweet dreams all night. He was taken off the pacemaker around 6 pm last night and his heart has been in sinus rythym and working on its own since...yeah!! Blood pressure/oxygen saturation as well as heart rate all remaining stable so far! And all of his lab values are remaining within normal limits and his urine output as well as blood loss is all within normal range as well so things are looking good! Surgical team came by this morning and have increased his lasix to bring down his fluid retention/swelling in order to prepare to close his chest. They are planning on trying to close at earliest tomorrow, but most likely not until Saturday 5/8/10. He will remain paralyzed until his chest cavity is closed and they plan to keep him intubated for 7 more days. They feel that the tubing is acting as a stent holding his trahcea open so that there is less tension on the suture lines where they did the slide tracheoplasty and corrected his narrow trachea. More good news to come!!!! My little fighter!

My tough little cookie

Day 7

Hudson is such a trooper!! He is on post operative day 1 and is hanging in there. His cardiothoracic surgeon had all excellent things to say about surgery! He felt that surgery went better than expected and Hudson made it through the night with no major complications. We had been told there was a chance they would need to go back into the OR and that did not happen so we are extremely thankful!! He still has his chest cavity open today due to swelling and they are managing his heart with a pacemaker due to swelling as well, but overall it is so far a quite day. The next 48 hours are very important so please keep him in all your prayers!!

Day 1-6

Hudson David Reeves was welcomed into this world on 4/28/2010 at 3:09 am and weighed 8 lb 4 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.

Hudson was quickly evaluated and intubated and transferred to Children's cardiovascular intensive care unit where he was diagnosed with Tetralogy of fallot and pulmonary atresia on echocardiogram.

After being evaluated further, Hudson continued to have respiratory problems and was sent for a CT scan which lead the cardiothoracic surgeon to diagnose Hudson with extensive airway problems within the lower repiratory tract involving his trachea/bronchi.

After a couple of days of critical care and being in and out of sedation and intubated, Hudson bravely went into surgery on 5/4/10 for 9 hours.

Hudson's New Room

4/28/10 3:17pm

Hudson's First Saturday