4 days old

This is the update I got from Leah today...

Caleb is making some small steps in the right direction. To give you an idea of what's going on and where we need to go, Caleb is on the "scary" ventilator. There's all kinds of knobs and numbers and it looks like something Doc from Back to the Future would put together (kind of like the flux capacitor).  Attached to this ventilator is a less scary looking machine for nitric oxide.

Every 3-4 hours they draw a little blood and test the gas in his blood that these machines supply. If the numbers look good they turn the settings down on the ventilator. Sometimes the readings are good and other times not so good. So the readings on the machine are constantly being adjusted up and down. Improvement, regression, improvement... Thankfully we are trending towards improvement. Once the readings on the "scary" ventilator are good enough they will switch him to the conventional ventilator. That could be days, weeks or months depending upon how quickly he progresses. After being on the conventional ventilator some babies regress and have to be put back in the "scary" ventilator. After Caleb has been on the conventional ventilator and improved to where he needs to be they will do some type of oxygen through tubes. Sometimes it's a cpap and other times it's the hose that runs under their nose. Once he gets completely off the oxygen it's time for Caleb to learn how to breath and eat on his own. At that point he will be transferred to the level 2 NICU.  That's another story and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. 

All in all a long road but other families have done it and we can do it too. 

Thank you for your love and prayers!! Amazing how much I love my nephew that I have never met but have prayed for everyday day for months. I believe that when you pray for someone for an extended period of time it bonds you together. I love you, Mr. Caleb. 

This is also my shout out to the nurses at Presby Rockwall that I fell in love with the week I was there. THANK YOU for the love, prayers and kindness you have given to Leah. Thank you for getting her to the point that she could transfer. Thank you for visiting her and sending her messages. You are the BEST! 

xoxo

Angie