Take two!

We arrived at Max's crib side today to find he was being given his second run at the nasal prongs - yay, freedom! It was very nice to see his little face today, and he seemed very happy to not have the CPAP tubes hanging off of his nose.

Max's second try at nasal prongs  (which, again, just offers him a flow of unpressurized oxygen) has so far been markedly different than his first spin with the new breathing support. Last time our visit was full of big, dramatic episodes, and Max struggled quit a bit to keep his oxygen levels up even while being offered a fair amount of oxygen. Today was very different - he was very stable and was often down to room air; but typically in the 22-24% range (compare that to the 30-40% he required the last time he was on the nasal prongs). The only notable episode he had was when his new feeding tube was put in through his nose - and really, wouldn't anyone protest that? He seems to be really taking to it this time (knock on wood) and he seems much more comfortable too.

We are so ridiculously proud of our little guy. He's just amazing.

We went back to see Max in the wee hours of the morning, as Daddy Santos had the night off.  Max was back on CPAP because he was working too hard at getting his breath.  Essentially, he was fighting for each breath every now and then, and it was just taking too much out of him.  In order to help him with his comfort and energy, they decided that CPAP for a bit longer was a good choice. Although we agree with their assessment, we could tell that Maximilian absolutely hated having those horrid little CPAP prongs back. Still, he was doing well and - other than his little fatty tantrum when we were changing him - he was very stable during our visit. Hopefully the third time will be the charm in terms of getting him off the CPAP.