Jacob's first go at CPAP

I have been holding off on posting until Jacob was all sorted out from his rough weekend and he is just starting to pick up again now. It took him longer than I expected to recover from his collapse on Saturday.

Jacob did hit 2 pounds on Monday night, but because of the rough weekend he had his feeds were stopped on Saturday night so he has had no breastmilk since then. I was a little nervous that he had hit 2 pounds without feeds since it obviously is all fluid that is causing the weight gain. I was more alarmed when he hit 2 lb 5 oz the next day and 2 lbs 9 oz the day after that!!! The nurses have assured me that since he is still peeing non-stop that they are not that alarmed and he will lose the fluid. Even so, 10 oz in a matter of 4 days is alarming so I have been a little on edge, but I called this morning and he is down between 2 lb 3 oz and 2 lb 4 oz so it looks like they were right.

The good, scratch that, FABULOUS news is that Jacob has been off his ventilator and on the CPAP now for 17 hours and so far so good!! This is huge! The longer that ventilator is in there the worse off he is as far as his lungs and breathing problems go. When he went on it last night at 5 PM the nurse warned us that when we called this morning he might be back on the ventilator so not to be alarmed. She said when they are this small they usually can handle it for about 12 hours the first time until they say, "ok I've had enough" and need to go back on the vent. It has been 17 though and Mr. Tough Pants is stubbornly refusing to budge. This kid amazes me! The nurses have been saying how good he is doing considering how small he is and the fact that he has pulled his breathing tube out multiple times now is a testament to his strength. They said babies this little and premature should not have the ability to lift their heads, but you should see this kid pull his head up and yank as hard as he can to dislodge that thing which is another reason I am glad it is out! We will keep our fingers crossed, but it may be that in a few hours he might need the vent again and we may go back and forth for days or even weeks, but the fact that it has been out this long is definitely going to help his lungs in the long run.

Ian and I are heading up later this afternoon. I was a little nervous to be there when he came off the vent and went on CPAP because every time they do something like this to him and he has a hard time I panic and end up crying the whole day so I figured this time I would stay away until it was all over.

They are restarting his feeds today so hopefully in no time Jacob will be 3 pounds! That is my next goal!