8/5/06: Day 22 (Sat.) On the Conventional Respirator*

A very good day today! Another small hurdle has been cleared...Evan was taken off the oscillating (high frequency) respirator and is now on a conventional respirator! Fingers crossed he won't have to go back to the high frequency respirator!

Evan's primary nurse, Marianne, told us that Dr. Edde made the decision Saturday morning to switch him over. The doctor just had a feeling it would work, and she was right. When they switched him over, they had to manually give him oxygen (with that squeezy-bag-thing, for a lack of a better term)...but, Marianne said that he was breathing on his own during that time. Another good sign that his lungs are maturing. Now, the next step is to keep monitoring his CO2 levels and if they remain in the good zone for an extended period of time, then they can wean him completely off the respirator onto the nasal CPAP.

He was in a much calmer state today...Marianne has continued suctioning him more often which is helping (although Evan gets so mad in his face when she is doing it). She is also keeping him in a swaddled condition with a thin blanket. She said this is also helping him stay calmer and keeping his arms and legs from flailing around so much. They also say he is keeping his body temperature consistently at a very normal level, and that means he may be able to move into a crib soon. When that happens, it will be much easier for us to finally get to hold him.

Now that he is on the conventional respirator, the respiratory technician (RT) has to do "treatment" on him to help get all that gunk loose in his lungs. While we were there, one of the RTs, Roy, did a session on him. All he does is tap this cup-like thing on his back for a few minutes, then suction him. Evan didn't like it at all and it was evident in his face (he turned bright red and looked like he was trying to cry). It's all progress though!

Momma changed his diaper while dad watched...T still hasn't done a diaper change by himself yet. Hopefully that will change soon! He's still getting his feeds (3ml every three hours). So far, no adverse reaction to the breast milk. Now that they took out his arterial line a few days ago, they are taking all his blood gas test from his heel (which he doesn't like very much either). The burn on his right foot is still healing (it is classified as a third-degree burn, ouch). Hopefully it will be completely healed by the time he leaves the hospital. When Marianne was switching his Pulse Oximeter from his foot to his hand, Evan gave her a big fight...he refused to open up his hand...we were all shocked at how strong his little fingers were. She eventually got the monitor placed properly, but the kid's got grip!

Lots of good news today on Evan's 34-week mark (6 weeks away from being full-term)!



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UMC Charges: $8,171.05
Running Total: $215,331.89
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