back on oxygen – Keeping up with the Hoffmans

This morning I arrived at the hospital to find Emmett completely off oxygen! D and I had gone to a concert last night (our first night out together since E was born) and apparently the nurse had taken him off oxygen shortly after I left the hospital yesterday evening. He did great overnight and was doing fantastic when I got there, so I had high hopes this would finally work (even though we had taken him off oxygen once before, only to have to put him back about 12 hours later). Unfortunately, a few hours later (and after I had already posted to Facebook bragging he was off oxygen support), it was clear he was getting tired and desatting more than normal again, so they put him back on. He’s still only at 1/64 of a liter, which is virtually nothing, but apparently that “nothing” makes all the difference to him. My brain knows he’s making big strides and it’s only a matter of time before he’s off oxygen for good. But my heart hurts. I really got my hopes up this time.

He otherwise had a good day. That 1/64 of a liter is really so minimal, yet just what he needs right now, and he had a very boring afternoon with much fewer desats than average. D went back to the hospital after dinner tonight and said he’s been doing well this evening too. He gained an impressive 118 grams tonight, bringing him to 5 lbs 11 oz.

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Today was overall a pretty good day, although I did find out this morning when I called the hospital that they had to put the cannula back since E was having apneic episodes overnight. They said it’s normal to have to go back and forth a few times before it stays off for good, but it was still a bit of a bummer to hear. I slept in this morning, took care of some stuff around the house and then headed over to the hospital around noon. I’ve been here all day and will stay the night since T is still with the grandparents and D was going to a concert tonight. Tomorrow we’ll get T back. I’ve really missed him since I haven’t seen him since Thursday!

E is still having pretty frequent desats, but they’re quick and he pulls out of them on his own. He’s still bothered by the reflux, and consequently, so am I. It’s just so hard to listen to him grunt and cry and not be able to make it better, and the pain is causing him to hold his breath, which is contributing to his frequent desats. I may try modifying my diet to see if that helps. I read that cutting out dairy, acidic foods, spicy foods and reducing caffeine can help. Our kangaroo time got cut short today because he was so congested that they had to put him back in his crib and suctioned out about a million boogers that were a result of all the milk backing up into his nose. Poor kid. But at least now I can pick him up when he gets fussy, and being held upright seems to help with the reflux.

Emmett is continuing to grow at an impressive pace. He packed on 102 grams last night and an additional 76 tonight. He’s now 4 lbs 8 oz!

Tag: back on oxygen

NICU day 64

NICU day 52