Quick Update Before the Week Begins

So Isaak has had an ok but sorta not day. It's really a continuation of the trials I mentioned in last night's post. He is experiencing breathing challenges his little sister simply isn't. Everything is well within the norm for early preterm babies, but it's still a little scary for Mom and Dad. He's well looked after (extremely) by the nurses and doctors but wow is it not much fun watching them rush to his bedside. We've had far too much experience in our lives staring at pulse-oximetry readings and I can't say we are happy to be doing so again.

Today he was recovering more rapidly from his spells than yesterday. It wasn't until late this afternoon that he had an episode where more aggressive intervention was needed (read: oxygen). Otherwise, we saw a lot of little dips in heart rates and stoppages in breathing that went away on their own and pretty fast. The bradycardia (slowing heart rate) really isn't too scary in and of itself - it's when it's coupled with extended apnea (stoppage of breathing) episodes that it gets unnerving. Penelope experiences "bradys" fairly regularly but it's almost never accompanied by apnea. In Isaak's case, the apnea is usually causing the bradys. Little guy "forgets" to breathe and that drops his sats and his heart rate.

He is also having some problems with secretion management (here we go with things we know too much about again!). They don't know if he's making extra slobber or just not getting it down. The swallow reflex is often underdeveloped at this point. We all need to keep remembering they ARE supposed to be in utero at this particular juncture! As mentioned previously, the secretions are likely playing a role in his apnea episodes by creating obstructions. The nurses and RTs are doing everything they can to keep him clear, but they have to be careful not to irritate or injure his airways as that can cause inflammation and create an infection risk.

They say all this is normal but if he keeps it up he might wind up on the ventilator for a while. Everyone is hoping that can be avoided, but it is what it is. Hopefully his little brain can start coordinating everything a bit better! Maybe we can get Penny to teach him...

New pictures from last night are now up. Feel free to jump over and take a peek.