Day 31

Today, Walker is 1 month old. Mommy and Daddy were there at his bedside at exactly 12:15 PM to take pictures with their little big guy. The day started off good, he was on his cannula at 21% oxygen which was great! 

When he started to get his lunch, his stats started getting a little erratic. At first, he would be perfect, his heart rate was in the 150s and his oxygen saturation was in the mid-90s (where he should be). Occasionally, his heart rate would go way up and his saturation would go down, then correct itself. Between the "destats" and the milk in his mouth, they decided that he has bad acid reflux, a rather common problem in preemies. 

The nurse worked with him throughout the day trying different positions and even tried it while kangarooing with Mommy, but nothing seemed to help his little belly with the reflux and his stats continue drop and have bradycardia episodes.

After fighting it all day long, David - the Nurse practitioner, decided to do an x-ray to make sure everything was good with Walker. The results showed that Walker looked normal on the inside except for the feeding tube laying slightly against the side of his stomach wall. They pulled back the feeding tube a little to resolve that and lengthened the feedings to 2 hours instead of 1 hour for the 16 mL of milk he is receiving.  They were hoping this would be enough to help the little guy manage his reflux and stay on the cannula. 

However after starting his feeding back he continue to have the episodes, and even had one that was pretty severe so David decided that Walker needed to go back on the CPAP with his pressure of 5.  This is very hard for Mommy and Daddy because they hate to watch Walker struggle with his reflux and his breathing, but it is also very hard to have to see him go backwards.  It is very hard to watch your baby struggling and the feeling of helplessness that comes with not being able to do anything.  

We are just continuing to trust that its all in God's hands and we know the prayers that are being lifted daily for Walker.  Hopefully soon the doctors will feel he is ready to go back on the cannula again, please continue to keep him in your prayers daily.

Snuggled up tight

One month old!

Look at those eyes!

Sucking on my fingers during kangaroo time!