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| All set to head home!! YAY!! |
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| First nap at home! |
Like I said, we hook Micah's oxygen tubing to the concentrator. To ensure we don't have to move the unit around the house, we have 27 feet of tubing, leading to a small flowmeter. From there, Micah has a cannula with attached 7 feet of tubing that we hook up into the flowmeter.
At night, Micah is hooked up to an apnea monitor. He has 2 electrodes on his chest, and the monitor records his heart rate and respiratory rate. If his stats go beyond the range setting, an alarm (much like a smoke detector) sounds. Thankfully, we've only had 1 alarm due to the electrode not picking up his shallow breathing!
Last Friday, we also got a pulse oxymeter. This measures the oxygen concentration in his blood. We haven't used this too much yet, but will once Micah is weaned off of oxygen. There is an electrode that we affix to his foot and attach to the machine.
In addition to all of the equipment, we've had a multitude of doctor and nurse's appointments. He has seen our pediatrician twice; a home visitation nurse twice, and a pediatric pulmonary specialist once. Between these visits, we've had various visits regarding all of Micah's equipment, too.
We're eagerly anticipating weaning Micah off of oxygen! At first, his pediatrician was going to admit him to the local hospital for observation as we do so. As that date approached, I was able to get an appointment with the pediatric pulmonary specialist at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee (much earlier than expected thanks to a cancellation!). She advised that we return to her office in 2 weeks and she will begin the weaning. She expects that he will first be without oxygen while awake, and then off altogether within 2-4 weeks after that. We are praying that he does well with this!
It truly is a task to have him on oxygen. It complicates the already dreaded nighttime feedings. I have to turn off the apnea monitor, unplug him from it, and then drag all of the oxygen lines into the living room. I then have to reverse that on the way back to bed. We also have to keep a constant watch on the cannula so that Micah doesn't pull it out of his nose. If he does, its not a huge deal, but we don't want it to be off for any length of time.
It really limits what I can do myself it the kids, too. Eric took the rest of the week off when Micah first came home, and did half days a few times during the week afterward. This week, he has been back full-time. I simply cannot manage a newborn with oxygen and 2 rambunctious little ones in many settings! I'd love to take them to the water park, but there's no way to do that! I also can't go up to Tomahawk because it would be a challenge with the oxygen concentrator (and we'd need it). It was a challenge with just Alena & Levi prior to Micah!
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| Waiting for the Fourth of July fireworks to begin! Yes, it was very cold! |
Micah does seem to have a few lingering issues. He has a granuloma in his belly button. It's basically a small part of the umbilical cord that hasn't quite dried like it should have. Part of the problem is that Micah has a mega outie for a belly button! Before we left the NICU, one of the doctors put some silver nitrite on it to dry it up.
We're also keeping an eye on his circumcision site to make sure there are no complications there! We had debated whether or not to do it, but ultimately decided to do it to keep him from potential ridicule and such in the future. We wanted to keep everything uniform with the guys in the family!
Like I promised Micah, though, he gets lots and lots of snuggles! His brother and sister are enamored with him! Every chance they get, they are poking and prodding him! Since he is a preemie, he's extra susceptible to illness, so we've been trying to have the kids wash their hands frequently and not touch their brother too much!
Mommy is tired and trying to manage as best as we can! We've tried to do a few family fun activities, keeping Alena and Levi in mind. We have gone for short walks, visited friends, and even attended 2 parades and watched fireworks from afar! Unfortunately, with the craziness of the month of June, Alena and Levi have now begun to exhibit more and more undesirable behaviors. Of course, when I'm holding/feeding Micah, I can't always monitor the older ones the way I would like! The screaming/whining, hitting/biting, bedtime games, and general not listening really get on my nerves!!
And, we are officially a family with 3 kids in diapers. Alena refuses to go to the bathroom on her own and has been repeatedly peeing her pants, even just after being asked if she has to go. This is about where she was before, too, though. We were just starting to train Levi, so he is a little confused. We're planning on an intensive day or two when Eric is around to see if we can get Levi on the right track. He seems much more responsible and interested in it than Alena has been.
My work is also awaiting me. I initially gave August 1st as my return date, and think that I can keep to that. My supervisor is no longer with IRIS, but I'll be paired with another full-time IRIS Consultant who is quite experienced. In fact, she has taken my work load while I'm gone and has been praying for us (and offered to bring a meal)! My caseload is only about 5 participants and I only have to meet with them at the very least, once every 3 months. Of course that depends upon their needs. I can do my paperwork and phone calls from home (as long as its quiet!). My meetings are another story. I'm not sure where Micah will go for those, but I don't think I'll be leaving him with our normal sitter and our older kids. It would be way too much for anyone!
As much whining as I've just done, we are thankful the he is home. He was made perfect by a God who loves us all. His innocent look melts our hearts and reminds us of the precious gift that he is. We certainly look forward to the days ahead as things get better and better in our family!
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