| The NICU Experience | Aaron update 9 |
| Subject: Aaron update 9 Date: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 12:07 PM From: Kevin Quick To: Aaron Update List I just got off the phone with Aaron’s nurse, and thought I’d do an update while the thoughts are fresh. Today is Aaron’s two-week birthday! Again, all good days! They took Aaron off of the standard CPAP machine (seen in the attached photo), and put him on “mask CPAP”, which is like the standard CPAP, but uses a mask that covers his face, rather than two prongs going into his nose. The mask shouldn’t mash his nose like the other contraption did; the down side is that we won’t be able to see his face as well as we have been. He’s been on CPAP now for 2 days, and his blood gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide) are good, so they’re keeping him on CPAP. His oxygen level is at 35%, which is good. Ambient air is at 21% oxygen, so in the long term, we’ll want to get him down to 21%. But for now, 35% is good. He has had no “A’s or B’s” today (apneas or bradychardias; not sure if I spelled bradychardias correctly...Mom?). Apnea is a cessation of breathing, and bradychardia is a cessation of hearbeat [Later note: see the correction in update 11: bradychardia is a SLOWING of the heartbeat, not a cessation of the heartbeat]. These happen very commonly with preemies, especially when they’re asked to breathe on their own, as Aaron is. They can usually be snapped out of them with a little bodily stimulation (touching his body, etc.). Alarms will go off, and the nurses will race over to stimulate him to get him going. According to the nurse yesterday, this is a routine thing that happens, often several times a day, and they don’t worry about it too much. I guess Aaron is giving them even less to worry about, since he hasn’t had any of these today. All his vitals continue to be good. His blood sugar is good, so he’s not on insulin right now (he had been on it a few days ago; sorry, I forgot to mention that). Aaron’s body weight is up to 714 grams; his birth weight was 695 grams. He’s growing!! Kathleen ventured off to the MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) meeting at church this morning. She was a little hesitant about going, not knowing if she could handle it emotionally, but we think the support of the other mothers will be an encouragement to her. She brought some printed pictures of Aaron with her. [Kathleen just called. She said she shed (good tongue twister) a few tears at the meeting, and that the MOPS moms were there to comfort her; she was glad she went.] Thank you all again for your continued love and prayers. Kevin, Kathleen & Aaron |
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