Day 9 - Caffeine

Objectively, today was a pretty good day for Milo. Shelly and I realized that our morning lattes were costing us about $8 a day and decided to skip our fancy coffees and opt for the free coffee we can get with our breakfast tray. And that was the beginning of an emotional day for us both, wether related to the coffee or not, we don't know but it definitely didn't coincide with any health issues on Milo's side.

They did find out that Milo had a collapsed lung when they did the x-ray to make sure his PICC line was in place. Just a minor thing that seemed to improve slightly on the next x-ray and then digress again for the following x-ray. They didn't think there was air or fluid in his lungs causing the collapse which is good and decided it might just be mucous that needed to be broken up so they ordered Chest Physiotherapy (CPT). This therapy is about the cutest thing they could have prescribed as it basically entails one of the nurses taking a device that vibrates softly and laying it against his chest in various places for about 5 minutes at a time. It vibrates through him and helps break up the mucous and most babies really enjoy it. It's fun to think about these babies having little spa treatments between the caffeine and milk (latte), the bilirubin lights (tanning bed) and the CPT (massage), these kids are getting pampered.

The good news is that his lung doesn't seem to be bothering him, he is still breathing great and getting plenty of oxygen (his CPAP is no longer needing to supplement the oxygen he gets). They also did his head ultrasound which is a common test they do at around 10 days that will show if they have any bleeds or cysts in their heads. Waiting on the results of this test was nerve wracking because any abnormalities here could lead to future long-term problems including cerebral palsy.

My dad made the trip up here and met us at the hotel this evening. I called in to see if they had any updates from his most recent x-ray (after the CPT therapy) and the ultrasound. There was no news, his lung was still collapsed and the ultrasound results hadn't come in yet.