Day 31: Our Little Superman

Paxton's progress has been impressive since he moved to the PICU. He has proved to everyone time and time again that he is truly fighting for his life.
When Susanne got to the hospital this morning, the nurses informed her that the oxygen levels in his blood stream were excellent. For this reason, the tubes in his nose that were delivering oxygen to his body were removed. One more thing down, fifty things left to go.
Paxton and his mom had quite a busy day. Paxton had multiple appointments with different therapists. The first one was with the speech therapist. She was really surprised at how strong his suckle reflex was and that he took to the pacifier so well. Since Paxton scored so high with his assessment, the speech therapist was interested in trying to see if Paxton would nurse once he has proven he can tolerate his tube feedings well. Susanne was extremely excited with this news. If Paxton is unable to nurse, then the speech therapist will see if he will tolerate feedings with a special bottle. For the time being, Susanne was given different techniques to try to encourage non-nutritive sucking and to get his tongue to lay down flat.
The next appointment was with the physical therapist. She was also impressed with Paxton's progress. She felt like he was strong for a baby that just recently had heart surgery. Susanne was given a list of exercises and was instructed on how to facilitate range of motion on his extremities. Her approach for Paxton was specific for a child in his condition. They will be meeting with Paxton three times a week to assess his progress.
Last, but not least, we met with the occupational therapist again. She complimented him on how awesome he was doing. She even thinks he is an overachiever...just like his parents.
Later in the day, the catheter in his scalp stopped working properly so they removed that as well.
Throughout the afternoon, Paxton helped his mom with crossword puzzles and sudoku while listening to classical music. They had such a relaxing afternoon. Susanne loved holding Paxton for hours. The nurses commented on how Paxton was more awake and irritable when he was in his crib, but seemed so peaceful and slept so well in his mother's arms.
Scott arrived back in town later in the evening. Scott and Susanne went back to the hospital for a few hours so Scott could see how well Paxton was doing. Paxton got a bath while they were there. He hated getting clean because he thought boys should be smelly. Once he was finished and wrapped up in towels he was much happier.
Scott is looking forward to coming back tomorrow and getting much more snuggle time with his baby boy.