Yesterday Barnaby graduated from CPAP mask to nasal cannula.
With no straps around his head this is a much better situation for his shunt, is probably more comfortable for him physically, and requires a lot less adjusting all of the time.
It is also delivers significantly less pressure from CPAP and it is a little scary to be honest because with even less respiratory support he has occasional “spells” of apnea where he holds his breath and his heart rate starts to drop.
The nurses assured us that this is totally normal premie behavior (since he really shouldn’t be breathing yet developmentally) and he will self correct and learn not to do it. Still, it’s terrifying to watch when it happens. When he spells the alarms all go off and the nurses rush in and rub his chest and wake him up.
In other news. Results are back from today’s head ultrasound and the ventricle size is stable. Meaning it has not increased or decreased significantly. The doctors all seem very positive about that as a result. While maybe the best result would be some reduction in size these things take time and one doctor mentioned that a rapid reduction in size actually isn’t good either. Brains do better with gradual change over time.
Barnaby 