Progress, slow progress

Tuesday, Jacob was successfully extubated and put on CPAP (think Darth Vader helmet).  He didn't like it, but he did like it more than having a tube down his throat!  He spent the afternoon and evening on CPAP, then early Wednesday morning, they moved him to high flow (basically your normal in the nose oxygen, just with a steady flow of 30% oxygen at a higher rate).  He's did pretty well, but had some withdrawal symptoms yesterday as a result of coming off of the pain meds and sedation drugs.








We got to see a lot of his eyes yesterday (which are for now a deep blue) and he was pretty active.  His withdrawal symptoms seem to have gotten better throughout the night and was able to rest last night.

Here is a picture from yesterday with Jacob a little happier and less sedated!

Happier Baby

Jacob did have a short period of SVT, which is an elevated heart rate (200+ BPM) that is a somewhat common side effect of the surgery.  They have him wired up to a EKG just to keep an eye on it in case it recurs, but his body was able to resolve it itself this morning.  It is a bit scary, but we were told of all the arrhythmias to have, this was the least concerning.

His next big hurdle is just getting the volume down on the air so that he can bottle feed (they don't bottle feed at high flow), but he is getting a small amount of momma's milk every 3 hours, so at least he is getting something for his tummy (he also gets nutrients via IV).

Keep him in your thoughts and prayers!  Hopefully we will keep taking steps forward over the next few days!