The weight

Calder is now off the Decadron and the wait is on. According to his doctors we should expect that his stats will decline as the drug wears off. The hope is that he made enough gains while on the drug that his lungs will be able to support him on the SiPAP ventilator (which does much less damage). He is up to full feeds, so they have removed his PICC line (used to administer the baby Gatorade) -- one less opportunity now for infection. This also facilitates holding, so on Monday (his first full day off the drug), as he was doing well, Taryn got to hold him for the second time. Always exciting, but also a bit scary. Calder was also doing well on Tuesday and I got a chance to hold him. Definitely made my day!

First kiss

On Tuesday Calder had his second eye exam, which, when we arrived for our nightly visit, we learned showed that he has Stage 1 Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). There are five stages, and with the first two the condition is considered "mild."

The black arrow shows where the blood vessels don't grow all the way across.

The high oxygen level of the air he is breathing causes the blood vessels in his eyes to grow incorrectly. We'd read that one of the side effects of Decadron was an increased chance of ROP, and as a 24-week preemie he was already firmly in the at-risk category. Stage 1 can often resolve itself but with the extended amount of time Calder will be on oxygen there is the increased possibility that the ROP can increase to stages that reduce vision and can even result in blindness. His next eye exam is in two weeks so hopefully the ROP won't progress.

Now we just wait, and we hope that his lungs hold up on SiPAP and his eyes don't get worse!