A good surgery but not a great MRI

So today Ethan continues to do well. He is up to 14 or 15 mL every 3 hours, which is fantastic. Although he is very irritable with the CPAP on his nose, and definitely does not like it when people bug him, he is doing well overall. We'd like to see him make more progress on the CPAP and hopefully get off it sooner rather than later. But we're grateful he is doing as well as he is.

Today was both a good day and bad day with Andrew. The MRI came back, and it appears that there are no infections in his grey matter. Unfortunately there is something other than CSF and blood in his ventricles. The radiologist and infectious disease team suspect the aspergillus. We're going to do a culture and grow it out. If it is aspergillus, it is still possible that he can beat it back, but if it is in there then it is also in the blood and possibly has gotten into other organs. Obviously any infection in the brain is very bad, and aspergillus in particular is very hard for babies to beat. We are grateful that his surface infections have disappeared completely, though, and we don't know for sure what is going on in those ventricles.

His surgery went very well -- no problems whatsoever. We're glad that they'll be able to relieve some of the pressure from his head.

I admit its hard for me to focus on the positive when I'm so afraid for them. And then to remember how important it is that we are grateful for having them for so long. We've met other parents in the NICU who would give anything to have their little one for just one more day, and we've had both for over a month now. I guess its all a matter of perspective. My heart goes out to our friends with angel babies. I am astounded at their strength and faith.

Thank you to all who are helping with prayers, and kind words. Your support has been a bright ray of hope during the dark days, and a happy comfort during the good days. We have been fortunate over the weekend to have had quite a few good days in a row! We love these boys.