This morning I disconnected Oliver from his oxygen tank around 5am. A couple of hours after that I removed the tender tabs and the cannula from his nose. He's been connected to oxygen for 10 weeks - through a ventilator, SiPAP, CPAP, vapotherm, and low flow oxygen via a cannula. In every instance he tried (or actually succeeded) to remove the device from his nose or throat. After lunch I dropped Nadia and Ian off at Sheri's house on the way to Oliver's appointment at the hospital. A nurse measured his length, head circumference, and weight. Would you believe he grew 1/2 inch over the past 5 days? LOL! I don't put ANY stock in length measurements of babies. He also supposedly lost one ounce in that time span BUT in reality the weighing conditions were very different. On Friday he was weighed with a wet diaper, a belt around his chest, probes, and a full belly. Today he was weighed with an empty belly and totally naked. He peed all over the exam table and scale. I understand why they weigh babies with a dry diaper in the NICU. Weighing a baby totally naked is a messy endeavor! When the NICU doctor and NICU nurse came into the exam room, the first thing they did was hook him up to a pulse oximeter. His initial saturation level was 100 and the lowest it went was 98! The doctor did a full exam - even more thorough than the pediatrician's 2 month exam on Friday.
I had been told earlier that once he went off the oxygen he'd still need to be on the apnea monitor for 2-3 more weeks. Nope! He is off the oxygen AND the monitor! WOOHOO! When I go to pick him up, I no longer need to pick up any other equipment! It will be so much easier to get him dressed and undressed. I also was anticipating a bit of a tongue lashing because I haven't used the apnea monitor as much as I was supposed to use it. They downloaded the data last week. Nothing was said about how often it was turned off. Whew. At the very end I asked if another x-ray would be done since the last one done in the NICU still showed his lungs as being "cloudy." He said that we could assume his lungs are fine now in light of his improved saturation levels without being on oxygen or the two medications he had been on up until 2 weeks ago. If I hadn't asked this question, the appointment could have been 100% positive, but unfortunately my question led him to make a comment about Oliver's weight gain being less than optimal. He said he wasn't going on a curve but totally flat from 9/2 to 10/17. I said that the Pediatrician has been very pleased at the last three appointments (the most recent being Friday). I guess I should have anticipated this feedback since they expect to see a weight gain of 1 ounce a day. If he had gained at that pace, he'd have gained 45 ounces since he was discharged, but in reality he's gained about 24 ounces. I will seek to be more diligent with keeping a hat on his head (haven't been working on that lately since he screams every time I put the hat on), and I'll weigh him a little more often in light of decreasing what I'm giving him by bottle. Mostly I am trying to remind myself that two different pediatricians have been VERY pleased with his weight gain at his last three appointments. I don't want to get worked up about his weight again. Today is right up there in my mind with 9/2 (day of discharge) because it's the day my baby became free of wires and tubes. WOOHOO! I tried to take some (cannula free) pictures, but he cried every time I got out the camera. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get some good pics! I gave him a bath and tried to get all the tape residue off his face.
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