Saturday Night Party

Zachary had several good days and then this weekend had a lot of episodes of apnea and bradycardia. The doctors are investigating whether it is an infection or just that his lungs were tired out from being on the nasal cannula and he needs a bit more support. As a preemie, his lungs are still developing and we are told it is normal for him to have issues breathing for another 5-6 weeks. Because he is still pink and feisty and not acting like a sick baby, they suspect the latter and so put Zachary back on the bubble CPAP so that he gets a bit more help with his breathing. As a precaution they are also running tests on his blood to see if he might have an infection. After they changed his breathing system this morning Zach had a good day with no major episodes while we were visiting him.

It is disheartening to see him take a step back with this respiratory support but we know that this is just par for the course during his hospitalization. At least he is still off the ventilator (knock on wood)! We are really hoping that the CPAP does the trick and that he is not harboring an infection. After a little time has passed the doctors will try again with the cannula and see if he is strong enough at that point.

Zachary's new threads

On a happier note, we dressed Zachary in his first outfit last night. His nurse laughingly referred to it as his "Saturday night party." Aaron's siblings David and Amanda were in town for the weekend and got to witness this milestone of cuteness. We were amazed that clothes this small even exist, thank you to the Crespos for sending this micro-preemie outfit!

As part of the "party," Zachary's nurse also gave him an extra q-tip to suck on last night. Even though he gets all of his feedings of Nadia's breast milk through a feeding tube into his tummy, we give him "oral care" with q-tips of breast milk during his feedings so he can taste it and hopefully become used to it. He really seems to like his oral care and sucks away on the q-tip. It is adorable.