Room Air Test, Part Deux
Hello to everyone.
The new pulse oximeter arrived today, in the afternoon. Rebecca plugged it in to begin charging it up. She had a plan. Xavier had been off his oxygen most of the day (we decided to take him off during the day and keep him on it at night while we (attempted) to sleep). We only needed a four hour window of observation, so we thought 7:00 until 11:00 as it would guarantee at least one feeding in there.
We connected Xavier up at 7:00 and turned on the meter. The meter went through its mesmerizing start-up sequence of flashing lights and numeric countdown and Xavier (who tolerated having the sensor taped to his foot quite well) showed 97% O2 saturation and a heart rate in the low 130s. The monitor's display also told us the sensor was well-attached and we could believe the data.
We noted the time in the log, then loaded Xavier into his stroller for a walk around the neighborhood. The walk lasted an hour and Xavier slept through most of it. His sat level was consistently at 97% (in case you are wondering, the meter has a three hour battery backup. We did were not using a super-long extension cord).
The 97% was so consistent I began to question the meter, even though it showed everything working correctly and a reported a good connection to the sensor. Half way through the walk, Xavier woke to strain into his diaper. His heart rate dropped (as expected) and he desatted nicely (also expected). I decided the meter was working after all.
Returning home, we fed him, burped him, changed his diaper, held him, all the things we normally do. His sat levels were high most of the evening, several times reaching 100%! Praise God! I'm no expert, but that data speaks not only of good lungs, but awesome, well-formed lungs! There is a little concern about having too much O2 during retinal development, but what can you do when Xavier pegs the meter at 100% just breathing room air? All the prayer over his lungs really showed off last night!
Rebecca looked at me and stated, "Unless you have an objection, I'm leaving him off his oxygen."
So, Xavier woke this morning (several times) free of his cannula and free of his oxygen sensor. We are going to have to learn how to hold our son all over again now that we have no worries about tripping over his cannula tube, tripping over his oxygen sensor wire, stumbling over an oxygen tank, dropping an oxygen tank on the baby, and so many other imaginations that concerned us.
Rebecca will return the meter to Apria Wednesday. Hopefully, this time they won't lose the data the machine collected, so we can get the "official" and "doctor-certified" word to take Xavier off his O2.
Always, we thank you for your prayers.