Wide Eyed. Bushy Tailed. Oh, and a HUGE day!

Dear Samuel,

Wow, what a BIG day!

This morning, respiratory therapy wanted to test you without having to give you breaths (Respiration Rate). You did really well, although you still had some of your apeanic episodes (Your Mom and I sort of expected a whole lot wouldn't change if they took you off of the respiration they were giving you).

Then this afternoon, you were switched over to CPAP (Continuous positive airway pressure).  So, your Mom and I were wrong about what you were on before..we thought it was CPAP but in reality it was Nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (or NIPPV). In laymans terms, NIPPV gives your breaths, where CPAP does not. Got it? Good. 

This, in itself, is a HUGE milestone buddy. 

You are no longer having the machine doing any of the "breathing" for you. You are receiving some pressure though, to help keep your lungs inflated in the event of apnea. Regardless, I think it's awesome. Another note; you haven't had your chin strap on since 11 p.m. last night (And now that you are off of the NIPPV, I don't think you should be needing it anymore). 

The other BIG news from today:

RSV is GONE!

You were tested for RSV today, and the culture came back negative! You are no longer "quarantined" (The nurses has to gown up every time they came into your room). 

Another thing we are monitoring now is your head shape. Because you spend a lot of time on your tummy, your head is on one side or the other. Because of this, premies can develop what the nurses call "Toaster head". The goal is to try avoid this, by putting you on your back and today you spent a lot of time on your back. 

When I was there tonight, I caught you on video being wided eyed and bushy tailed. Check it out: 

Discussing with your nurse tonight, she said to expect a lot of big changes/strides in the coming weeks. I really hope she's right bud. 

Love, 
Mom and Dad

A Conference of Caring

Dear Samuel,

Not much change again today.

We had your first ever Care Conference today with your doctor. Here is the Reader's Digest version:

• You are doing awesome for being so little and having RSV. 
• Only about two things that the staff is paying attention to (Well not really, but two BIG things):
• Weight - You need to get bigger!! The goal is about 20 to 30 grams a day. The bigger you get, the more we can turn down the humidity and temperature in your isolette and put clothes on you finally! This way you can show us how well you can regulate your own body temperature, meaning you can be switched over to a crib; meaning we can hold you whenever we want when we are in the NICU
• Respiration - The goal is to wean you off of your vent that gives you respirations (There's a highly technical term for this that is escaping me right now) and eventually move you to a different contraption that would give you JUST O2. After that, we want to wean you off of the oxygen and have you do this whole breathing thing on your own. Once that happens in conjunction with your weight we can get you in a crib and ultimately take you home (There's obviously a lot more to it than that before we can take you home, but I said it's the Reader's Digest version). 

Your O2 settings were down again today! This was the first time since you were born that you were in the 20%'s....You were set as low as 27% today, and were sitting around 30% for most of the day/night. We are moving in the right direction, pal. 

As of this post, your weigh-in hasn't happened. Hoping we will be pleasantly surprised tomorrow and can have your 2 pound party. 

I'm sure I may have forgotten something from the care conference, but your Mom will remind me and I can edit the post. That's why we keep her around, she lets us know when we forget to do something ;) 

Love,

Mom and Dad

P.S. - Seems you are becoming quite the escape artist lately. Today's picture shows how momma found you when she came to see you today. You are doing really well without the chin strap when you are on your tummy and sides, but when you are on your back you tend to let your mother hang open. As they keep weaning down the pressure on your cpap you should be able to wear your strap less and less.