March 6th, 2012

We snuck in a picture of his face

while they were changing his tubes

Happy 4 weeks Ryan!!

Well it always seems like when I have too much good news, I hear bad news. Although the ventilator is helping Ryan to breathe better, it does come with its risks--one of which being Chronic Lung Disease. This is not a disease and is characterized by general lung damage. Having the tube constantly down his throat has affected his right lung. A few days ago, his lung was showing signs of collapsing and he had to be switched to a jet ventilator. This jet ventilator supplies constant air pressure to his lungs so they don't have a chance to fully expire. This also in turn helps with the damage the tubes are causing because the tubes are not rubbing on the walls of his lungs. They have him lying on his left side for now to let his right lung expand back up. After a couple of X-rays, his lung is back to normal and he is doing great. Although there is still some damage, his lungs are still very immature and overtime as his lungs continue to grow, the new lung tissue will have more power to make up for the damage. He is getting little doses of morphine to help with the pain from the damage. Although you obviously do not know he is in pain, their sure the damage and stress from the lung isn't comfortable so the morphine will help put him at ease. He seems to be back to his normal self being very active and there is already talk of getting him off the jet ventilator.

On a brighter note, Ryan is now 2 pounds 14 ounces! This means he is only 4 ounces away from 3 pounds! We also weighed him before he was able to poop, so it may have contributed to extra weight. Haha. Either way, Ryan and I are very excited our little buddy is doing so well in that area.