Oh There You Are

NICU 8

One eyed peeping

Day 12 - 15

Gestation 25 weeks

He was reventilated overnight. He lasted 3 hours on cpap alone and an extra 6 with the NIPPV, for a total of 9 hours.

The doctors are calling it a good first effort. First? of how many…

On the plus side, his oxygen requirements have come down into the forties (previously 60-80%). They have decided to add fortifier into his milk to help him gain weight. He will start at a half dose which unfortunately means some milk wastage and the early rich milk is precious.

He seems a lot more settled back on the ventilator, it’s all free, he isn’t working his muscles or lungs at all. We have our cuddles. 

He is stable overnight, up to 595grams and getting 9ml half fortifier feeds. We try to enjoy our first quiet day. 

Day 14

The ventilator settings are changed to PSV, which allows Kayden more control. It can recognise and support an independent breathe so he is working a little bit. It shows on the screen which breaths are his, blue is the machine and brown is him.

We get a nice long cuddle. We weight in at 597 grams, the gains are very slow. 

But we are grateful for these quiet days, three in a row now.

I heard him make the cutest little noise like a tiny gerbil. He can’t make much noise or cry with the ventilator down past his vocal cords. He knows when he is due a feed and starts to smack his lips or munch his hands. 

I got to see his face today. Crazy right! I didn’t even realise I wasn’t seeing it. The nurse was redoing the stickers on his cheeks for the ventilator. I saw more of his face and I thought oh there you are, like the scene from hook when the lost boy pulls Robin Williams face tighter. Oh, there you are!