Day 67 - Extubated, First Cry, & Reintubated

March 07, 2021

Sunday, March 7th, 2021

Update (6:45am): James gained more weight last night and is now at 2150 grams (4lb 11oz)!

After 3/4 Thursday's recent ECHO we found that his PDA has closed!! He has had a slight increase in CO2 retention found during his blood gases, so because of that they had increased the rate to 25 on the ventilator. This will help dispell more of the CO2.

Hoping that the extubation will happen this morning! We are ready! James has been resting since yesterday morning.

UPDATE: At 8am this morning, James was EXTUBATED! He is now on NIV which is a little different than CPAP. NIV provides ventilation support without having a tube down his throat. Please see diagrams below photos. They also gave him a larger OG tube to release air in his belly. No one likes gas pains!

James had his first audible cry! Day 67! Sounded just like a baby lamb. He definitely put up a fight during the transition. Took about an hour to get him settled. He is now laying on his stomach because that is the best position for his lungs. He is ranging between 85-95 on his pulse ox!

NIV Ventilator Stats:
FiO2: 55
Peep: 10
Rate: 20

They are doing his first blood gas at 10am to see how the CO2 is looking.

Hopefully he can hold on and not have to get reintubated!

Update (6:30pm): Unfortunately after 8 hours of significant lung retraction, holds with both Mom & Dad, and increases in oxygen they decided to reintubate James this evening. They tried the NIV with both the mask and the nasal cannula. However, he was just working too hard to breathe and would eventually stop trying. They gave him a bigger ET tube at 3.5, so no leak. He is much more comfortable now. The goal is for him to get rid of this CO2 he is holding on to and eventually wean the ventilator settings. Once he is low enough on the settings, we can try removing the tube again. We want to do what's best for James. ❤️

The NICU is a rollercoaster and things change by the hour. Thank you for the support! 🥰