I was just the slightest bit worried when I walked into Tera's room this morning. Her bed oxygen was back up to its favorite place - 23%. Apparently, she had stayed on Room Air for most of the night, but after 24 de-sats in 8 hours, the nurse decided to bump her up a little bit to make her more comfortable, with instructions from the NP to wean her back down as soon as Tera would let her.
Anytime her oxygen needs increase, I get a little nervous. Even the slightest little bit makes me worry that she might be getting sick again. How can we have such a great day yesterday, then take a step (no matter how small) back the next. And that's when the light bulb came on. She's completely worn out. Yesterday, she breathed Room Air all day long, and she took 5 1/2 bottles. Not to mention the fact that I woke her up early from one of her naps to bother her with photography. Of course she's tired and doesn't want to do anything today.
The thought had occurred to me last night that maybe I worked her too hard. As usual, I was more interested to know how the work-out effected her weight gain. I never considered her breathing needs. My midnight call to the nurse last night settled my weight worries. Tera gained another ounce, up to 4 pounds 13 ounces (2196 grams). She took two bottles with this nurse in addition to the 3 1/2 that she took with me and her daytime nurse yesterday. When I arrived this morning, she had taken the 8:30 bottle with no trouble as well. We made plans to try another one at 11:30.
The Speech Therapist came in to check on us while she ate. Tera was asleep before I even put the bottle to her mouth. She sucked on and off for a few minutes, de-satting here and there, but I eventually decided that she was just too tired. The Speech Therapist said that I could try to unwrap her if I wanted to, but I decided that would just be forcing an exhausted baby to half-heartedly do something that she needs to practice doing when she's really wanting to. Instead, I held her while the rest of her milk went through her tube. She managed to drink 10cc through the bottle before passing out.
Just before her 2:30 meal, the Music Therapist came by to sing to Tera. I don't think I've mentioned them before, but about once a week (maybe once every two weeks?) a person comes by with a guitar. She records the baby's sats, then opens a door on the isolette and sings to her. After she finishes, she records the baby's sats again to see what effect the music therapy had. I've been in Tera's room during this therapy only three times, but everytime her sats improve. Today, she was actually high-satting when the Music Therapist came in. The nurse arrived soon after to get her bottle ready. When she saw how well Tera was doing, she lowered her bed oxygen back to Room Air! My new theory is that if I could hold Tera while a girl sits next to us with a guitar and sings, Tera would have been home weeks ago. It's amazing how she responds to these non-medicinal techniques.
Her 2:30 bottle went better and worse than the previous one. She was much more alert this time, even opening her mouth and rooting around for it. She took it into her mouth easily and practiced her suck-swallow-breathe very well, but she seemed to gag more than usual and her de-sats were more severe than usual. It took her extra time to come out of them, even with the blow-by, and her lips would turn a pale blue at times. At one point, while she was de-satting, the monitor couldn't read her sats (it showed a question mark instead of a number). This is one of those times when her lips were a little blue, so I held the blow-by right up to her. When the monitor picked back up again, it said that her oxygen saturation was 9! I was very proud of myself for not completely freaking out. A month ago I would have lost all control and started crying on the spot. But today, though I knew it was serious business, I could tell that she was breathing, so I tried to just hold my hand steady on the blow-by. She eventually brought everything back up, and all was right with the world again.
Tera had pulled her tube out just before we got her out of the bed to eat, and I noticed while she ate that it seemed to be slipping in and out of her nose more than usual. I asked the nurse later if that might have effected her eating (why she kept choking and de-satting), and she thought that it might. While preemies don't have a severe gag reflex like adults, I can't help but think that she can still feel it when it slips in and out of place. I know she was completely exhausted today, but I wonder if that tube was causing some of the problems. Of course, we can't pull it out completely while she takes a bottle. If she doesn't finish the bottle (as she has been doing today), and you try to put the tube in after she eats, it will most assuredly cause her to spit up everything she drank from the bottle. After several gags, some spit-up, and too many de-sats, I asked the nurse to give her the rest through her tube. In order to check the position of the tube and re-tape it so that it wouldn't slip out, we put Tera back in the bed to finish her meal.
Though she was fast asleep when we left her to finish her meal, she woke up soon after it was done. When I got up to check on her, I found two big grey/blue eyes staring at me. She wasn't as active as she typically is when she's awake, but she was definitely alert, looking around curiously.
She did eventually fall asleep and showed signs (de-sats) of wanting to be on her belly. I think I've got another good sleeper to take home. Canon was the best sleeper I could ever have hoped for. His baby sister seems to be following in those footsteps.
I left the hospital then to go have dinner with a few of my pledge sisters: Whitney, Melanie, Jamie, Katie, and Katie's twin sister, Liza. We ate at a French restaurant - Chez Fon Fon - in 5-Points. I, not surprisingly, cleaned my plate. It was delicious! We talked about all kinds of things besides just the normal "catching up" conversations. It was fun to be slightly unattached for just a couple of hours, but real life is always waiting when dinner is over. It's a sweet dessert!
What About Barry and Canon
MyGoo reported that Canon slept until 9:30 this morning - lucky dog! They had an eventful morning, playing outside and doing other normal kid stuff. When MyGoo and Doc went to a church service tonight, Ann Steiner and Ceil came over to entertain Canon. She sent me this video of them coloring together. Neither of us could believe how quiet they both were.
Barry was making plans to put Weed and Feed in the yard when we talked this afternoon. I'm sure he's making plans to get the house perfect for my visit this weekend! I can't wait to be home, even just for a night.
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