Big News!

I got the best phone call today, all the more exciting because it was completely unexpected. Andrea's pulmonologist called with the results of her sleep study. I was expecting to hear the news at an appointment next week.

To cut to the chase, Andrea is OFF THE OXYGEN! Her saturation levels stayed pretty steady in the 97% range over night. The lowest she dropped was still only 90%, and that was for 41 seconds.

It is the recommendation of the doctor that we continue to use the PusleOx meter for the next month to make sure all is well. This is a mixed bag, because it's the monitors that have caused the lost sleep since Andrea came home. However, we will have peace of mind, knowing that we'll be alerted if something goes wrong in the period of time while her body adjusts to being unsupported by the concentrator. Despite the anxiety of giving up the oxygen, we are thrilled. The concentrator is an extremely noisy machine. The drone it makes all night long is a sound we will happily do without.

Tonight's picture is the first (of many, we assume) of Andrea sleeping without the oxygen cannula. Her poor cheeks are a mess from the months of TegaDerm, made worse by the fact that she spends most of her time tearing the tape off her face. We are looking forward to giving her a chance to heal. Andrea has always liked sleeping on her belly... it was one of her favorite positions in the NICU. Now, between being able to roll over, and being off the oxygen, you can see her happily snoozing on her tummy!



I haven't said it in a while, but Thank You for all the prayers and good wishes that have brought us to this point.

"There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream." Author Unknown

"One may go a long way after one is tired." French Proverb