Breathing Update

Well things have been better for the boys. Most definitely they have been much, much worse, but of course whenever things start to be going well and we think "this is finally it" they take a nose dive.

Both boys have been trying low flow prongs off and on. Nolan, after his third attempt, is back on CPAP yet again. This last time I was quite disappointed because we thought he was ready. And to make it worse, each of the three times they've tried he's lasted less time than the attempt before. However, the doctor has decided he should have the weekend off to rest up and they won't try him again until at least Monday (phew!). Since his return to CPAP yesterday he has been much more stable so we are thankful for that.

Asher is struggling, but still hanging on to the prongs. They changed his from low flow to high flow, which means he is getting more pressure but hasn't had to resort to CPAP just yet. At the rate he is going with all his apneas and bradys, he is surely heading there though.

The doctors believe that because they are 36 weeks they should be ready for to breathe on their own. Yes, apparently they should but they are not. Then throw in the fact that things all started going south on the day they got their immunizations, and that must count for some less than ideal behaviour.

To add to Asher's troubles, he's now jaundiced and a lovely shade of yellowy-beige. I noticed for the first time when I held them together, but now that they are in a crib together it is very obvious that Nolan is a much healthier pink. At first I thought it was just because Asher is so much smaller and as such a bit sicklier looking but when I mentioned it to the doctor he decided to test his liver function just in case. Sure enough, high bilirubin. Thankfully this is not something Asher feels or notices, so they'll keep a close eye on it and are proceeding on the assumption it will work itself out. I did read today however, that high bilirubin is common in babies with severe bleeds when they are breaking the blood down. So maybe we should look at it like a good thing that his body is finally processing the extra blood from his brain.

Finally, and probably most bothersome to Asher, is his issue with water retention. He has always been slightly puffy but now in the past couple of days he's started to hold a lot of water in his....well, to put it politely....nether regions. Sorry if this is too much information, but the whole area is swollen. Who knew a penis (amongst other anatomy) could retain water? Not a sight I ever wanted to see.  Anyway, they've decided to give him a diuretic, hoping this will help, but of course the downfall to that is that he's going to lose weight and he's already tiny enough as it is (4 lbs 7 vs. hulky Nolan at 5lbs!)

So all of these "little" things are surely adding up and causing Asher much distress. If he ends up back on CPAP I'm sure it's all for good reason but this constant back and forth is so disheartening to all of us.
Hopefully they both get over this hurdle quickly and then it's back to positive breathing results and continued attempts at feeding. All 5 of us are getting very tired...