problems beget problems

Due to Rohan’s admittance to the NICU, he was subjected to a number of sensors and tests. Though his lungs were starting to clear and the first X-ray showed no major concerns, the oxygenation level of his blood started to become a concern. So, onto an oxygen tube he went.

Note to others, when explaining an “oxygen tube” to others, their first thought is usually something like a ventilator as required when the patient can no longer breathe for themselves. This was nothing like that and in fact all it did was blow room air past his nose to help him out a bit. Luckily the tube came off within the first six hours as his O2 levels came back up quickly. It is actually quite painful for a “new” father to watch helplessly as his kid seems to struggle to breathe and not really knowing what’s happening next. Nonetheless, the staff did a pretty good job of letting me know what was going on and what it all meant.

We started down the slippery slope when the first X-ray came back. The primary purpose of the X-ray was to determine if any merconium had entered the baby’s lungs and may be the cause of the grunting. Had any of the doctor’s done their homework (or if I had been paying more attention) they should have realized it to be a near impossibility due to the clear water bag when Rohan delivered.

Nevertheless, the first (of 5 freakin) x-rays showed what could be perceived as air in his body cavity, but outside his lungs – or a pneumo thorax. This sometimes happens if the kid breathes really hard or is given forced air. The latter didn’t happen, so they wanted to keep him in the NICU for further observation and re-take the x-ray since he had moved during the first one. The second x-ray showed a small amount of the pneumo thorax evident besides both lungs, so Rohan was destined to spend his first night alive in the NICU. We wall went back to our rooms and tried our best to sleep. I went back to the NICU around 2 AM to spend some time with the kid in a box.

The next morning a new x-ray was taken to monitor the progression, but the doctors did not see much change. Now that Rohan had been in the NICU for nearly 14 hours, he was getting dehydrated – so time to start him on an IV.

Subsequent x-rays showed that the pneumo thorax was shrinking on its own and no intervention would be required. In the end the crack medical team called it a “spontaneous pneumo thorax.” I wonder how many of these go undetected….should we x-ray all kids to be sure?