Owen Breathing on His Own

Owen Resting Without Breathing Tube

Relaxing with a Guinness as I write this and am quite contented.  Some folks at work have commented that I seem calm and rested through this process.  I'm not sure if that's necessarily true, but I do what I can.  You have to take care of yourself as well, during this time.  The really interesting moments where sleep will become a precious commodity haven't started yet.  But there are simple things I do.  I make sure I exercise still, do a little stretching (which is a more macho way of saying that I'm really doing Yoga) and even more simply, I decide when I go to bed every night that I'm going to wake up refreshed and have a good day.

Yesterday, June 9th was a good day.  The nurses removed Owen's breathing tube (extubated him) and, with his brother and sister, reached this encouraging milestone where they are breathing largely on their own.  He's been doing great in the day and a half since.  He's got a good set of lungs on him and has been doing a bit of crying on and off.  Music to my ears.  I just have to keep reminding myself of that.  As new parents, we think every cry means the baby is in great distress and/or pain.  Of course, we logically know that's not true, but we want to be the one's to fix everything.  The little blue thing on his nose is a Psi-pap and as mentioned in my last post, that gives him a little help with about twenty to twenty-five breaths per minute.  All three still use the Psi-pap.

Bella is on room air (20-21% oxygen) through her Psi-pap, which is excellent progress,  She was very peaceful tonite except when they tried to put a new pickline in her arm.  The wife said she screamed bloody murder for that and I don't really blame her. 

The Chest PT – this thing is pretty cool.  Noah was getting it yesterday.  It looks like a tiny rubber mallet.  And the nurses will basically bounce it gently off the babie's chest and back around the upper and lower quandrants of each lung.  It breaks up secretions in there and recruits airation to the lungs.  I joke with the nurses that it's time for the babies' Swedish massages (a comment they've probably heard one million times before from other parents but I crack myself up anyway).  Between that and the sun lamps for their Bilirubin and the humidity and heat controlled (read Sauna) incubator they are in, and it's like they're in a day spa.

Bella is up to 6 cc's of breast milk at each feeding, so she is doing terrific.  The boys are not "eating" at this time.  Owen, for obvious reasons, after his surgery, and Noah, for precautionary reasons.  Noah's abnormality in his intestines from the weekend has subsided but as a normal course of action they keep him on antibiotics and off breast milk or formula for a week.

I've got a lengthy post to write about Noah and his Newborn screening but I am going to have to save that for another day.  I just want to say thank you to everyone for their thoughts and prayers.  We appreciate them all.

-Papa Charley