Lookin' good

They did, in fact, extubate Ethan at 12:30 pm today. He's doing really well and he looks really good. (Aside from the fact that he has a tube taped in his nose and the tape goes up between his eyes...) I'll have to post a picture tomorrow. They do nasal cpap at UIHC, so at least he doesn't have to fight with that darn cpap mask. They have to flush the tube with saline then suction it out pretty often. Chris saw them pull up some nasty stuff. Yucky. But, he's calmer the rest of the time, so that's good news.

The ENT team did a flexible scope this morning after the extubation. Good news, he doesn't have any damage to his vocal chords. Yeah! Poor little guy doesn't sound much like a baby cry. Chris said he sounds like he's practicing to be a little bear cub! (I REALLY have to get this video transfer thing figured out for you all!) They did see that Ethan still has some narrowing below the larnyx. Hopefully that swelling will go down now that the tube is out.

As I said, Ethan is looking great. He's not retracting or tugging at all when he breathes. His co2 has been low 70, then a 60's, so that is great. The doctors are all happy with what they are seeing. The story is in the numbers. As long as he has good gases and they are able to keep turning his cpap down, that's a good thing!

One more funny thing. Remember how your mother always told you not to breathe that helium out of the balloon because it's not good for you? For some reason it is apparently good for babies... They are giving Ethan a mix of oxygen and helium! Since it is lighter than air, it somehow makes the oxygen flow in easier. The doc said it was like drinking water through a straw rather than syrup. Hmmm, maybe that's why he has a funny little cry?? I'll have to ask about that one!