Posted Apr 8, 2007 9:36am

Happy Easter!
Day 56
8 weeks old!
32 weeks gestation (This marks the 10 weeks that we were trying to make it to from the the time I (Julie) went into the hospital)
2 pounds 10 ounces

Ryan had a pretty good day yesterday. The doctor went down on the ventilator pressure from 22 to 21. He didn't make any changes to ventilator rate. This weaning process is something they have to take very slowly and give Ryan a chance to adjust to the new settings. He needed more oxygen yesterday after the pressures were turned down. He has been only needing about 35-40% oxygen, but yesterday he needed about 50-60%. The doctor told us the other day that he is hoping to get Ryan off the ventilator by the end of this week. We are very excited. The ventilator settings are now at a pressure of 21, rate of 11, PEEP of 5.0.
The doctor also ordered for HMF (human milk factor) to be added to Ryan's milk to add an additional 2 calories per ounce. This is a calorie supplement made from breastmilk that they add to breastmilk that increases the calories from 20 calories/oz. to 22 calories/oz. We weren't specifically told why they decided to do this, but it is very safe to assume that because he has been hovering around 2 1/2 pounds for a week now that they are wanting him to gain weight a little faster. He is still receiving the MCT oil that also adds calories to his diet. He receives that with every feeding.

PRAYER REQUEST: The eye doctor is planning on checking Ryan's eyes early this week. It may be as soon as tomorrow. He will be looking for signs of ROP. ROP, retinopathy of prematurity, is a result of abnormal blood vessels that grow and spread throughout the retina in the eyes. ROP can range in severity of a grade 1 requiring no treatment to a grade 5 which is untreatable and causes blindness. The treatment, if needed, for ROP is laser eye surgery that the doctor does in the NICU.