MAXIMO

We've been at the hospital all day today; yesterday we had another roller coaster day. Maximo was breathing sporadically causing him to go on and off oxygen. The doctor did an echo-cardiograph to make sure his heart was okay, and it was, but we were again waiting for results for 1/2 the day. Dr. Zegarra is a big promoter of "kangaroo care" which is where John and I would hold Maximo skin to skin as much as possible, preferably 24 hours per day. There have been many studies done on it and it's proven to help preemies in many ways. It actually started in Bogota, Columbia when they ran out of enough incubators for all the babies in the NICU, so parents were holding their babies and using their own body heat to keep the baby warm. Those babies not only survived, but did significantly better than those in incubators: they breast fed better, gained weight faster, recovered from sleep apnia faster, and because they had to expend less energy regulating their body temperature, they were less susceptible to viruses. They were also soothed by their parent's smell and heartbeat, so we're going to try to do if for as many hours a day as possible, both of us. Oh, yeah, we noticed Max sneezing yesterday, just to add more excitement - he tested positive for Influenza A... s omehow, he has the flu; this also might be adding to his breathing problems. Hopefully our kangaroo care will help him grow stronger faster!
Mas tarde... We spent all day with Max, which was good, but long for everyone. I think the kangaroo care is both therapeutic to Maximo and us. I've been really frustrated the past few days with the ups and downs, but feeling like we're doing something and snuggling with the little guy makes things better. His breathing seems better, but he still has low SpO2 readings every once in a while - kind of like sleep apnea. Dr. Zegarra also withheld one of Maximo's supplemental feedings today (at 3:00) to see if he'd take more at the breast. He did alright, but I don't think he ate enough to not get his supplemental feedings yet. Little by little, we'll get there.