Quick Post

After his oxygen requirements hitting 80% earlier this week, I'm happy to report that Caleb is currently at 55%.  I say this with some hesitation, because it was about a week ago that I was holding him and his oxygen went from 43% to 75%.  We know this number could change at any time, but we're thankful for the decrease.

Caleb had a new feeding tube put in yesterday.  Instead of eating every three hours with the food going to his stomach, the new feeding tube bypasses his stomach and delivers a continuous flow of food straight to his intestine.  One of the risks of the food being in the stomach is that Caleb could spit-up and then aspirate some of that spit-up into his lungs.  Obviously not good for a baby with chronic lung disease.  This new tube significantly reduces that possibility.  In addition, with the food going straight to the intestine his stomach won't be expanding with each feeding. The theory is that if his stomach is taking up less space, it will be easier for his lungs to expand when he breaths.  The risk is that bypassing the stomach may cause him to gain weight more slowly.  

Since Caleb has had a rough few days I worked from the hospital yesterday and was able to spend about two hours just holding his hand while he slept.  I love this little guy.