A few times a day, Barnaby will stop breathing and his heart rate will drop. Alarms sound, nurses rush in, time stands still. In most preterm babies this “apnea of prematurity”, colloquially known as “spells”, will resolve at 34 to 36 weeks gestational age. That means that we have many more weeks of this terrifying experience. The nurses are so casual about it but it’s hard to imagine ever getting used to seeing your child’s vital signs dip suddenly.
The common treatment for this is caffeine. Once a day barnaby gets administered a tiny cup of coffee in a styrofoam dunkin doughnuts cup – this is a boston hospital after all.
But for real, caffeine is a safe and effective drug for tiny babies. He is already on it but they have not adjusted his dose for his weight gain in a little while so hopefully his new higher dose tomorrow will help the situation some.
Barnaby 