Line count.

Tyler has a few lines in him still. The biggest one is a PICC, Peripherally inserted central catheter which he gets TPN, Lipids, and most of his meds. A regular IV in his right arm, which they gave him the heart medicine. He is finished with that med, and I assume it will come out soon. He has five senors on him. Three ECG leads, electrocardiogram to monitor his heart rate and breath rate. One pulse oximeter which monitors his heart rate and oxygen saturation. The fifth lead is a surface body temperature sensor so his bed can adjust it's temperature. Tyler also has an oral feeding tube. He is too young to be able to eat and breathe yet.

The most noticeable connection right now is his CPAP. He needs to wear a special hat that ties the tubes to his head and lock the nose prongs into his nose. There is a blue tube and a white tube attached to either side of the nose prong connection. The blue side is the source of his air and the white side is the release for the overflow in pressure. There is a jar of water that the end of the white tube is submerged into. The water is how they adjust the pressure of the air going into his nose. The goal is to have the water constantly bubbling because the overflow of air is going through the water and not out of his mouth or exploding his lungs. Tyler likes to challange his nurses to create different ways to close his mouth; binky in the mouth, chin straps, wash clothes under his chin.

Now that Tyler is on the CPAP it is much easier and safer for us to hold him. Let me define easier. It takes two nurses to move him and make sure his CPAP stays connected as one of us is sitting in a chair waiting for him as the other one helps move his bed, close his bed, and move the chair in a position that doesn't rip his poor little nose off. All in all the process takes about five minutes to get him and everything situated for about a 45 minute holding session. And it is very much so worth it. All the doctor's, nurses, therapists believe in the healing power of touch here. (Ben says, slapping someone on the forehead screaming "Demons be Gone" or making the V8 sound isn't what the healing power of touch means.) The more babies are held even with all this equipment on them, the faster they heal, the more content they are, and the calmer the parents are. So we plan to make the most out of holding Tyler.