Breath of Life

Last night was the first night that June wore her CPAP all night long.  I am happy to report that she did remarkably well and after Rich arranged the head gear correctly (I failed the night before by myself), she peacefully slept with only two faint cries in the middle of the night.  

For those of you who are wondering, a CPAP machine goes over her nose to push air through her airways so they remain open and don't collapse at night.  This helps her sleep apnea issue.  In June's case, she doesn't have oxygen deprivation, she has REM sleep deprivation because she's gasping for air at night, thus waking herself up.  Without REM sleep, the brain could have trouble functioning properly, leading to learning difficulties and tiredness.  We believe this could be why June falls asleep in random places on some days.

Thank you for your continued prayer during this time. I do have one small miracle to tell you about.  June has a rather long frenulum which rests in between her two front teeth (this is the piece of skin connecting the upper lip to the gum).  It is very painful for her and it bleeds when we brush her teeth. Dentist has said we may have to have it snipped.  I've read that this piece of skin contributes to all sorts of feeding and speech problems.  On Saturday, February 5th at 12:00 noon, June had a horrible fall on the edge of our bed.  Her mouth bled for quite some time and she cried hard.  By the end of the day, we were happy to see that it had healed up quite nicely, and her frenulum was no longer there.  Tonight, little June ate steamed broccoli for dinner with rice and small bites of pork.  This was extremely encouraging to us after months of mashing up her food.  I am hoping this is the start of many dinners with the family....She also has been enjoying teeth brushing time and has been letting us get near her mouth/face more. 

Today, June also had her yearly developmental evaluation with Early Intervention.  She scored as low as a 4 month old for social issues, and as high as a 12 month old for self-help skills like feeding.  No surprises there...

Well, it is now 9:30 pm, and so far, so good.  No little cries coming from my baby girl.  I guess the CPAP machine is doing its job well.  Breathing new life into those precious airways....


Thank you God for the gift of peaceful sleep.