Skylar's Progress

So some of you might be a little bit confused as to why Skylar is in the NICU. Since he was born 5 weeks premature he has a condition known as Respiratory Distress Syndrome. This is just a fancy way of saying he has a hard time breathing on his own. When he was first born they had him on a C-Pap which did a lot of his breathing for him. That only lasted for a day and then they switched him to a breathing tube. This didn't supply oxygen for him, but rather gave him a feed of pressurized air. This helped him to more fully expand his lungs and have something to work against to help build the muscles he needs to breathe on his own. They've been slowly decreasing his pressure over the last week, and as of last night he no longer has a breathing tube! He has been doing great on his own, and it is looking very promising that he will be able to continue breathing without any foreign devices.
No more breathing tube!

He is also currently receiving fluids and antibiotics through an IV. This is probably the saddest treatment he has to endure in my opinion, but I also am not a fan of needles :) He started off with an IV in his hand which they eventually moved to his head, then moved again to his other hand, and back to his head. Since his veins are so tiny they have a hard time supporting the IVs for very long and the veins eventually end up collapsing. We're hopeful that this last IV in his head will be his last one. Since his feedings have been increasing they have been gradually decreasing the amount of fluid he receives via the IV and they think he will be able to come off of it completely sometime this evening or tomorrow. This will make his mama very happy since the sight of a needle in her son's head is not pleasant. We did manage to get a picture of him when he didn't have any IVs in his head (there had been a point when he had one on each side as they were still flushing the other one and had started a new one). I love that he has so much dark hair and the fact that they gave him a hairstyle reminiscent of his daddy's!

The last invasive tube that he has right now is a feeding tube. He receives most of his nutrition through that, but we have also been practicing breast-feeding twice a day. Once his IV is out they will start weighing him before and after feedings. So far he is doing well at latching and even does well with sucking, but we can't be sure how effective these feedings are until all of his fluids come from nursing rather than through an IV. Once we can determine if he is actually receiving milk from nursing they will start increasing his feedings until he is only receiving milk from me rather than through the tube in his nose. We are excited for that day, because at that point he will be allowed to come home!

We are pleased with all of the progress he is making and know that it is because of the faith and prayers that have been issued on his behalf. It has been very touching for me to hear how many people are praying for him. Our ward held a special fast for both him and I as we are still in the recovery process, and I know that it is because of the fasting and prayers that he has been able to make steady progress. The doctors and nurses keep reminding us that everything we are asking of him is something that we wouldn't expect him to grasp for another 5 weeks, so his progress may rollercoaster a little bit. They keep telling us to expect that he won't be discharged until his due date (October 5), but we are very hopeful that he will come home to us sooner. It is very strange to only be able to spend 2 hours with this little man after having him with me 24/7. Whatever happens, we know the Lord is in control of the outcome and that when he does come home he will be able to be healthy and more capable of living normally.