Here’s today’s update from Dr. Schrager, the neonatologist:
Micah is doing much the same as yesterday. His weight remained roughly the same (maybe a very slight drop of 0.3 oz): 4 lbs 15.5 ozs.
He has been doing well with his bottle feedings. Last feeding (at 9:30 a.m.) he took 60 CCs.
His apnea/brady episodes are improving in the sense that they did not require intervention over the past 24 hours. However, Dr. Schrager is “concerned about his heart rate drifts” and is ordering a pneumogram for either today/tomorrow. Even though Micah’s current episodes didn’t require intervention, the combination of his smaller episodes and the few times over the past week (where he has changed color to a “dusty” or “blue” and the nurses had to stimulate him) is cause for concern. Dr. Schrager will read the results on Sunday since he will be on call that day. The heart rate drifts, he said, “may be reflux-related, and it certainly looks that way on the monitor, but not when you look at the baby.” (We aren’t seeing a lot of spit-up either through his nose or mouth. But he said you aren’t always able to see it.) The pneumogram will record breathing effort, heart rate, oxygen level, and air flow to the lungs during sleep. Micah will also have a pH recording to measure how often stomach acid comes up into the esophagus. This is done through a tube in his nose, down the esophagus.
Micah is mostly ready to come home (as far as taking the bottle, holding his temp, etc.) But the results of the pneumogram will help them decide if he should be coming home on the apnea/bradycardia monitor. Friends (who had preemies on the AB monitor) tell me that those monitors can make your life very miserable with all the false alarms, but I would much rather have the monitor, than not know if Micah was in trouble. So I’m praying that God will make it really clear whether or not he should be on a monitor!
Dr. Schrager said that with these tests, Micah definitely won’t come home before Monday. . . The heart rate drifts are the dr’s main concern, and he wants to be sure Micah is really ready to come home. (It was reassuring to hear the doctor say that!!)
I told Dr. Schrager that Mara has been congested, coughing, and running a fever around 101 yesterday and today. So I asked him whether I should hold off on visiting Micah today. He said as long as I don’t have any symptoms, it should be okay, if I wash my hands well before seeing him . . . So please pray that Micah will stay healthy!!