July 5, 2006
July 5
Again, so much has happened these past few days.
First, Gretchen was released from the hospital on Sunday, July 2. We finally got to sleep in our own bed again. Though it was very difficult to be leaving the hospital without Michael (he has a name now! Granted he had one on the 1st as well).
So in the past few days, Michael has had several things done to him. He got a dose of surfactant. To do this they had to intubate him. They used a smaller tube than normal since they were just using this to give him medication. Then they removed it. However, he was still having a little problem breathing, so they had to give him a second dose. Since they had to do this a second time they decided to leave the intubation tube in and put him on a ventilator. However, they made a point of saying that the vent wasn't breathing for him, just giving him some minor assistance.
He also has a little jaundice problem, so he is under the phototherapy light to help lower his biliruben levels. That's why he's wearing the cool headgear.
He currently has an IV line in his right arm. And therefore has the board to help keep him from bending it too much. He also is on several monitors. They are monitoring his heart rate, respiration rate, and his blood oxygen levels. With occasional checks of his blood pressure and temperature. He seems to be very good at keeping his body temp up on his own. Though the phototherapy lights do help with that.
Again, so much has happened these past few days.
First, Gretchen was released from the hospital on Sunday, July 2. We finally got to sleep in our own bed again. Though it was very difficult to be leaving the hospital without Michael (he has a name now! Granted he had one on the 1st as well).
So in the past few days, Michael has had several things done to him. He got a dose of surfactant. To do this they had to intubate him. They used a smaller tube than normal since they were just using this to give him medication. Then they removed it. However, he was still having a little problem breathing, so they had to give him a second dose. Since they had to do this a second time they decided to leave the intubation tube in and put him on a ventilator. However, they made a point of saying that the vent wasn't breathing for him, just giving him some minor assistance.
He also has a little jaundice problem, so he is under the phototherapy light to help lower his biliruben levels. That's why he's wearing the cool headgear.
He currently has an IV line in his right arm. And therefore has the board to help keep him from bending it too much. He also is on several monitors. They are monitoring his heart rate, respiration rate, and his blood oxygen levels. With occasional checks of his blood pressure and temperature. He seems to be very good at keeping his body temp up on his own. Though the phototherapy lights do help with that.
