Return of the Elephant Baby

Our Little Lion managed to exceed our expectations again and came off of the ventilator with flying colors! On the morning of the day his team planned on taking the ventilator out, Landon had a very hard time keeping his heart rate and oxygen levels up. It was so bad that his team wasn't sure they would be able to turn off the vent. They had two choices, to take him off of the vent and see what happens or to leave him on the vent and sedate him to high heaven to prevent him from taking the tube out himself.

The biggest fear was that if Landon failed to stay off of the vent again, he would have to have an intense exam by an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor to determine if there was something blocking his airway. This is something we all wanted to avoid, because it involved putting more tubes and exam tools down his throat which would just irritate him further. His doctor decided to go for it and once the tube was pulled out, Landon decided to grace us all with the present of breathing on his own. He was pretty mad at having so many people gathered around him and doesn't particularly care for the mask that delivers pressurized oxygen to his face. However, we think he is the cutest little elephant baby that there ever was.

It has now been 2 days that he has been off of the vent, and we hope he continues to be a rock star and breathe on his own. The vent is still sitting unused next to his bedside and hope it's presence is enough to ward off any evil spirits that cause bad breathing! On the infection front, his belly continues to do better every day. He is more than halfway through his 14 day course of antibiotics and will not be fed breast milk until it is completed. We are worried about what will happen when he starts to be fed again, but will cross that bridge when we get to it. He continues to have problems with his blood levels, making it hard for his blood to clot. He does receive blood transfusions for this and when he is able to keep his blood levels up himself, we will know that the infection has been completely resolved.

In the meantime, we are so grateful to God and all of our family and friends for their support during this latest scary time. Landon's nurse Kimmy said today that he must be destined for greatness because of everything he has been able to survive. I know he is already great because of his ability to unite so many people in support of his fight for life!