3 weeks

Collin is 3 weeks old today..and looking just adorable :)

Because of Collin's re-intubation yesterday, they did an X-ray to check for placement of the tube which is standard whenever they replace it.  They noticed that it seemed "foggy" around his lung area, which is some extra fluid.  They gave him a diuretic to help his body get rid of the fluid.  Because of that fluid being there they believe he could be developing Chronic Lung Disease.  I copied the explanation out of the 'Premature Baby Book' that the hospital gave to me to help explain what this means--

"Chronic Lung Disease ( Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia):
  The Oxygen and pressure to the lungs that help save the baby's life during the critical phase of respiratory distress syndrome can, paradoxically, also delay recovery.  Some babies, on a respirator for a week or more, develop damage to the lungs and bronchioles from high oxygen doses or high respirator pressures- a disease known as bronchopulmonary sysplasia (BPD) or chronic lung disease (CLD).  The damaged tissue dies and forms scars that impede the passage of air in and out of the lungs and obstruct the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the lungs and bloodstream.  Unlike an adult with lung disease, a baby with BPD can grow healthy new lung tissue.  And while scarring in the bronchioles is permanent, the bronchioles eventually grow and expand to the point where scar tissue no longer hampers airflow to and from the lungs.  But, until the lungs have healed sufficiently, the baby continues to be dependent on the respirator and/ or supplemental oxygen - a dependency that may take weeks or months to resolve.  Babies with BPD often suffer from excessive fluid accumulation in the lungs and other body tissues.  He may be treated with diuretics such as Lasix to help him excrete these fluids.  And although the baby needs extra calories to fuel his difficult breathing efforts, his intake of liquids must be restricted to prevent fluid buildup in the lungs.  High-calorie supplements are added to his breast milk to give him the most concentrated nutrition in the least amount of liquid.  Babies with BPD often have continuing respiratory problems that require special care.  They are highly vulnerable to colds and other respiratory infections. As many as 85% of these infants develop pneumonia or bronchitis in the first year, usually requiring re-hospitalization.  During early infancy the baby may still find it hard to breathe.  BPD babies can be excessively irritable, easy to tire, hard to feed, and slow to gain weight.  Despite the many difficulties BPD infants endure in the early months and years, most outgrow their respiratory symptoms in infancy or early childhood, and by school age, almost all are able to participate in normal vigorous physical activity. "

Hopefully this will not effect Collin too badly..Even being on the vent still he is on very low settings and doing most of the breathing on his own.  In all other areas he is doing very well.  He is getting 19.5 mls of breast milk every 3 hrs that are infused with extra calories.  The great news of the day is that he was taken off of IV fluids :)     Because he is doing so well with feeds, growing steadily and no longer requires IV fluids..the focus will now shift to his breathing.  We are hoping he can get off the vent as soon as possible to avoid any further damage to his lung tissue.   This is just another one of those things we have to take day by day and see where it goes...