Carrying on

Gus has had a really good sleepy 24 hours. There have been very few spells of apnea - and even the ones he had were minor. It seems as though the CPAP has provided some needed rest from the hard work of breathing and eating from a bottle. Gus was pretty spunky when we were changing him and doing care before his feeding. Much more like his usual self than yesterday.

Drs B and A were doing rounds on Gus when I came in this evening and indicated they felt he is probably suffering apnea because of weakened muscles in his trachea in combination with just having premature neural responses. The CPAP applies more pressure which keeps the trachea open - Gus' minor and infrequent apnea events with the CPAP pressure lead them to think that he just needs a little time and exercise for the trachea to get strong. He may go back and forth from the CPAP to the cannula until this resolves itself. This is good news - we will wait to see his progress.

Here is Jill holding Gus as he sleeps after his feed tonight. She is saying "shhhhh" as he fusses to get out a burp. He received his feeds today via gravity - getting 35 ml in about 15 minutes. He was awake for a good portion of the feed while I was holding him then it was time for his regular post-feed nap.

Nurse Penny drew Gus some B&W pictures to keep him occupied while in his isolette. His eyes really move around and you can tell he is looking at patterns on his blanket. These are more defined images that he can probably focus on better than faces and color images on his blanket. Thanks Penny!!!

Gus gained another 2.75 oz yesterday - now up to 4 lb 6 oz! Some of the weight may have been due to the addition of the CPAP apparatus, but not too much. Gus had a few "very large" GI events today that may have cleared a little weight so we will see what he weighs tomorrow .

We were very glad to see Gus awake and responding more, even if it was getting feisty during his assessment. More like the Gus we know and love and less like the lethargic guy we were with yesterday. He is such a trooper and continues to progress well with the love, prayers and support of so many people. Gus' podmates - VE, MH and KK - continue to make good progress as well. Each of them (and their parents) have ups and downs but are securely held in the care of a loving Creator.

Counting Tomorrows,
Gregg, Jill and Gus