Wake Up, Day 1: More Lessons for Mama

Mason seems to be tolerating his wean of the Propofol fairly well. He's had 3 decreases without much change overall. After the first wean, his heart rate actually went down, his saturations went up, and he was overall much more relaxed than this morning. Slow and steady seems to be working well for Mason.

During the course of the day, naturally, we had to try to rock the boat a little (or in the words of the respiratory therapist, flip the boat over). Because Mason responded so well to lying him on his sides and doing some bag suctioning/postural drainage, they thought it might be good to move his gunk a little more and put him mostly on his stomach and do a little chest physical therapy on his back. This certainly loosened up some of the stuff in his lungs, but unfortunately took a lot out of him as well. Before doing this, his heart rate was back into the low 100's and his saturations were up. Afterward, he eventually relaxed again with his heart rate in the 118 range, but his saturations haven't been as great. Then, around 6:30 or so, his saturations went down and his heart rate went up. Not sure why, maybe it was his way of telling our favorite nurse that she can't leave. Picky little guy, ain't he??

It was nice for us to see Mason totally relaxed again. I can't remember the last time I've seen his heart rate so low or his saturations so good for any length of time. I am very hopeful that we can continue this wean, monitor his sedation, and help him make the transition off of the IV medication. While I was a little disappointed not to see my little man awake today, I am glad for the slow and steady approach. Hasn't Mason been trying all along to teach us about patience???