A full 10 days that he's been free from the breathing tube, and Joseph still has no voice. Well, not much of one anyways. His coo is like a soft gentle breeze whispering through a summer night, but his cry is, well, silent. His entire body will be screaming with a scrunched-up red face and back-arching and head-shaking, but his vocal chords haven't gotten the memo.
Today he saw an ENT (or should I say the ENT saw him? ) who gave us a good reason. The concerns were permanent damage to the vocal folds after being intubated, and also a potential lack of seal from the airway. The good news is that there is no immediate problem that could be compromising his eating or airway. The bad news is that his right vocal fold is loose, which means exactly what we're seeing - he's not making a lot of noise.
We will follow-up with the ENT over the next few months as an outpatient to monitor progress. He sees no reason why Joey won't be yelling with the rest and best of them, but it may take a few months. If there is still a problem in a year then we may have to intervene. Meanwhile, anyone have good suggestions for watching and protecting a baby who can't cry?
In the eating realm, Joey is still slow and steady. We decided that his jersey number is 22, since that's about what he eats (in mililiters/cc's) each time. Just this evening he managed a whole 25! Regardless, he is gaining weight beautifully. They will remove his NG tube tomorrow morning and see how he does!!! Please pray that he eats well and can leave it out!
Cosleeping (while you sleep, so that he can scootch over to you when he's hungry) and video monitors (While you're awake so you can easily check on him without always having to go upstairs)? Or baby wearing?
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