Oops! Didn’t mean to go 3 days!

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Sorry about that!

The last couple of days have been the “one step back” portion of the “2 steps forward, one back” pattern… we had our “Preemie Wrangling” class on Wednesday afternoon, where we got some information about services that are available to us, discharge requirements, that kind of stuff.
I was happy to learn that we can still put Max on an alternate vax schedule; I was totally prepared to fight for it when we were expecting a full-term baby, but was unsure if it was still an option with a preemie. It is, so we're planning on using one of Dr. Sears' schedules from his fabulous book, The Vaccine Book
When we went in to the NICU after the class to visit Max, we were a little freaked out to discover that he'd been having aptic (sp?) episodes. If you're familiar with sleep apnea, it's kind of like that, where he just “forgets” to breathe and needs to be reminded with stimulation (rubbing his head/belly, normally a no-no) Apnea is pretty common in babies of Max's gestational age, so it isn't unexpected, but it doesn't make it any less scary to be looking at your baby and suddenly see his little chest stop moving.
Because of this new development, he was moved from being just on the nasal canula for oxygen back up a level to the CPAP mask, which looks very similar to what adults with sleep apnea have to wear.

On the belly front, things are improving… he received a blood transfusion on Tuesday evening, so his color is much improved, and it appears to have helped his gut get going again as well… it is measuring a bit smaller (4cm) and overall looks much better. When they took an x-ray this morning, it appears that the air in his intestine is moving, as Jamie says, “towards the exit” so we're hoping to see some true improvement once that air is gone.
They haven't attempted formula feeding again for a few days; he just wasn't tolerating it well and rather than keep bugging him with it, it's been put on the back burner for a few days while his belly gets better and better.

As far as Jamie and I, we're hanging in there… we're hoping to get Jamie's car back this afternoon; it's been out of commission since September, so with the weather improving, the convertible will be a welcome improvement to our daily drive to visit Max! I'm going back to work on Monday… being at my office in Walnut Creek will allow me more and easier access to Max. I can go see him at lunch AND after work, instead of the once daily visits I've been doing. Everyone I work with is wonderfully supportive, especially my boss, so they're all willing to help me out as needed, so I don't overdo it too much.

That's about it from us for the 2nd half of this week… I promise to post more this weekend!