High Flow Now!!

Gibson handled the C-Pap great!! They slowly came down on his pressure settings throughout the night and he tolerated it perfectly. His oxygen sats were maintained at an acceptable level and he slept comfortably. He’s still on morphine and versed drips for his pain and anxiety so he’s not doing it all on his own, but he didn’t need as many extra boluses of meds as he needed throughout the day yesterday. So that’s good! He sucked on his binki a couple times and on his nurse’s finger too. It took awhile for him to actually suck and not push it out with his tongue, but he did it! We’ll continue to practice with him and try to teach him that there are actually good things in life that can go in his mouth! J

When we got here this morning they told us he was going to go on a high-flow nasal canula!!! We couldn’t have been more excited and so happy! We’re so proud of him. High-flow is a continuous flow of oxygen that is strong enough to get to his lungs but not the added pressure to keep them expanded. He also is still able to receive Nitric Oxide with the oxygen to help with his lung high blood pressure. It’s a medication he has been on since Day 1 and it will be the last med he’s on before he’s discharged. When they took off the c-pap and started the high flow he woke up for a few seconds and went right back to sleep. It was a MUCH easier transition than what he went through yesterday.  From here we’ll just sit tight on the high-flow and they won’t wean the oxygen or do any trials on lower settings. He will have to come off the Nitric Oxide first and he needs that high flow of oxygen to carry the medicine directly down into his lungs. He’s a happy boy without the tube and his c-pap get up!

Gibson’s voice is harsh and raspy and quiet, but he’s starting to coo more and kind of sigh when he’s sleeping. He’s definitely liking being able to make sounds just like a normal baby and surprises himself when he pushes out a louder squeal. He’s so cute and it’s so fun to watch him move forward toward “normalcy.”  He will probably graduate to an actual crib instead of an open warmer sometime over the weekend or next week. He can definitely maintain his own body temperature. He’s a big, sweaty baby. They like to keep the sicker babies in an open bed so they can watch and monitor them more closely.  Now that he is getting healthier he’s getting swaddled and is for sure warm enough so moving forward like the other big kids is great! He can’t wait!

We were told today we will be here for at least 12 more weeks. It depends if there are any more set-backs and how he tolerates feedings and his progression with that. The Nitric Oxide is the last med for them to wean and they do it extremely slowly. He was a very sick baby when he was born and we definitely all want to send him home healthy. We’re not anticipating ever coming back to the unit other than to say hi and visit our hospital family of nurses and doctors. We love the staff here and how well they take care of our little man. They love him too and we can always tell. There are always so many people coming in and out of his room to check on him and to say hi. He’s so loved!!