Living the Dream…Off Oxygen?

It’s official – Jax is out of newborn sized clothes and into 0 – 3 month size! What a long way he has come – from practically swimming in preemie size to busting out the seams on his newborn clothes! The Chunky Muffin weighs 9lbs 10ozs and is 22 inches long already! He gains about an ounce (or more) a day. He’s come a long way, huh?

All this weight gain has his doctors very excited. We have been gradually weaning him off oxygen over the last couple of weeks. We started by taking him off for 15 minutes a day and have been increasing the time off each day. Now he can be off for around 8 hours during the day with 100% saturation! The next step is to make sure he can keep his levels in check overnight.

Tonight we do the in-home sleep study where we will take Jax off his oxygen all night long. We will have him hooked up to a monitor that will record his oxygen levels and heart rate. I’m sure I will not sleep a wink. The monitor is super loud and beeps all the time, plus if the alarms do go off, they make a shrill, jarring noise. If the alarms go off it could be because he moved and the sensor disconnected, or it could mean that he is having trouble breathing and we need to call 911. Ugh. Either way, when (if) that alarm goes off, I will have a heart attack!

In the morning, a courier will come to pick up the machine and bring it to Children’s where they will download and interpret the data. If all goes well, Jax may BE OFF OXYGEN!!!

Prayer point for today: Jax sleeps well without the oxygen and there are no alarms tonight!

Get ready to say goodbye to the “adorable” tender grips (the stickers on the side of his face that hold the tubes in place) and the nasal canula – this might be the last time you see them!

Author: Andrea M

Oh man, what an adventure! I went into labor unexpectedly when I was 23w3d pregnant. Jaxson was born weighing 1 lb 8 oz. A tiny little peanut, but boy was he feisty. He still is! We love it now, but we probably won't when he is a teenager. I write about our journey and all other things that come with it, including a brain tumor. We look forward to "meeting" you - come hang out with us...we're pretty cool. View all posts by Andrea M