Last Saturday the amazement at the fact that we really have a son had not worn off yet. Really the whole weekend is sort of a blur at this point, between the baby arriving so ridiculously early and all the visitors we had at the hospital, I don't know that I know for sure any more what all happened on Saturday, but I'll tell you what I do know and remember!
I got really great sleep that night, I remember waking up feeling quite energized--a feeling that I hadn't really had in so long (I would say about 4.5-5 months) that I was on top of the world when I woke up! I was just hoping that Samuel felt just about as on top of the world as I did...
That morning they took him off of the ventilator and put him on a CPAP. Yup, CPAP is what adults get put on to help them with sleep apnea. Which apnea is something that Sam has being born so young. Apnea basically is when you stop breathing for a little while. When a baby is in the womb all they can do is sort of take practice breaths of amniotic fluid, but they can't actually breathe. They do that when they are first born. Sam being born so young has not quite mastered breathing all the time. He seems to know he needs to breathe, but sometimes he'll stop breathing. We have monitors in the room that show him where his oxygen is. Normally he is able to bring it back up on his own with no problem.
Now the CPAP he is on is called a Bubble CPAP. It attaches to his nose with a special hat and either prongs or a mask. Since it is a bubble one, we get to hear bubbling noises in his room all the time. If it stops bubbling that means something isn't set right, which can happen simply from Sam opening his mouth. It can also happen that he moved or he pulled on the prongs or mask causing them not to seal properly. What the CPAP basically does for him is it keeps his air ways open so that he can breathe easier. This way it isn't as hard for him to get breaths. Eventually they will take it off of him when his lungs have matured enough and he is able to get the oxygen he needs without much help.
The other big thing that happened Saturday was he was put under bili lights for his jaundice. So that mean that a special light was set above his little incubator and they shined it on his body because that is where they could reach the most skin. Since the idea is that he is exposed to as much of the light as possible they weren't able to wrap him in very much. This meant Sam was free to show off all the kicks and punches he was doing to me the whole time in my womb! I knew he liked to move around a lot and seeing him out just proved it all the more!
During the day we received word that my brother, Daniel, was planning on coming out. He arrived pretty late and did not get to see Sam that first day. I was still staying at the hospital because their guidelines were 2 whole days after a vaginal birth, which meant I got to get discharged on Sunday.
With all the family and drop ins from other people it was a busy day! We were just thankful at the end of the day Samuel seemed to be doing well.
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