Stay the Course

Andrew is continuing the trend, doing well on low settings and getting upset pretty infrequently. He's now sprinting four times per day, twice with the night nurse and twice with the day nurse. None of his follow-up gases have been outside of parameters, and most have been on the very low end.

Today someone from Occupational Therapy came by and showed us some exercises to keep his arms strong and flexible. Apparently "OT is for the top, PT is for the bottom," meaning that Physical Therapy works the legs and torso, while Occupational Therapy works with the hands, eating, and other upper-half behaviors. He's wearing splints on his hands in order to keep his wrists strong....they're on a three-hours-on, three-hours-off schedule.

He's tolerated all of his new exercises and massages pretty well. Occasionally he gets a little overwhelmed and tells us he's in a bad mood....today during his sprint, he was simultaneously getting a breathing treatment and an upper body massage. Eventually he expressed his displeasure. More info this evening after they try him in his chair.

It looks like RSV season is under way, meaning that they'll soon shut down the NICU to all non-parent visitors. RSV is an upper respiratory virus that often spreads during flu season and can be very dangerous to the elderly and children with weak immune systems. Since that describes just about every baby in the the unit, they are particularly sensitive to any potential outbreaks. Starting in October every year (the exact date is different depending on RSV cases in the county) and ending in March or April, only parents are allowed into the unit...even our four-person visitor list is ineligible.