When you have the chance, take it...

When we were at the hospital earlier today, we had the chance to hold Reid, but due to not having much time, we opted not to hold him and would do it this evening. The doctors like for us to hold him for a minimum of 45 minutes at a time as it is a pretty lengthy process to get him out of his incubator and then put him back in.

Kristen was looking forward to this evening all day long, and the moment we walked in the NICU, the nurse told us that tonight probably wasn't a good night to do so. He has had quite a few cases of apnea today and they wanted him to rest.

The two previous days of being on the nasal cannula took their toll and made him work harder than he could take. He does not yet have the "white fat" that most newborns have (which stores the energy that is used to do common functions such as moving, eating, breathing, etc). Until this comes in, it is hard on Reid to do anything extra --- in this case, the removal of the CPAP the other day was just too much for him this early. The doctors gave it a try in hopes that it would work and they would never know until they try... so they will wait awhile and probably try again.

The EKG will take place in the morning and should have results by the end of the day. If the artery has not yet closed, they will most likely continue another 3 doses of the NeoProfen over the weekend.

As for Mom, she has had a very long day. Most of the afternoon she slept as her medicine is causing drowsiness. She is still having an allergic reaction to something (even after we got her off the Percocet), so tonight we made a trip to CVS to pick up some Latex-free medical tape. She has had quite a bit of tape on her over the past week and we are desperate to find out what is causing the itchiness and raised red skin on her stomach, upper legs and back. I changed the dressing tonight and we will see in the morning how she is doing. Cross your fingers that $5 tape will solve her problems. If so, Percocet may be back on her menu. :)

Well, it has been another long day. Signing off and going to go downstairs to decompress and do some mind-numbing exercises (i.e. watch the tube). Good night...