July 24, 2007

Tuesday.

Our Miracle Baby keeps on trucking! They delayed his CPAP weaning, but it happened. Michael's CPAP was turned off this morning, and his blood gasses are better than ever. He has a humidifier placed over his trach, so the pictures won't look much different, but it sure is a big difference to Michael! The humidifier is like a loose cap on the trach (it really doesn't touch it at all). The ventilator/CPAP was a plug in to the trach which restricted Michael's head movement. Now, he can turn his head however he wants. The only drawback is the cap is pretty big -- not designed with a baby in mind. It gets pushed up against his mouth a bit (and he'll gnaw on it) and it interferes with the super-important pacifier sometimes. But hey, that is a small price to pay.

The sedative/pain killer is now gone too, as is Michael's arterial line. This leaves only the line in his leg, which could be coming out tomorrow, per Dr. K____. This will mean that Michael has no tubes left in him when the leg line comes out -- leaving only the humidifier and the monitoring lines.

And, on the Michael comfort-o-meter, they found a crib! He has a nice big comfy bed now. He can wear some clothes (button down all the way from collar to ankle), and he can have some of his very own blankets from home, too. Cribs mean a lot more flexibility and comfort. They are even looking for more crib hangings and toys for him. (The more distractions for him, the better for the nurses!)

Mom and Dad both had a nice long bit of "holding time". All around, it was a great, great day.