Taking the good with the bad

Mommy and I had a long day yesterday. Some of it was great, but other parts were not so great.
I did really good for most of the day with keeping my O2 needs set at around 35%. I think that's pretty good seeing that normal people get about 21% from their surroundings. There are times when I need a little extra though because sometimes my little body gets tired.

Doctor Barden came to visit mommy and me. He said I was doing remarkably well for only being a week old. That's right....I had a birthday today! Doctor Barden talked to mommy about doing something called Kangeroo Care. This is where they have mommy sit in a special chair and then they lay me on top of her. My skin is supposed to be right next to her skin, and we sit like that until one of us either gets tired and restless or has to go to the bathroom. Doctor Barden explained that there are studies out that show that this kind of contact for preemie babies and their mothers seems to increase the babie's strength and vital statistics. Mommy was pretty excited that she would finally get to hold me, but was also worried because I'm so little and still have lots of hoses and cords stuck to me to help me live comfortably. The doctor assured her that they would not suggest Kangeroo Care if I did not seem ready for it.

Mommy agreed to try the Kangeroo Care and then Dr. Barden asked if he could take pictures while I was on mommy. He said he has to speak at a March of Dimes Convention in June and he would like to present me. Mommy told me later that since Dr. Barden wants to present me, that must mean I am doing really good. Mommy told Dr. Barden that he could present me, but that she would not allow me to travel to New York with the doctor for the convention. He said that I would still be too little to travel in June, which is why he only wanted pictures. I think mommy was just jealous because she's never been to New York. :)

Mommy's friend Gwen came to see us. She brought some kind of paperwork for mommy to fill out. They ate McDonalds while I had my milk. Gwen's sons colored me pictures and mommy said she would hang them on the wall for me. Gwen also brought me a birthday present and an Easter present. Mommy gave Gwen a stern talking to about why we need to NOT BRING more stuff into the room. Gwen laughed at mommy! Now I have more books for mommy to read to me!!!

Around 1:30pm I finally got to be held by mommy. While mommy held me the nurses changed my bed and the respiratory therapists changed all the tubing on my ventilator. Mommy said for being such a little guy I have lots of people working for me. Thank heavens I don't have to pay all those people! While mommy held me, she couldn't answer the phone and it seemed like everyone decided to call right at that time. Neither of use cared though, we just sat and held each other. My nurse was very happy because my O2 saturation stayed between 99 and 98% for the first two hours that mommy held me. The last half hour my saturation did start to decrease. Mommy thinks this was because her bottom was asleep, and we had both been in one position for way too long so we were antsy, but it's hard to move because we are afraid a hose will come lose.

Daddy got to watch for the last half hour of the Kangeroo Care. He had to work today, and he told mommy and me later that he really missed me during the day. I missed him too!

After I went back to bed I had a little bit of a difficult time getting comfortable and the nurse had to suction my mouth and lungs because my breathing wasn't very good. Once she got some spittle out of me I did much better. Daddy took mommy away from the hospital for dinner, but then they came back before eating because their friends Tammy and Jason came to see me. Jason was mommy and daddy's best man when they got married. Tammy is pregnant now too and she already has two little boys. Tammy said her boys were sad they weren't allowed to visit me, but those are the rules....no children in the NICU. Tammy took pictures of me and gave me some clothes for when I'm out of the hospital. Tammy said she knew she wasn't supposed to get me anything, but she figured we could take the clothes home instead of keeping them at the hospital. She also brought me a hand-made (by Tammy) blanket. I think it's knitted or chrocheted. Anyways, Tammy said she intentionally made it small, but mommy told her I would still get lost in it. We'll save that for when I get bigger too.

Last night mommy and I got kinda stressed out. The doctor on-call for the night came and talked to mommy. She said that I'm doing so well that if my ventilator tube would come loose or fall out for any reason, the doctors would try to see if I could keep my O2 stats up on my own. The doctor said it's a little too early to come off the ventilator, but they felt that I would be able to sustain myself for a good amount of time. Mommy asked not to take me off so quickly because she was worried that I would do well for a short time and then need the assistance again. Mommy was more worried that if they take the tube out, they would eventually need to put it back in and she doesn't like them sticking things down my throat more than once. Mommy says I'm too little to have to be constantly poked and prodded.....but I'm doing good so I don't mind.

Anyways, the doctor left and I was doing really good just resting. Mommy read me some books and it was getting past my bed time. My nurse Lisa turned my head so I wouldn't get a cramp and all of the sudden my ventilator stopped working. Lisa and the other nurses remained calm and called respiratory therapy to get up to my room. Mommy stood back and thought about having a heart attack, but when she saw that I was breathing really good, she tried to calm down. It took approximately 30 minutes to find out what the problem was and fix it. In the mean time I had three nurses making sure I was okay. My O2 never went below 90, but the nurses were ready to "bag me" if necessary. After the machine was fixed everybody felt much better and kept commenting on how well I did. What can I say, I'm a strong little man!!!!

I pretty much slept the rest of the night with a few feedings here and there. I'm getting 2CCs each feeding now and I'm digesting almost all of it so I'm doing much better. The doctors are happy because I'm having bowel movements more regular now too. They were worried because one of the first medicines they had to put me on some times causes bowel/intestine damage, but not for me!

Daddy called early this morning, while on his way to work, to check up on me. He talked to the nurse because mommy was sleeping. My last blood gases showed that I am doing really good so the doctor wants to decrease my ventilator settings again. The doctor was really impressed with how well I did when the ventilator broke. The nurses explained to mommy that part of the reason I did so well was because only part of the ventilator quit working. I get O2 from the ventilator and then I get pressure from the ventilator. The pressure is given to me to keep my lungs opened up and this is the part that quit working. I was still getting the O2 at times, but because they had to switch out parts of the machine, it had to be turned off completely. During that time I was breathing on my own! Mommy was very proud of me, but also very worried and scared. We're going to try and forget about that little event and just keep moving forward.

More updates later!:)