Breathe Baby Breathe

So today baby Katea is exactly 8 months and 1 week old.  And she did something A.M.A.Z.I.N.G today!  Really, she's amazing and everything she does...or every milestone she reaches is amazing....but this one was just a HUGE step in the right direction, and definite progress!  :)

I woke up yesterday morning at 9am and baby Katea was already awake.  She's such a good baby, she usually just wakes up and looks around or sucks on her hands or her oxygen tube, making little noises until I wake up....and then when I look at her she gives me a great big smile.  Isn't that the greatest way to start my morning every morning?!!  I love it.  Well, yesterday was no different......I woke up and looked at her and she had pulled her canula out of her nose, into her mouth.  I had no idea how long the oxygen had been out of her nose, but she wasn't desatting....so I left her alone.

Actually, since we went to the pulmonologist....and she got put on the 'permanent' steriod, flowvent, her oxygen needs have improved a ton.  I think she just needed that extra little help to get her little lungs to mature and work on their own.  Before the flowvent, she would desat within a minute of the canula being out of her nose.  Now she can last a little while without oxygen before desatting and beeping.  The first time she pulled it out and her sats were ok....I just left it out of her nose, and she lasted a whole hour.  That was the longest she'd ever gone without oxygen in her whole entire life.  I must say I was pretty proud of her!  A few days after that we tried it again and she lasted 4 hours!  Progress!  A few days after that, she lasted almost 8 hours, but she needed it when she went to sleep...because she fell into a deep sleep and I guess she just was so relaxed that she didn't take deep enough breaths.  She had progressed so much in just a few days and I was so extremely happy and proud of her!

Well, like I said...I woke up yesterday and her canula was in her mouth....but her monitor said she was breathing pretty well, and her sats were good....so I just left her alone.

She lasted all morning without needing oxygen, so around noon I just turned the oxygen off and took the tubing off of her.  She lasted all afternoon without needing it.  Her sats were good all day long.  She would desat here and there, but she'd always self-recover, and pretty quickly too....so I just left her alone.  She was teaching herself how to breathe.  When we got ready for bed, she was still breathing on her own.  I had debated on whether I should just put the oxygen back on her, since she's needed it when sleeping....but she'd done so well all day long, that I wanted to give her the chance. 

 She fell asleep and I put her to bed, then I stayed up for a few more hours just to watch her and make sure she was ok.  She was definitely sleeping, and she was breathing!  At about 2am....she'd gone 17 hours with no oxygen, completely breathing on her own!  I turned the monitor up so I could hear it beep if she desatted, and then I went to sleep.

She didn't beep once the whole night!  Amazing.  Miracle!

This morning when we woke up, she was still breathing....without oxygen!  She had officially gone 24 hours....one full day, without needing oxygen!  I could have cried!

Today, she probably could have done it again, but we left the house....so I put the oxygen on her....the 24 hours she lasted without oxygen was spent all day at home, same air, same climate, same temperature.  I wasn't sure about how the being outside or going out and about would affect her....so I put the oxygen back on her.  Most of the day, she didn't need it.....but some of the time she did.  Someday we'll get there....to the place where she'll never need oxygen assistance....but for now, 24 hours is so amazing and I'm so so proud of her!  :)

Way to go baby Katea....Breathe Baby Breathe!