Little Stinker

Nick decided this morning that he no longer wanted to be intubated. So, he pulled out his ET tube. This is pretty common for babies that have the tube. They took him off the vent and put him on a CPAP machine. Basically, a cpap has prongs that go in his nose and supply him with positive air pressure to make sure his lungs stay open. He will be taking all his breaths on his own, and the machine will make sure he gets enough oxygen. The vent helped him take his breaths, so this will be a big change for him.

If he doesn't handle this well, they will have to reintubate him. That really wouldn't surprise me if they had to, but I am really hoping they don't have to. The longer the vent is in, the higher the risk for chronic lung problems as he gets older. So, we would really like to see the vent come out and stay out.

I will do a few updates through out the day today and let you know how he is doing on the cpap.

UPDATE: So far so good. He has had a really good day today. I almost hate to say that outloud. He is still on cpap, as of 6pm this evening. That is really good. The probability is high that he will have to go back on the vent, but we are really hoping and praying that he doesn't.

I did get the full story of the extubation this morning. Apparently, the docs were rounding this morning. They were standing by Nick, actually rounding on him, when he pulled his vent out. I guess he just wanted his point to be perfectly clear that he no longer wanted to be on it. I think it is pretty funny that he did this in front of every doc. That's my boy.

While I was at the hospital today, I got to hear him whimper and coo a little today. Now that he doesn't have the tube down his throat, he can make a little noise. It was the best sound in the world! I know he was a little mad and upset when he was making the sounds, but it was still wonderful to hear. He was very quiet, probably a little hoarse from having the tube for two weeks, but I heard him. It was the sweetest sound, even if he was mad.

They went up on his feeds again today. They also started the 1/2 breast milk, 1/2 24 calorie formula. So we should see some good weight gain over the next few days, hopefully. They were able to stop the insulin today as well. His sugars have been good.

Tomorrow they will pull out his pic line. That is the line in the top of his head. They will be able to give him any fluids/medications through his feeding tube since his feeds have increased. So, as long as they pull that out, then he will have the small tube that goes down into his belly to feed him, and he will have the cpap, which just goes over his nose and pushes air into his airway.

He has been much more comfortable and less agitated than he was yesterday. I am so happy he has had such a good day today. When they said it would be a roller coaster, they weren't kidding. I am surprised to have such a good day, after such a bad one yesterday. He is fighting though, and that is all that matters right now.