Like every other day for the last 17 days, I visited Micah. He was up to 50% oxygen, and his monitor would beep whenever he got down to 95% oxygen saturation or below. That is a significant change from the last 16 days. The nurse commented that they're no longer trying to wean him off of the oxygen. They want to keep his saturation high and not push him too much. Of course, as parents, that's not exactly what we'd like to hear, and I think that Eric was a little discouraged. I, as always, felt disheartened.
Before we left, we asked to talk to a doctor or nurse practitioner as they're the ones who are supposed to update us daily. I always feel silly talking to them because up until now, it has been more of the same, day after day. They'd say, "we need to take it a day at a time and follow Micah's lead." Yes, I know that. It also doesn't give me too much confidence or comfort. I know he's being well taken care of, but it seemed like there were so many unknowns and we got vague answers.
Today was different. The doctor asked us to explain what we understood as Micah's issues. Eric did his best to summarize what we knew. The doctor, in reply, went into more detail. She said that Micah definitely has RDS (respiratory distress syndrome) which is common in premature babies. She also explained that his chest x-rays have shown a bit of improvement - the pneumonia is pretty much gone. A normal chest x-ray would show the lungs as black, full of air. Micah's are various shades of grey, indicating they're not full of air. She explained that Micah's lungs have looked more like a typical 32 week old baby's lungs rather than a 35 week old (which was his gestational age when born). Given that, he should be starting to improve within the next 2 weeks as his lungs mature, getting closer to a gestational age that would have fully developed lungs. She added that she is fairly certain that he also has high blood pressure in his lungs, also a reasonably common occurrence in his situation. It seems that its another small complication to add to the mix, and one that needs gentle care. He is still on the longer end as far as recovery time is concerned, but not out of the realm of normal.
At that, I think things changed for me. It helped me to realize that he probably does need a lot more time and help than I initially realized! Quantifying his condition seemed to make things so much more clear to me! The doctor added that if we don't see him improving within about 2 weeks, then we'd start looking at other options for additional help. I feel like that is much more reasonable given the discussion we had tonight! I now understand how the doctors changed tactics on his care: they want to give him time to rest and heal. They don't want to push him when he is simply trying to develop more!
It really is deceiving that he is so big, looking less like a newborn, and that everything else is so well developed on him! Why didn't anyone level with us like that before? In any case, I was so extremely thankful to the doctor for her frank conversation with us! On the way home, I commented to Eric that I felt like a weight was lifted off of me. I have more definite answers as to his condition and probable outcomes. I now view his stay in a different, more secure, positive light! Thank you doctor!
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