Aiden & Jackson: Days 45 - 47: Almost 7 Weeks

If we calculate our go home date by Christie's actual due date, this Tuesday marks the half-way mark. The boys will be 7 weeks on Tuesday, or 33 weeks corrected gestation, which leaves 7 more weeks until we hit 40. It is both reassuring, but trying at the same time, since I will be honest and say that I am starting to get tired of going to the hospital everday. Obviously I'm not sick of seeing my kids, but just sick of having to go go the hospital, since they should be at home waiting for me when I get home from work. Soon enough....

This weekend was a roller coaster, with Friday starting out well for both boys. Jackson had a solid weekend all around. He continued sprinting on Friday, wearing the nasal cannula for 3 hours, overlapping the kanagroo time. He did so well during those 3 hours that he was increased to two sprinting sessions per day, each for 3 hours. He loves the cannula! This is great progress for him, and we are very pleased. He continued to rock solid on his feeds and is now up to 28 mls, with the 27 calorie fortifier, as well as protein. Jackson kanagrooed with mom on Friday and Saturday, and with dad on Sunday. Jackson's weight Sunday was 3 lbs. 3oz, with not much being water. Awesome job buddy!

Aiden started off the weekend heading in the right direction, giving the nurses great blood gases Friday, which were low enough to make changes to this vent settings. His breathing assistance (breaths per minute) were decreased to the lowest possible setting of 20. He had another one of his spells again on Friday at the beginning of his kanagroo session with mom. I mentioned last week that he clenches down on his ET tube, and when he does, he stops breathing. It is not uncommon for their color to turn gray-ish blue when they do in fact stop breathing, and that is exactly what he did. The nurse quickly gave him a couple breaths with the vent and he was fine, returned to mom for kanagrooing. I for one don't really care for these 'spells' he keeps having. These are different than the apnea and bradycardia (I think). Anyway, he was so alert when I got there after work, looking directly at me as I spoke to him, which was great to see. I got most of it on video, which you'll see below. Saturday, the pressure assistance from the vent was decreased, and they were hoping to extubate him this morning, but that did not happen. Instead, he required some additional breathing assistance early this morning, and then had elevated CO2 levels in his blood this morning. Additionally, he gained 90 grams yesterday, which equals just over 3 ounces. A healthy weight gain is roughly 1 ounce per day on the full feeds, and when they gain more than this, it is usually fluid. In Aiden's case, it was in fact just that. Any excess fluid hinders their breathing, making it more difficult for them to carry oxygen to through their bloodstream to the various organs (heart, lungs, etc.) that need it. Thus the increase in CO2 levels. As you can see, everything works together. He was given a water pill this morning, along with a chest and abdominal x-ray. Both x-rays looked fine, and as the day went on his CO2 level dropped from 67% at noon to 58% at 6 pm. I believe normal range of CO2 is 40-60, but changes don't typically occur with any breathing assistance unless CO2 levels are around 50. As you can see 67% is out of the normal range. When we left the hospital tonight around 7, he was resting comfortably, and we are hoping for another good blood gas at midnight. Aiden's weight went from 3lbs. 1oz. Saturday to 3lbs. 4oz. Sunday. Ugh, Aiden. He needs to get off the vent, especially since he is going to be 7 weeks old. The gray hairs keep appearing.

Pictures and video below.

Above: Dad's got Aiden's full attention!