Micah is still sitting at 1/8 of a liter of oxygen flow. I can view that as both a good and not so good thing. He certainly went down on his oxygen dependency, however, he stopped there. On Monday, the doctor took the cannula off of Micah to see how he would do. Within 10 minutes, his oxygen saturation level dropped to 74, so he put the cannula back on. Obviously, Micah wasn't quite ready for that yet! Afterward, the doctor told me that he would wait until Thursday or Friday to try it again. Once he is off of oxygen, I believe that he still has to stay in the NICU for a few days for observation.
So, here we wait. We know he is in great hands, but it is still an emotionally trying situation. We are leaving our child at a hospital. Now that he seems to be awake a bit more frequently, it is doubly difficult! He should be seeing his family and home when he gazes around, seeing the trees sway. Smelling our family's smells, how our house smells. Feeling the cool air, his mommy's touch and feeling the warmth of the sun!
On the other hand, we trust the doctors and nurses. Our other option is to have him at home, but on oxygen and with a very noisy monitor (so we've heard). With 2 other kids in the house, I sense that having that apparatus at our house might not be an ideal option. I suppose time will tell. They're saying early next week he might be home.
I stayed in the hotel by Micah until Tuesday afternoon and then went home. Micah had been nursing really well, and the doctors saw that. That's one huge box checked for his preparations for home life! There are many babies who are off of oxygen, but aren't home yet because they are unable to bottle feed or breastfeed well enough. Thankfully, that is not our issue! I know that my other kids need me, too. Life has been kind of crazy for them with someone watching them for at least a period of time every day. They can't go to the NICU (age requirement is 13), and Eric and I feel like we need to see Micah everyday. At least with having me home, Alena and Levi have a little sense of normalcy!
Levi also has a cold, which is somewhat tricky for us. I certainly don't want to catch his cold or bring those germs to the NICU! I've just been doing a lot of hand washing for both me and the kids! Pray that it doesn't spread!
Pray for the maturity of Micah's lungs!! It's the one piece that is holding us back from being a complete family at home!!
Pray for divine patience and emotional strength to make it through what we hope is the actual home stretch!
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