Graduation

When Brooks was first born, he would have "spells" where he would forget to breathe and his heart rate would drop. He was always able to correct it himself by finally breathing (usually in response to the extremely loud alarm that went off in the NICU when his heart rate when down), but not having ever experienced anything like this, it was always very scary for us. The condition is common in preemies - the connection between the brain and the lungs just isn't quite mature. The technical term is called "Apnea of Prematurity," and it goes away as a baby matures and reaches full term.

As the days went by in the NICU, and with the help of a daily dose of caffeine to stimulate him to keep breathing, the number of "spells" he had on a daily basis decreased significantly. Out of an abundance of caution, however, when he was discharged from the hospital, he was sent home on an apnea monitor. He was supposed to be connected to it whenever he was sleeping and any time we weren't watching him closely i.e. when we were in the car, in another room, etc. So pretty much anytime other than when he was being fed or held.

I could not have taken him home without it - I honestly would have NEVER slept because I would have been watching him like a hawk 24/7 to make sure he was breathing. But after about 2 weeks on the monitor and no alarms (even after stopping the caffeine!), it started really becoming a pain, especially in the middle of the night when we'd wake up to feed him and forget to turn the monitor off, resulting in a ear piercing alarm that woke the whole house. And those darn leads (electrodes attached to each side of his chest that had wires coming from them) were in the way every time we changed or bathed him!

I'm happy to say that after the 4-week long Children's Hospital Apnea Program "protocol," Brooks graduated from the apnea monitor today! We could NOT get those leads off fast enough! He's finally just a regular baby. And he is growing like a weed - he weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce earlier this week. Tomorrow is the 40 week mark (my original due date!) and he is right on par with what Milo was when he was born (7 pounds, 4 ounces). Life is good!

Smell ya!