Louis and Mom Kangaroo Time

First, thank you Auntie G and Mike for the cross. It really means a lot to us. This cross belonged to Louis' great uncle, George Nassif Corey, who passed away in February. It is good to have friends in high places.

Today was mostly great- just a small setback but we'll talk abut that later. First, the good stuff!

Louis did great in the oxygen tent overnight and his repeat chest x-ray this morning looked wonderful (while his pneumothorax had resolved several days ago, he still had some residual air in his right lung called interstitial emphysema and that has completely resolved-yeah!). He did great on his feedings overnight so his volume was increased this morning. Since he is taking in more fluids, his IV fluid rate was decreased as well. Oh, yeah, he pooped again! Daddy got to change him that time..... His blood pressure has been stable for three days so they removed his arterial line from his foot-now he can kick freely with BOTH feet! The best news was that he was allowed some "kangaroo time" with mom and dad-this is skin to skin contact between baby and parent. Louis fell right to sleep on Mommy and did great out of the oxygen tent on some blow-by oxygen only. He is starting to accept a small pacifier but much prefers to suck on mommy's pinky finger for comfort. Sucking while he has his tube feedings helps him digest better and to connect sucking with feeling full.

So, after kangaroo time, the elated parents went off to dinner. When we came back, Louis had just been fed and was a bit fussy. We thought he might be refluxing and having some belly pain. He started breathing heavily and the doctor thought it was best to put him back on the CPAP machine. Once he was back on the CPAP machine, he calmed right down and went back to breathing normally. The doctors said this happens alot after they have been on just the oxygen tent and sometimes they get tired and need a bit of help to keep their airways open. He will stay on the CPAP for a few hours to overnight and then we'll try him off it again. He may need to go back on CPAP for a few hours each day so he doesn't wear out. His blood gases and another chest x-ray were fine so we aren't too worried about another pneumothorax . It was just a little scary after he had done so wonderfully all day. Louis just likes to keep us on our toes!

The only other slightly not good news was that they found a grade 1 interventricular hemmorhage in his brain on his routine head ultrasound. Preemie babies who have been on ventilators are prone to this because the vessels around the ventricles in the brain are very fragile. This mild IVH should cause no problems and is not symptomatic so we'll just monitor it with weekly ultrasounds. So, it was still a pretty good day and now mom and dad are off to bed too!