Quick update before I head back to the hospital....

Emmett has had quite the week. Tuesday brought another day on the CPAP. His numbers were not changing. As the doc said, he's not losing any ground, but not gaining any either. It was one of the hardest things we've had to do to leave him at the hospital when I was discharged on Tuesday night. I would never wish that on any mother, nor do I understand how some mothers commute to and from the hospitals to see their babies for months. Here is what our little guy looked like on the CPAP. As you can see, it really swelled up his face, especially in his nose and eye area. They also put a feeding tube down his throat into his tummy and used it to extract the extra air from his tummy.

He had a really rough night on Tuesday, he had to be sedated a couple of times because he just got too upset. Wednesday morning when we got there, the doc had ordered that the CPAP be turned down by one. So that meant that he needed a little less pressure to keep his lungs open. He also started looking a little yellow on Wednesday, and the doc noticed his billirubin count was on a slow incline.

Wednesday night when we went back for the night shift the NP and the Respiratory Therapist both felt that since Emmett had started breathing fully through his mouth he wasn't using the CPAP at all to maintain his numbers. So they decided to take it off and put him on a regular oxygen cannula (nasal tube). We waited and waited for the RT to come but they were doing a delivery and so we finally went home to get some rest.

Thursday morning when we went in, there was Emmett, not only without the CPAP but also awake! It was so great to finally see him with his eyes open. They weren't open for long but long enough for him to look at Mike and I and that made me know that he knew we were there. And somehow it made me feel better knowing that. They also started giving him some milk that I had pumped through his feeding tube. I tried to nurse him a couple of times but he was still so weak and tired that he'd just lay there limp and not wake up enough to even know what to do. But I got to do a little Kangaroo care with him and he loves to be held and snuggled (I can't blame him with how little holding he's had since birth). Also on Thursday they determined he was jaundiced so they started 24 hours of Photo light therapy. Here is a picture of Emmett in his aviator goggles soaking up some rays.

When we went back last night (Thursday night), we tried to nurse him again - he did a little better and at least woke up enough to try once before he konked out again. But the most exciting thing was that he was on room air!! No more oxygen tube! :) We also got to give him his first bath, which was so great. He loved having his hair washed and it was nice to have that clean baby smell on him!

This morning we met with the doctor that has been handling his case - Dr. Allred. He is very pleased with Emmett's respiratory progress. He said we are over the hump with that. However, because little man was working so hard all week with little to no nourishment, he is extremely weak and tired. He needs to really be nursing well and be more alert to be able to go home. They are keeping his IV in with antibiotics pumping through until he nurses well enough to take him off of it. His jaundice is better but they are still watching it and will do another round of light therapy if needed. He did latch on a couple of times when I tried nursing today, but quickly fell asleep before he got anything. Doc did order his tube feedings be increased so by end of day today he'll be getting about 3/4 of an oz every 3-4 hours, regardless of if it come from me or not. If all goes well over the weekend, he could be home on Monday or Tuesday! Of course this is great news, I'm just a little nervous about having him at home - with the flu season here and the swine flu and him already having respiratory problems, I'll probably lock us in the house for a couple of months!

Thanks to all of you for bringing things, calling, emailing, texting, etc. Your love is definitely felt.

More to come........