This morning as I walked in to Nursery 1 I was greeted by both of Peter's favorite nurses, Jess & Kristen. OK, the truth of the matter is that Jess and Kristen are my favorite nurses. Chatting with them helps to pass the time. Kristen was Peter's first nurse in the NICU and Jess has been his nurse more times than any other. They are both super fun and funny. I can honestly say that I will truly miss them when Peter comes home.
Peter's "flow" was reduced to 1 liter today. He did very well with this transition. In fact, for a good portion of the afternoon, his nasal cannula resided somewhere between his mouth and his forehead. Jess and Kristen let us try this out and not put it back on as long as he stayed in the oxygen saturation range set by his doctor (and he did). We put the cannula back in place when the night shift arrived. Hopefully our little muffin will continue to do well tonight.
Dr Mohsini stopped by Peter's bed to say goodbye before she left this afternoon. She is certain that he will be home before she returns for the next "big switch" . . . so, providing she is correct, we are counting down a maximum of 14 days . . . please say a prayer that she is correct. Jess will be Peter's nurse tomorrow and Monday as well. She is going to try to get his circumcision scheduled for the coming week. She is also going to get an ultrasound scheduled for Peter as there is an area on his back that Dr Chai wanted checked out before he goes home (nothing of concern, just an unusual dimple that he wants to check out). So, these signs all point to Peter going home soon.
Our hope is that he won't need to go home on oxygen, but we'll bring him home however we can. Apparently, to qualify for home oxygen support (rather to get insurance to pay for home oxygen support) the baby has to be removed from all oxygen and flow and desaturate . . . so, when they perform this test, we will see if Peter can handle life without the o's (as the nurses call it).
Peter is up to 5 lbs, 15 oz tonight. We can't believe how fast he is gaining weight now.
