Patience is a Virtue.

The PDA that won't go away!! Last night Dr. Goldberg told us that the hole had not closed. It's now 2 mm, which is still too big to be okay. They weren't sure how much improvement there had been though because the cardiologist hadn't measured the hole the first time ... not clear why; I think it was an oversight. At any rate, they did see evidence of movement in the right direction, as the left aorta/ventricle had been enlarged but has since shrunk to a more normal size. Given that progress, they decided last night they'd give the hole another day to see whether it'd close more on its own.

We called this morning and it seems that his blood gases are continuing to trend in a negative direction, meaning they believe the hole to still be large enough to be negatively affecting his lungs. (Blood gases are when they draw blood and check its oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, among other things, to see how well the lungs are working.) The nurse said because of this, they would probably go ahead and give him the next round of indomethacin (another dose per day for three days), but they've told us that round two is not likely to be as effective as round one. This could mean surgery. (I've also read that another medical procedure can be used to avoid surgery, but we haven't questioned the doc yet about whether that would be a good option for Calder.) However, his lungs seem to be his biggest hurdle at this point, so I'm anxious for them to get this vessel closed off so that his heart and lungs can grow stronger with the kind of blood they need!

In other, better news, he took well to his feeding. Of course, they'll quit again should they begin the next dose of meds, but to the breast milk they fed him in between, his little gut handled it quite well.

They also think his bilirubin levels are low enough now to go lightless, so he is no longer lit with that beautiful blue glow. Another positive development.

They are still pulling up some mucous when they suction him through his mouth but say that the amount they're getting is normal.

He’s gained a substantial amount of weight (was it 100 grams in a night?), but because the doctors suspect it is water weight gain, and he’s looking kind of puffy, they are administering a diuretic.

Yesterday Calder also got to meet Getch, his grandma on the Lovelace side. Per usual, he put on a show to try to impress and broke out some of his favorite moves.