May 1: Omar Eric was born at 4:18am 7lbs 10oz and 19 3/4" long. He's Angel's son (Edwin's brother). He was born on my birthday!!!
May 2: Christian is at a rate of ZERO on vent (which means he's doing it all on his own, but he's still on the vent and getting pressurized o2). He's upto 1 1/2 cc every hour of formula. Today is a really good day! He's upto 4lbs 8.5oz!!!
May 3: Well, Christian did as good as he could, but he got tired, so he's upto 18 BPM on the vent. He's upto 2cc every hour of formula. He's at 4lbs 9.5oz.
May 4: Christian is upto 3.5cc every hour of formula.
May 5: Christian is upto 5cc every hour of formula. 4lb 10oz.
May 6: We will discuss steroids with the doc tomorrow. We're looking into the side effects before we decide. .Christian is upto 5cc/hr and 4lb 10. He pooped on his own! Yeah!
May 7: Edwin and I decided to do steroids. Christian is upto 4lbs 12 oz.
May 8: Christian made it to 5lbs!! He's on the oscillator b/c his left lung is partially collapsed. They also had to stop feeds because of a possible infection. If he needs steroids, he'll get 4-5 days of them. Christian has Reflux. He has silent reflux, which means that it comes up his throat, just not out.
May 9: I didn't get to hold Christian for my first Mother's Day. It was very sad for me. He's on that dang oscillator. Christian is upto 5lb 9oz. He has an infection in his PICC line. This means the line must come out.
May 10: They won't give him steroids until the infection clears up. He's now on Pregestimil 1cc an hour. His weight is downto 5lb 5oz and he's 17 1/2" long.
May 11: Christian is upto 2cc/hr Pregestimil!
May 12: Christian is back to the regular vent! He had a really big poop and is so far negative to infections!! What a relief!! He's a 30 bpm on the vent, upto 3cc an hour of Pregestimil and is 5lb 2.5oz!
May 13: Christian is upto 5lb 6.5oz, down to 20 BPM on vent (from 30 BPM). He's upto 5cc every hour of Progestimil. Once he can get upto 16cc an hour, he won't need his TPN (nutrients) or Lipids (Fats). I watched the Car Seat Safety Video today (have to watch that for discharging) and I held Christian for about 3 hours. They are talking that Christian might not need steroids to come off the vent. They have started to talk about the ROP laser eye surgery. EEK! This would be Christian's second.
May 14: They extubated Christian today. He's on CPAP now (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure). He's at about 25-30% o2. He's upto 7cc an hour of formula. The doctors are thinking that his homecoming may be only 2-3 weeks away! Yeah!
May 15: Christian is on nasal cannula (just o2). He was only on CPAP for 25 hours (which is incredibly fast to come off it). He's upto 9cc of formula. He weights in at 5lb 8.5oz!!
May 16: Christian is upto 5lb 11.5oz. He's upto 11cc of formula. They are thinking of putting Christian on CPAP because he's struggling some being off the vent. Christian took his first bottle today: 8cc! Yeah! He didn't even desat when he took the bottle! He's upto 5lb 6oz!
May 17: Christian is 17 3/4" long and 5lb 6oz. He's upto 13cc of formula. He is off TPN! He's also off Lipids! Yeah! Christian's doctor talked to me today about his bones. Because he hasn't been getting much calcium, his bones are very brittle. Like glass. She even was saying if he breaks a bone, "they" will come after the parents yelling child abuse! EEEKKK!!! She said that "IF" that ever happens, we are to tell "them" about his history and have them contact the NICU and the NICU can vouch for us. Scary that it would come to that, huh?
May 18: They had to put Christian back on CPAP, then, not long after that, he had to go back on the vent. He wasn't doing too good. His vent settings are 20 BPM. But, he is in an open crib, which is great! That pretty much means he can hold his own temperature!! Yeah! Christian is upto 15cc/hr of Pregestimil. His current weight is 5lb 9oz.
May 19: Christian is on antibiotics. He had a fever of 102 and he is doing a lot of coughing and a little vomiting. They had to stop his feeds for the moment, to give him a break and to see what is going on.
May 20: Christian is upto 5lb 11oz, despite being sick. He will be having a bronchioscopy on 5-21 to check out his lungs. We will also be taking the CPR class that day. That is something that we must do to get our lil guy home!
May 21: They determined that the vent tube is going more into the right lung, and the left lung isn't getting as much oxygen into his left lung. So, they brought the tube out some, so that it's getting into both lungs. They also tightened the tube around the neobar (it's the piece of plastic that holds the tube onto his face) so that it doesn't have as much "play". They are also talking about doing a spinal tap to see if they can find out what is "going on". They restarted Christian's feeds. He's upto 2cc an hour and is 5lb 12.5oz.
May 22: Christian is upto 5lb 13.5oz. He had his first sponge bath and he loves listening to music. He had an X-Ray today and it was majorly improved over his last X-Ray.
May 24: Christian is down to 8 BPM on vent and is at 21% o2 (room level or what you and I breathe). He's upto 5cc an hour of formula at 24 calories. Later that day, they tried to change the tape around the Neobar and Christian spit up into the vent tube, so they decided to let him have another go at CPAP. They also started Christian on steroids. It will only be 3-5 day dose. He's upto 6lb.
May 25: Christian is 5lb 11oz and 18 1/8" long.
May 26: Today, for the first time, I was able to take Christian out of his bed. Generally the nurses do it and they hand Christian to me. But today, I was able to do it. Christian also has eye surgery scheduled for 5-27. It is to correct his ROP, Retinopothy of Prematurity. They will have to do the right eye, and maybe the left. It will depend on the damage they see once they are in there.
May 27: Christian's eye surgery went well. They ended up fixing both eyes. He had to go back on the vent for the procedure, but he came off it immediately after surgery. But, the best part was that I was able to do Kangaroo Care with Christian (that is skin-to-skin contact). It was the best feeling that I've ever had. Just to know that I can hold him, like a "real baby". It was amazing! The docs had to dialate both eyes, so I had to put Christian back. Edwin and I were very scared that Christian would get "lazy" and wouldn't come off the vent, but he did! We are sooo happy about that!
May 28: Christian is upto 5lbs 14.5oz.
May 29: Christian is back onto nasal cannula. He was the one who decided this because his CPAP prongs were in his eyes, on his forehead, on his cheek, everywhere but in his nose. He's at 2L at 27% oxygen. He's upto 6lb 4.5oz. He's at 3cc an hour of formula!
May 30: Christian is down to 6lbs 1/2 oz.
May 31: Christian is upto 7cc an hour and he's 6lb 4.8oz and 18 1/2". He's upto 8c an hour of formula. They had to "bag" Christian today because he wasn't breathing. Lil stinker!