Making Progress

In the past few days, Zach has been fairly stable. His blood transfusion went smoothly. His blood acidity and sugar level are now normal.  The biggest issue is that he is not breathing on his own on a regular basis. He gets tired or forgets to breathe. The doctors tell us that this is very normal for his age, and that the remaining magnesium in his system (this was given to Nadia help protect the baby prior to delivery) could be sedating him and preventing him from making the effort. He had a tube down his throat helping to provide air and oxygen when he didn't breathe. Today the doctors felt confident enough in him to try removing the tube and replacing it with a headpiece that still supports his breathing, but is less invasive and is a good step towards having him breathe entirely on his own. With the new headpiece he looks a bit like a Star Wars character. We've been calling this his "Darth Zachary" look.

Kangaroo Hold

Yesterday Nadia was able to hold Zachary for the first time. This is called a "kangaroo" hold where the baby is naked except for his diaper and held against Mom's skin. The kangaroo hold helps to promote mom and infant bonding, stimulate milk production, and has been shown to help regulate the baby's heart rate and breathing and calm him. Aaron was sad because he didn't go in yesterday and missed it. He had a slightly swollen throat and so decided to stay away in case he was getting sick. Any hint of infection is very serious for preemies and could easily be life threatening. After getting more sleep, Aaron felt well again today and was able to see Nadia hold him, our first time sitting together as a family.



We hope that  Aaron can try it tomorrow. Each time we get to hold Zach for 30-45 minutes, and it feels incredible. He is a tiny guy but when we touch his finger he tries to hold on tight and he nestles in to hear his mom's heartbeat.