Oxygen

Going home on oxygen is a reality for many families with preemies. In the weeks and months following Buzzy's release from the hospital, we found ourselves at the hospital's clinic for various follow-up appointments, and each time I would see at least one baby on both an apnea monitor and oxygen. This makes for a lot of equipment for a parent to cart around. Grateful we only had the apnea monitor to worry about, I would think back to the sometimes uphill battle we had in getting Buzzy weaned from her oxygen.

Immediately after Buzzy was born, a member of her team placed a tiny oxygen mask over her face. Her first picture captured this moment.

While in the NICU, Buzzy remained on various percentages of oxygen saturation. Each day we visited, we checked her machine to see what percentage she was on. On a good day, her percentage would be a little lower than the previous day, or it would at least remain the same. Disappointment and worry would set in when the number was higher because we had been told that too much oxygen could cause permanent damage to her eyes.

As she grew stronger, her breathing became more steady and the numbers on her monitor more stable. There were times that we would find her without her nasal cannula. She would take it out herself, and no one would know. Yet, when we tried to remove it, she would protest with an apnea or a desat. In the weeks prior to Buzzy's release from the hospital, one of our biggest questions was whether or not she would go home on oxygen, but just a few days before her release, she finally came off. It was the first time we could walk into her room and not hear the tell-tale hiss of the machine, and it was the first time we saw our baby without tubes.

Two days after this picture was taken, Buzzy went home.