Day 7

A lot changes in one day! Connor was a busy boy today with all of his tests and thankfully all of the tests brought good news!
He had a swallow study done where they try different consistencies of formula and see if any cause him to aspirate. He never aspirated but showed signs that it was very possible with the regular formula. They now have him on formula with rice cereal (like you would give an older baby), hopefully this will help that problem.
An Ear Nose and Throat specialist came and did a check of his vocal chords to make sure they were not paralyzed during the surgery or injured at all. He did this by sticking a camera up his nose into his throat - imagine how much he liked this!!! Anyway, everything is fine just swollen from having the ventilator for 4 days.
His nurse noticed his hands and feet were a little blotchy or dusky so she ordered an Echo cardiogram to make sure blood was circulating everywhere and it is! The doctor said his heart looks good, the aorta seems to be healing nicely and not showing signs of narrowing again. He does have a small hole between his atriums but that should close with time and is common with babies.
He also got his arterial line taken out of his wrist and is off all IV medications! He will most likely be leaving the ICU tomorrow and going to step down where we take care of him and he is monitored every 4 hours instead of constantly.
Lots of changes today! We just pray that it continues and are not getting our hopes up just yet!