Five Pounds

Sydney reached five pounds on February 1st. She has continued to have good weight gain. Syd has a good appetite, and has now started feedings without her feeding tube. For now twice a day and they will slowly bring it up depending on how Sydney handles it.

The doctors have also began to take her off supplements. They stopped her diarel and pottasium supplements this week. Soon they will take her off the caffeine supplement.

Sydney has also continued to get more coordinated. She holds her pacifier, and will grab at her feeding tube. She knows her mother and fathers voice, and loves to hear them read stories.

Nasal Cannula

Sydney was placed on nasal cannula on Monday the 28th of January. The big difference between cannula and CPAP is that there is no pressure helping to keep Syd's lungs open. She has to do all the work on her own. She gets a constant blended mix of oxygen. The Dr's and respiratory therapists will continue to ween her off of the oxygen as she grows.

This change officially marks Sydney being downgraded to a level two baby. She can be held at anytime now. Sydney will be able to have baths more frequently and go in her bouncy seat. These changes will mean pretty soon Sydney will be moved to another room. The rooms in the middle of the NICU are usually reserved for the less stable level three babies.

The move to the cannula also was the last step in the way of her beginning to bottle feed. The NICU staff will let her try this at the end of the week if she continues to behave herself. Feeding is a lot of work for preemies, so they will take it slow. Starting out with once a day and gradually working up to every time she has a feeding. Syd will have to show that this does not drain to much energy, and that she can maintain her breathing.

Two kilograms

Sydney is now 35 weeks, 4lbs 6.9 oz (2010 grams). Her sucking instinct is very strong now. She will have to wait to feed like a big girl until she graduates from CPAP. She is also getting much more coordinated. Syd will grab her CPAP and hold onto it. She also holds her pacifier while sucking on it.

The diuretics she is on cause her to loose some vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes. The Dr's continue to try and balance out her supplements. Her sodium has been cut back to try and keep her from retaining fluid.

Even though this balancing act with her supplements continues Sydney is very stable. She is gaining weight, and the instincts necessary for her to breath on her own are strong now. It wont be long now until she graduates from CPAP to the nasal cannula.

C.P.A.P.

Sydney was extubated and placed on continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on 1/16/2008. She was exactly 8 weeks old, 34 weeks corrected age. The CPAP looks like scuba gear. It has two prongs that are placed in the nose. A hat with a strap is used to help keep the hoses in place. This is attached to the ventalator. The major difference with CPAP is that it does not breath for her, it only applies a small amount of pressure to help keep her lungs open.

With her extubated Sydney can now be heard when she cries. Her vocal cords are sore though from the tube. She sounds horse and scratchy as she lets us know that she is unhappy. With the CPAP in her nose, they move the feeding (OG) tube to her mouth. She will need this until the CPAP is removed and she starts bottle feeding.

On the same day that Sydney went on the CPAP she also got a crib. Syd's nurses have continued to ween her heat in the isolette down. Eventually they turned it off completely and monitored her body temperature. Once they felt comfortable with her ability to maintain her temperature they made the switch.

The crib makes it much easier to change and interact with her. She can use her own sheets, and decorate it with toys and pictures. Soon she will have a bouncy seat to sit in and look around. She likes stimulation a lot now. She listens to you when you speak and likes to have her head rubbed.

Three Pounds!

Sydney weighed in at 3lbs 1oz (1390 grams) tonight. Her increased weight helps her maintain heat better. She can now be swaddled, and her isolette has been changed to help get her ready for a crib in room air.

With Sydney swaddled she can be held facing you, it is a lot easier to see her this way. She enjoys looking at her mother, and listening to her voice. Sydney still enjoys to kangaroo, so we try and switch up how we hold her.

Sydney is still on the ventilator. She is more stable, and requires less oxygen then she has in the past, but it is still a struggle for her. Within the next few weeks as she has more weight gain this will help her get stronger to be extubated to get on the next step CPAP.

Not so fast.

Sydney decided she had enough of the ventilator. She self-extubated early Sunday morning by pulling away from the tubing. Syd had been making progress prior to this, so they let her try CPAP.

When we arrived at the NICU she had her new head set which looks like scuba gear. When her nurse took her out of the isolette they removed the head gear. We could see Sydney's face without the ventilation equipment.

Stephanie got to kangaroo with her for a little while. Unfortunately all of the excitement must have been a little to much for her. Her nurse decided it would be best to intubate her again. We agreed, and the respiratory therapist was called back in to put a tube back in. She had outgrown her old one, so a larger one was used this time. This will help her breath a little easier now, and in a week or so they will try CPAP again.

One Kilogram

Sydney passed the one kilogram (2 lbs 2 ounces) mark on Sunday the 23rd. She has been handling her food well, which we are happy about. Hitting this milestone of one kilogram means that we are able to kangaroo with Sydney everyday as long as she behaves. The Dr is using a dieratic to help dry out the fluid around her lungs which will help her become stronger and more stable on the ventalator.