Ian-
Finnegan did well overnight, but it wasn't easy for me to sleep. The "normal" sounds are a bit frightening. I have to remember that Finnegan isn't supposed to be outside of the womb yet. Some of the sounds simply mean that his oxygen saturation level went up to 99 or 100 for a little bit... That's good. It means oxygenated blood is making it to all his organs. They'll slowly bring down his oxygen from 30% to 21% which is the same as room oxygen. If his level stays up at 99 or 100 for too long, they'll slowly turn down that dial until he reaches 21% oxygen. I particularly dislike the IV machine because it has one setting for alarms, loud. The other monitor changes sounds and volume. The IV machine might go off because a dose of something finished, or close to being finished, or because it detected an air bubble and stopped pumping so the nurse can come correct it before pumping resumes. None of that means disaster for Finnegan, but I still don't like the sounds. A red light on his bed might flash and sound a small noise... time for more water in the tray to keep his humidity up! There's a curtain I pull across the room at night so that I can sleep and the nurses can come and go while maintaining a bit of privacy for me. They'll wake me if there's anything to be concerned about, and if we're not here, they'll call. I think I slept mayyybe 2.5-3 hours. A lot's been on my mind and adjusting to everything in his room will take some time.
When I woke up, I walked over to Finnegan who has both a small bili light overhead and a bili strip underneath. I sanitized my hands, opened one of the arm flap doors, held his hand and said, "Good morning, son!" Wow, what rush.
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Wednesday Morning, day after birth I said, "Good morning, son!" for the first time. Wow, what a rush!
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| Baby Finnegan's left foot and Christine's hand. |
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Christine and I sat in Finnegan's rounds. Each morning, sometime usually between 9 and 11:30 his team which includes:
- Comes for rounds
- NEO - Neonatologist - Doc in charge
- For now, the NEO is Jaunita Corrales. I'm told they switch every week or so, and they also rotate the weekends. She reminds me a lot of my friend Patrick's mom.
- NNP - Neonatal Nurse Practioner - Runs the show, confirms with NEO
- RN - Registered Nurse - Takes care of almost everything. Completes orders put in by the NNP and NEO. She or he keeps us updated throughout the day and will call us if anything goes wrong that we need to know about. We can also call in anytime of the day and speak to her if we're curious and wanting an update.
- Christine and I - they make a big deal about involving us as part of Finn's care team.
- Doesn't usually come for rounds, but is always in the unit
- Resident - Doc on the floor or in the on-call room down the hall.
- RESP - Respiration Therapist - They come by a few times a day to check the settings on Finn's CPAP machine and to change out his masks. They switch between a mask over his nose, and a complex set of nose prongs so that his skin doesn't get hurt by having one or the other on for too long.
The first 5-10 minutes of rounds are medical jargon. After that, they focus on us, tell us what they were talking about, ask if we have any questions, etc. This first round was mostly the NNP telling the NEO all about Finnegan's numbers and confirming plans. When the session turned to our part, the doctor said he's doing great! That "He doesn't know he's a white boy! It's so funny, he doesn't even know!" These are the goals they established for Finnegan! Every patient in the hospital gets goals, and he's no exception..
Later the Bruckner grandparents and Grandma Doman came for a visit (Grandpa Doman was returning from a visit with Jenny, John, Kaylin, and Matthew Strong in CT for Mattman's first birthday!). Today they got to touch Finnegan!
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| Grandma Doman and Finnegan's right foot. |
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| Finnegan's "Giraffe OmniBed" gets really foggy because he's in 85% humidity. I couldn't get many good shots with Grandma Doman because of it. |
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| Finnegan and Grandma Bruckner |
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| Finnegan, Grandpa & Grandma Bruckner |
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| Bili light, Finnegan, Grandpa and Grandma Bruckner |
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| Grandpa Bruckner, Finnegan's teeny feet, and Grandma Bruckner |
Christine-
This evening, I was able to see my son's beautiful face for the first time. This evening, his respiratory therapist came in to clean out his machines and give him some "fresh air." This meant we were able to fully admire Finn's gorgeous face!
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| Finn with his mask off to pose for some pictures before they suction his nostrils and mouth and put a new one on. |
And a couple more videos :)
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