Glossary of Terms

There certainly are a lot of new terms we're learning.  A lot of them have abbreviations.  Scott is very good at remembering them - me, not so much.  Our lovely nurse Kathy gave us some handouts.  I'm going to try to translate some of the terms so that I can remember/understand them better. Here is a small sample of terms:

Gestational Age Correction: 
Ryan was born at 24 weeks, 5 days.  It's easy to think of him as a week old (tomorrow) but in reality, tomorrow he'll be 25 weeks, 5 days tomorrow because he's still supposed to be inside.  We'll need to 'correct' his age up until he's 2 years old.  When we take him to the doctor for his 6 month check up, they will compare him to babies born in August 2012, not babies born in April 2012. Makes sense, I think.

Percutaneously Inserted Central Venous Catheter (PICC Line):
This was a big one - I mentioned it in the Day 6 post.
This is like an IV line, except that it is longer.  It's used when inserting an IV needs to stay in for a long period of time.  Babies who are less than 28 weeks, or who weigh less than 1500 g usually need PICC lines. Ryan definitely did.  A PICC line is placed in a vein on the arm, head, leg or scalp so that the tip of the catheter reaches on of the big veins in the chest.  (I haven't seen him since they put it in, but I think it's in his arm - I hope!).  Once the procedure is finished, an x-ray is taken to ensure proper placement of the line.

Respiratory Distress Syndrome:
Lots of preemies have trouble breathing because they enter the world before their lungs are ready to breathe on their own.  I was given the celestone shot (a steroid used to help speed up lung development) while I was in the Newmarket hospital - it's good that they gave it to me early, so that it had a few days to work.  I think it put Ry at a slight advantage.  Anyway, these preemies need extra oxygen.  Room air is 21% oxygen.  These guys need more.  I think he ranges from 23-25% lately.

When he's off the ventilator, he'll go on a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure).  This is oxygen delivered under a small amount of pressure through little tubes that fit into the nostirils. THis helps keep the air sacs open. 

Umbilical Arterial Catheter: These give the needed fluids, medication, nutrients, and to obtain blood samples. (As of today, this has been replaced by the PICC line).

The reason they take so many blood samples is because they have to check for oxygen, sugar, water, adn to determine correct settings on the breathing machines.

Long term problems after RDS: increased severity of colds, sensitivity to lung irritants (smoke, pollution), greater likelihood of wheezing/asthma-like problems