Second Update for 11/25/2008

Well we got back late from the NICU visit since I had talked to the nurses and they felt Zachary was good for Kangaroo care today. I had Andy come pick me up instead of going straight there after work.

Well it took the poor nurse 10+ mins to unhook/move all his wires/tubes etc so I felt kinda bad about that. Once she got him on my chest his stats all normalized and he seemed as happy as he could be. His stats were all over the place when we arrived as he was awake and just moving a lot. So I was happy to see that while holding him the Kangaroo Care seemed to be doing well.

After about 30 mins the nurse said she needed to feed him and check his ventilator tube becuase the monitor was showing some leaking. Same thing happened a few Sundays back and his tube extubated and had to be reput in (a rather traumatic experience). Well sure enough as soon as she got him back in the incubator his tube had come out. Zach had a lot of bubbles, saliva etc coming up when I was holding him but his O2 saturation etc was good so I didn't think much of it. Apparently, when they start having a lot of saliva, bubbles etc come up that usually means the tube is starting to come out (the bubbles push it out of the lungs).

So in a rush the on-call doctor/nurse practitioner etc came in and re-intubated him while one of them was using the bag/mask to give him air. After they got the new tube in and all situated he looked drained and tired (as one would expect). Then after about 5 mins he was wide awake and just doing all kinds of normal looking around, hand moving, tongue sticking out, leg kicking etc. He was staring a lot at his ventilator tubing and going crosseyed trying to look at it as it was right above his face, that was kind of funny. I had him track my finger in front of his face to see if he was really able to see the objects or was just looking blinding into the area. Sure enough he'd follow my finger when I placed that close enough to his face. I'm sure that's a good sign.

So although he extubated his vent tube .. again o.O and the Kangaroo care holding got cut short he seems to be doing fine. Even after scaring the doctors a bit tonight. They get really antsy when the tubes come out and they have to do some emergency procedures to get a new one in. I waited a while until they did the x-ray to make sure the tubes were in the right spots and they were. After they started the feedings and put him on his stomach (his preferred position) he started going to sleep that's when we left. I just didn't want to leave until we knew everything was good with him and he was settled for the night.

For those unaware with what Kangaroo care is and the benefits here's a link:
Wiki Kangaro Care Definition

Although I wouldn't say moving Zachary was the greatest idea today there was no way to know that his tube was nearly about to extubate. The nurses won't let or suggest Kangaroo care unless they really think the baby is doing well and ready. Better we find out about the tube when everyone is watching him than it to happen and the nurse be busy doing something else and not realizing it right away. So in a way perhaps it was a good thing to catch it when we did. Also, the skin-to-skin contact benefits for Zach far outweigh the risks I only wish we could have started it sooner as close contact helps premies so much!

S