8/13/06: Day 30 (Sun.) Off the CPAP!*

O.k....what is missing in this picture?! The CPAP! Our little guy has now progressed onto the nasal cannula! We have yet to get a good view of this kid without something on his face, but it's getting better.

We took a handful of videos since we were trying to get a good shot of Evan with his eyes open. He's still elusive, but we did get a few shots. The side of the NICU he is on always seems to have lights on and he's really sensitive to lights. We were joking about bringing him in little sunglasses. When he is laying in his crib, they do put that hood-thing over his head that helps to shield his eyes.

Medically, he is doing great with the cannula. His O2 and respiration levels are perfect. As his breathing continues to improve, they will decrease the amount of oxygen coming through the cannula to the point where he won't need it anymore. They have reduced his respiratory therapy sessions to every 6 hours instead of every 4 hours. He still gets a treatment of albuterol and now that he is off the CPAP, he gets it just through a nebulizer instead of a mask. He barely fusses now when they tap on his back to loosen all the crud. His nurse hasn't had to suction him as much as they had to in the past few days, so that's more signs of him healing.

In a post many days ago, I had mentioned about he had an abnormal result on a genetic screen. The resident doctor told me today they retested him and he came back with results in the normal range. So, the initial test was a fluke due to the blood transfusion right before they tested him. The doctor also told us he did have a bowel movement last night. Not exciting news for you all to read, but it's a sign his digestive tract is starting to work. They have also increased his feeds since he has been tolerating the milk.

We both held Evan for a while today during our visit and he didn't fuss much at all. Enjoy the vids.

Yeah! Evan without the CPAP!




In this video Evan got his dinner:



In this video, Evan gave us a little cough:



In this video, you can see him open his eyes a bit:



Evan was trying to sleep in this vid. The voice you hear in the backgroud is the nurse who takes care of a baby across the way. Her voice starts to grate on your nerves after a while. I think you can hear her in every video.



He opens his eyes a little again in this video.



In this video Evan has mastered the art of brow-furrowing. It usually proceeds a spell where he will turn himself bright red and try to give out a cry. He was pretty mellow this time around.



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UMC Charges: $5,603.95
Running Total: $270,400.39
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