This morning, they flipped him back over onto his back, which predictably threw his numbers off a bit. However, they also decided to try him on a conventional ventilator. He has been more alert today, and they thought this would give him the chance to breathe for himself a bit without fighting the work of the machines. While the hi-frequency ventilator tries to keep his lungs perpetually open, then uses the "shaking" to help with gas exchange, a conventional ventilator breathes WITH him, and isn't negatively impacted by him trying to breathe on his own.
While this is very much a trial run, and I will not be surprised at all if he needs to switch back to the hi-fi, things are going well so far. They put him on at about 11:15am and got a blood gas at 11:45. They're trying to keep his CO2 between 50 and 70....the first gas was high (82), so they turned up the breathing rate from 30 breaths per minute to 40...which is still well within the normal range for an infant. The nurse also said they were optimistic about this vent. I just called again and his latest CO2 was at 65, which is within his expected parameters.
Again, I won't be surprised if he has to go back to the other ventilator. That said, just being stable for a while on this vent is a huge leap forward, and bodes well for his recovery process. I'm being very careful about getting my hopes up, but this is definitely good news.
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