Reservations.

We have a table for one booked in the the cleanest room in the house tomorrow at 2:25. Please note that the time is hugely speculative. We will likely be in late morning as the wee ones often get to jump in line.

The swelling in his head is called hydrocephalus (Water on the brain).
There are 4 ventricles in the brain. They are interconnected. All four generate spinal fluid. There is a clot between the third and fourth ventricle so the fluid generated in 1-3 has nowhere to go. The clot is most likely only blocking part of the flow we are only trying to release the excess pressure in 1-3.

The plan at this point is to install a "Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) Shunt". The procedure takes about an hour. There is one incision on the back of his head and one near his belly button. A tube will be inserted from the back of his skull into the ventricle. They make it longer than you would expect so that as he grows the shunt will continue to function.

They will fish the other end of the tube between his skin and muscle into his abdominal cavity. There is a regulator near his head to control the rate that the fluid leaves his ventricles. Too slow and we don't reduce the pressure, too quick and we run the risk of causing a bleed. The tube in his belly is also longer than required so that there is room to grow.

The procedure is considered pretty simple. The primary risk is infection (they even use anti-bacterial tubing). Most of the concern comes later on. The only way to tell if the shunt was working is to detect that it failed. It is possible for preemies to develop to a point where they no-longer need the shunt.

Today's Head Ultrasound found some new bleeding in the left-lateral ventricle. Its pretty small, and is still contained within the ventricles(a good thing). We are hoping that it's over and once we solve the pressure issue we can move our focus to growth.