Ventilators and PICC lines.

Today was Jack first official day off of the photo therapy lights. All of his organs are processing things and, for now, jaundice is not an issue. We showed up and he had a blanket over the top of the incubator to keep it nice and dark for nap time. Originally the thought was to keep Jack on a very low ventilator setting. But the doctor and respirtory assistant decided that since the setting were so very low they would remove it entirely. He has now been place on a NcPAP system that keeps positive pressure in his lungs (to keep them inflated) but he is breathing on his own. He has a tiny head gear that keeps a mask in place over his nose. It looks like he is training to be a fighter pilot.

We also learned that he is taking caffiene to stimulate his breathing. Preterm babies will more than likely have apnea, because the brain is so immature it forgets to tell the lungs to breathe. The caffiene helps keep apnea to a minimum so that he does better breathing on his own. Also it sounds as if his PDA has closed. Hopefully everything has been taken care of with his doses of medication and we can put that part behind us.

We were also happy to get to be a little more "hands on" with Jack. I took his temperature and changed a diaper, and cleaned up some gunk around his mouth. Mary got to change a big poopy diaper, and do some mouth cleaning of her own. When little Jack got his PICC line put in I had to excuse myself from the room (because I'm a sissy and hate needles, IV's, shots, etc). Mary stayed in and watched the procedure....because she's a pro at that having had the procedure about 2-3 weeks ago. We are very thankful for another good day and positive strides made by Jack today. Fingers still very much crossed for more days like this in the immediate future.