Another No

This post comes bearing good news and bad news. We'll start with the bad and get that over with... :) We were given yet another 'no' at Claire's oxygen appointment yesterday. I was very confident that tomorrow was going to be her last day on the oxygen for several reasons. First, we were told by one of the doctors that almost all babies who need oxygen are ready to come off at 2 months. Secondly, Claire had gone 9 days in a row without an alarm on the monitor.. yay!! In the NICU, we were told that babies have to go 5 days in a row without a spell in order to go home without a monitor. So, I had been doing my own little at-home trial - counting the days in a row without an alarm. The longest she had gone without an alarm before this was 3 days, so when we were at 9 yesterday, I was thrilled! It's almost like something in her brain finally clicked and she suddenly can breathe normally, without the apnea. At her appointment (she weighed in at 10 lbs, 12 oz) they did the room air test and Claire performed beautifully! I was told at her last appointment that she needs to keep her oxygen saturation in her blood between 95-100. She stayed at 97-100 almost the whole time she was off yesterday. I was so excited! She did have 3 short dips - one to 91 and two to 94 - but she brought the levels back up right away. I thought FOR SURE this was going to be it! The nurse left to get the doctor and as soon as he came in, he told us that she's not quite ready yet... WHAT?! He said 'normal' babies don't have dips to the low 90's but my thought is - how often do they hook up a normal baby to the machine to check their oxygen levels.. umm.. never! He also said that although they only have to go 5 days in a row in the NICU, he wants her to go a month without an alarm!! I couldn't believe it. We now have to wait another three weeks before her next appointment... what a huge disappointment! He also mentioned that he may want to keep her on the monitor until she's 7 months old.... I'm not even going there yet because that thought is more than I can handle right now...

On to the good news -- after two full days of no nursing, only formula and pumping, I found out that I can indeed nurse Claire with this antibiotic. I called her pediatrician to ask about a rash Claire had developed and I mentioned this new formula she was on since I couldn't nurse her with this medicine. She looked it up and told me that I actually am able to nurse her... what a relief! So that has made life around here a lot easier!!

I'm absolutely LOVING this new role in my life -- oxygen, monitor, doctor's appointments and all!! What a true gift this precious girl is. Oh - the oxygen delivery man just pulled up, so that's my cue! Off to get some new tanks!! :)