No more oxygen

Abraham's eyes are still immature which means that he is at risk for ROP if he is on high levels of oxygen and his blood oxygen level is high. His next check is in 3 weeks. The medical unit can only deliver 100% oxygen concentration with variable flow. He really does not need to stay in NICU for 3 more weeks. The respiratory therapist came up with the idea to give him 0.1 liters of 100% oxygen (was on 1/2 to 1 liter over the last few weeks on 21(room air)-40%). The floor nurses can only change the flow not the concentration. Today they put on 0.1 liters with 100% oxygen concentration, his oxygen level was too high (could hurt his eyes) so they took oxygen off him completely He even did binky training without oxygen. I was very nervous to leave him on no oxygen at all, in fact the nasal prongs (delivers oxygen in the nose) fell on the ground so I threw it away. The nurse got a new one however she did not open the package. This could be a sign that he won't need oxygen at all. This would be one less thing to worry about. There are other babies in NICU for 8 months that had to have trachea tubes placed due to breathing difficulties. Abraham appears to not need assistance with breathing. He is still on NG tube feedings, 23 cc per hour (up a little). He is coughing and showing signs of reflux. I heard this is normal for all babies however he has it frequently. This does cause him to have some breathign difficulties however this would probably be the same for anyone. Since his feeding is by NG tube he can not control how much is in his stomach at one time. He has had some serious gas too. One thing I am concerned about is he keeps his legs tucked closely to him which could be an early sign of cerebral palsy. It's still too early to tell. He passed his hearing screen. Yesterday 5/5/09 (original due date) he got to try to breast feed. He breathed well but forgot to swallow everything. The OT took a picture of us and gave me a copy. He looks like a normal baby. He seems to look like me, not sure if that is good or bad. He still a way to go before being discharged home however is closer than he was 2 weeks ago. On a different note Glenn is feeling better since he was on antibiotics for bronchitis. He doe not have the flu.