So lately Samuel has been protesting the CPAP rather vehemently. As in any time we had to readjust something on it he would start crying a little and we had to readjust things often! Why? Because Samuel wouldn't keep his hands off it! He would constantly be grabbing the head gear, undoing the straps, pulling on the mask or prongs (I don't know how many times over the weekend and on Monday we would find the prongs were in his mouth and not his nose, not helpful at all in his mouth!). So we were constantly going into his isolette to get the CPAP functioning again!
Well, to doctors and nurses had been talking about moving him off of the CPAP and onto something called Vapotherm. Vapotherm is not as high level of oxygen intervention as CPAP, which means they only move babies off of CPAP and onto Vapotherm if it seems like they will be able to handle it. Considering he's had a lot few A/B spells and when he does he brings his own heart rate and oxygen back up with no help, they decided to give it a go.
Overall he's been doing fine on it. He has been having more A/B spells again, but most of the time he gets himself out still. He has needed some extra stimulation a few times. They are going to keep monitoring this and if they feel he needs stimulation too much, Sam's beloved CPAP will be coming back. So please pray that his "device of torture" does not have to be replaced! I call it that because that's what he acts like it is... A device of torture...
This morning they took an X-Ray to make sure that the Vapotherm is keeping his lungs expanded just right. Well, it turns out they are slightly under expanded, but the doctor didn't seem too concerned about this. He wants to keep monitoring his spells and if things are work, back comes the torturous CPAP.
Kangaroo time was a little different yesterday. He kept lifting his head and moving it down my breast... We are thinking he smelled the milk, if that is the case, way to make that association! The other thing that made it interesting is we forgot to put the call button by me... The nurse and I both forgot. So I am sitting there kangarooing and by the point we'd been cuddling for about an hour and a half, I started thinking that I need to pump soon, I'm hungry and soon I'll need to make a run for the restroom...
So I texted my husband to ask him how he thought I should get out of this situation. His ideas were look for the call button and see if I could reach it and/or try to call out verbally and see if they hear me. Well, I had been looking for the call button, but I finally found it after he texted me back. Unfortunately it was on the floor and the cord was most definitely out of my reach. So I tried to say our nurses name out loud to see if she'd hear, the only problem is I didn't want to actually yell, as Sam's ears are still sensitive... No luck there....
So I texted Ben to call the NICU and tell them I'm ready to put Sam back. Which he did. My next step, if he was unwilling to call for me, was to unplug a cord. I was already quietly debating which cord I could unplug briefly to get the nurses attention, but not cause too much trouble. When our nurse came in she was extremely apologetic. I didn't blame her, because I could have easily said something too. With these little guys there is so much to be thinking about, that at times something like the call button slips your mind. The important thing was that I had other resources at my fingertips, so if there was a real problem, I could have gotten help. Our nurse yesterday was very good and I think she did a great job with Sam. So instead of getting angry about the one slip up, we laughed about it. :-)
Some notes to leave you with:
- Sam is a strong little boy! When on his belly he sometimes tries to lift up his body, I like to think he's practicing his push-ups. He can also lift his head for short periods of time. Not sure when most babies start lifting their heads, but he's ahead of the game I think!
- Sam does not like people messing with him and definitely does not like diaper changes! He hasn't realized that bending and stretching his legs CAN help it go faster, but not when he's doing the opposite of what is needed right then... When wiping his butt, stretching the legs is much more helpful than bending them! I've had to wipe off his little feet because of that....
- Sam knows when it's time to eat and will let you know that he knows. He's got a schedule and by golly, he wants to keep to it! Time to eat, give him food! Time to change position, move him before he gets completely tangled and himself completely out of alignment!
- Sam detests his food line while goes through his mouth down to his stomach. I wish our little boy would realize that pulling it out, just means he has to go through that awful process of having it shoved back down his throat again... He can sure get upset when it is put back in!
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