29 Weeks!

Day 22

Well, the past 12 hours have been eventful, to say the least. When we got to Sydney's room last night, her nurse told us that she was doing ok being off the vent but she had moments where she really struggled. She had been ok for about an hour before we got there and then things went CRAZY. She started de-sating ( saturation dropped dangerously low), her heart rate dropped all the way down to 82 beats per minute (she's been averaging 162) and she had a major apnea episode. The apnea means that she actually stopped breathing for more than a few seconds. She had never had a major apnea episode before that. I think we stopped breathing right along with her.

Suddenly 4 neonatal doctors came racing into her room, along with a respiratory therapist. They started trying all kinds of interventions (suctioning her mouth etc) and ordered an emergency X-Ray. They also ordered a breathing treatment to reduce swelling in her throat that was caused by the ventilator. While waiting for the treatment, they gave her a pacifier and it seemed to really help her. Apparently the pacifier worked to keep her mouth closed and help her breathe better. At that point she was all the way up to 70% on the CPAP after starting at 50% right after she was extubated. The doctors were not happy with that at all so they decided to give her an hour after the treatment to see if she made any improvement. The goal is to keep her off the vent but not if it causes her distress. After an hour, she was doing muuuch better but was noticeably tired. They all consulted with each other and decided that the best thing for her was to be re-intubated for a few days and try again when she regains her strength and puts on more weight.

After being intubated she really settled down and had a very peaceful night. She still has a few days on antibiotics so they're hoping that she will do much better once she's totally past that infection.

In the meantime, we'll do the only thing we can do. Pray.