Progress

Papa-daddy here.

Baby Fausto continues to improve. He is successfully being weaned from support apparatus. He was taken off the heat lamp midday yesterday, and last night he breastfed well on three successive occasions, earning him the right to get off the IV. His blood glucose is holding steady without it, and his blood work continues to improve.

The neurologists will be doing a cranial ultrasound today to follow up from his CAT scan, which showed no problems. It seems they are most interested in checking fluids around his brain.

We still have no definitive answers, but it's becoming clearer that the likely explanation of the "event" is that his dehydration triggered a short series of subtle seizures which manifested as apnea and cyanosis (stopped breathing and turned blue). There can be longterm effects from neonatal seizures, but the likelihood of that is hard to predict because of the limited number of studies. The few case studies I've been able to find indicate that most babies (roughly 2/3) do not have permanent neurological problems.

The fact that Fausto is learning how to breastfeed effectively is an excellent sign, so we're staying positive and focussed on how great he looks and acts. He's proving to be a real fighter. More soon....