No More Vent!

The ventilator is off! After 3 days of BiPap, and exactly 8 weeks since he was born, Aaron is now ready for nasal cannula...bypassing CPap! They told us about the change early this morning. We really thought we'd have a somewhat long journey to cannula but Aaron must've been doing really well these past few days for them to change it this quickly. He looks so much more comfortable than before.
There is no positive pressure associated with the cannula so he is 100% breathing on his own now. His throat is also completely recovered from having the tube down there for so long. He's gone from a low, scratchy cry to looong, loud one. It just makes us smile every time he cries. The cannula is also helping him not swallow so much air. The xrays they've been doing on his belly are getting better and better, but they're still holding off on the feedings. As a result he's down a few grams. Hopefully they will start with that again very soon. The most wonderful perk of the cannula is that soon we can try bottle feeding. This is one of the biggest hurdles, along with breathing on his own (which we can now cross off the list), that Aaron has to overcome before coming home.

The nurses can't believe how strong Aaron is and how fast he is progressing. He would only be 33 weeks gestational age this upcoming Monday, meaning he'd still have at least 4 more weeks to go before being considered "full term". We are just so thankful that God continues to watch over and protect our little miracle.