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At Home on Oxygen - Questions?
Hello from Denver...
Our son was born at 36 weeks on the dot, he had a very mild case of phuemothorax at the time of delivery. We spent four days in the NICU and were sent home on 1/32 of oxygen. It is the lowest amount.
(Prior to delivery at 34 weeks I received the betamethazone shot, due to preterm labor)
We had the respitory therapist here today to do a pulse ox which he failed, but didn' fail miserably. He stayed around the 88-91 area with a few dips into the mid 80s. His heartrate stayed really stable even throught the dips. They don't want to take him off the oxygen just yet. The therapist said he was close to coming off. What does close mean?
He is nine days old today, gaining weight and everything is looking okay. Can anyone give me a best guess of how long I should expect to remain on the oxygen?
Also when they are monitoring the baby they ask that we feed him for part of it, the saturation levels go down when he feeds. He gulps down his feeds like a crazy man, he finishes in about twenty minutes. Is this normal or do they count that against him.
Looking for encouragement and support. A little guidance from anyone in this same situation.
Our son was born at 36 weeks on the dot, he had a very mild case of phuemothorax at the time of delivery. We spent four days in the NICU and were sent home on 1/32 of oxygen. It is the lowest amount.
(Prior to delivery at 34 weeks I received the betamethazone shot, due to preterm labor)
We had the respitory therapist here today to do a pulse ox which he failed, but didn' fail miserably. He stayed around the 88-91 area with a few dips into the mid 80s. His heartrate stayed really stable even throught the dips. They don't want to take him off the oxygen just yet. The therapist said he was close to coming off. What does close mean?
He is nine days old today, gaining weight and everything is looking okay. Can anyone give me a best guess of how long I should expect to remain on the oxygen?
Also when they are monitoring the baby they ask that we feed him for part of it, the saturation levels go down when he feeds. He gulps down his feeds like a crazy man, he finishes in about twenty minutes. Is this normal or do they count that against him.
Looking for encouragement and support. A little guidance from anyone in this same situation.
You're in my thoughts all the time, but especially today. I hope things get better for ur son but think just because its been % days or Whatever doesn't mean he's going to be able to do it so fast. Lungs are really fragile regardless when the baby is born. My son was born @ 25 weeks 6 days and finally he's off all O2. HE was due jan. 9th this month. I am proud of him but he still needs O2 on occasion to feed. Its not the worst thing in the world my son has had alot of problems and we leaving here with lots of stuff. Think positve GOD has a plan.
UPDATE
We are visiting the pediatrician once a week. He passed his first room air challenge in the hospital that is why we were able to come home with it. He had a second challenge here at home last Friday, which he did not pass (like I said before), we saw the pediatrician today for his circumcision and they put the pulse ox monitor on and he hung out right around 88-90 - which again doesn't pass. That was not our official challenge which we will have this Thursday or Friday.
I am so grateful this is the only problem he has, I know so many babies are dealing with so much more.
It is just hard for me to imagine him with this tank for so long if his levels are this close to coming off. Why hasn't he made any progress since his last challenge, almost five days ago? How long does it take his lungs to be ready? The docs keep saying he is close, but what does close mean?
On a side note we have a friend who had a 32 weeker and she was on oxygen for two months before her parents just took her off. She never passed any of the challenges up to the levels the doctors wanted. She is now over a year old and has been doing perfectly. I am nervous this will happen to us. We live in Denver and have less oxygen because of the altitude, is it unrealalistic for him to pass the test like the doctors want?
Thank you so much for you support!
We are visiting the pediatrician once a week. He passed his first room air challenge in the hospital that is why we were able to come home with it. He had a second challenge here at home last Friday, which he did not pass (like I said before), we saw the pediatrician today for his circumcision and they put the pulse ox monitor on and he hung out right around 88-90 - which again doesn't pass. That was not our official challenge which we will have this Thursday or Friday.
I am so grateful this is the only problem he has, I know so many babies are dealing with so much more.
It is just hard for me to imagine him with this tank for so long if his levels are this close to coming off. Why hasn't he made any progress since his last challenge, almost five days ago? How long does it take his lungs to be ready? The docs keep saying he is close, but what does close mean?
On a side note we have a friend who had a 32 weeker and she was on oxygen for two months before her parents just took her off. She never passed any of the challenges up to the levels the doctors wanted. She is now over a year old and has been doing perfectly. I am nervous this will happen to us. We live in Denver and have less oxygen because of the altitude, is it unrealalistic for him to pass the test like the doctors want?
Thank you so much for you support!
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