Day 42: Six weeks old

Today, Loki is six weeks old. Overall, he continues to do fairly well. He is up to 1080 grams, or 2 lbs. 6 oz. His SiPAP remains on 15 cycles per minute, typically at 26% oxygen.

The other day, we learned that he has a moderate case of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), which is a fairly general term for damaged lungs. This was likely caused by the respirator, which he needed to breathe during his first four weeks out. The damaged lung tissue doesn't really heal, but healthy lung tissue will grow around. Thus, as he gets older, the portion of his lungs that is damaged will decrease. Most likely, he'll have stronger symptoms and need more care during his first couple years.

Although overall he is doing well, he just gave us quite a scare. All three of his vital signs - heart rate, breathing rate, and blood oxygen saturation - all dropped sharply at the same time. Patting his butt and rubbing his back didn't help enough. It turns out that his feeding tube had slipped out a bit, and was stimulating his vagus nerve, which is one of the main ones connecting the head and the chest. Such stimulation can cause all sorts of problems. The tube had to be pulled and put back in, which is not a huge deal. Nevertheless, it is not fun to see him like this.

You can see in the pictures how much he has grown and changed in appearance from his birth until now. But you can't see his behaviour. I've noticed that he seems to have much more coordination. He can better bring his hand to his face (where he likes it), and maybe try to take off his breathing mask. When lying on his tummy, he can lift himself up just a bit. Sometimes he lifts his head a bit. The biggest difference is in his eyes. Recently he began to blink, and they often look towards the source of sound. I suppose these little developments are among the joys of parenting.