Hearing Test and Bi-Pap Sleep Test

Well, Logan had his third hearing test on Feb 3rd, last Tuesday. He had two previous newborn screenings when he was at the ICN, but he failed both of them. This is the third one, and unfortunately, he failed that, too. The audiologist then did an ear drum test on both of his ears. The left ear drum responded normally to the vibrations, but the right eardrum barely passed it. The audiologist said it's too early to tell what was going on and would like Logan to come back for further tests. Logan would have to come back on the 26th to do another hour-long diagnostic test. With this test, the audiologist would be able to gather more information on the different parts of his ears. Let's hope Logan passes this, so we have one less thing to worry about him.

That same afternoon, the pulmonologist called and said Logan could do the Bi-pap test that night at Santa Clara Kaiser. We didn't have to wait till March 17 to get it done at the Sleep Center. So we immediately packed our stuff, waited for Logan to finish his feeding and fall asleep, then I drove him down to Santa Clara. The test was administered at their Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (I made a mistake in going to their NICU, oops).

For this test, they had to do a blood gas through his vein to get the baseline of his oxygen and carbon dioxide level first. Then they would redo the test during and after he's done using the Bi-Pap machine. I witnessed them poking his hand again to find that vein, maneuvering it a little because blood wasn't flowing. They need to see if the machine could help with eliminating the amount of CO2. Logan struggled and cried because he was being held down, and probably because the nurses looked like they were twisting his now bruised hand. But he didn't cry when the actual needle went in.

I first fed Logan, and then he had to rest for an hour before the test, so that he won't spit up or throw up into the mask and swallow it back into this lungs. They had him try on a mask that covered both his nose and mouth. However, the sizing wasn't right and air was leaking out of his chin. It looked super uncomfortable. Logan didn't cry or fuss much with this mask, either because it didn't bother him much, or he was just too tired.

This didn't work, so the respiratory therapist had to go to the NICU to get another new machine with a different mask. This one had two tubes that went into his nostrils and basically pumped air in it. Logan hated this mask. It was so comfortable to watch him go through that and I bet it's super uncomfortable for him. By the time it was placed, he was fully awake and annoyed. We couldn't get him back to sleep and it was approaching feeding time. At around 4 a.m., I fed him again and he finally went into his deep sleep at around 4:45-5:00 a.m. They put the annoying mask/tubing back into his nose and he was actually able to keep that in for an hour or so. At that point, I was so tired, I fell asleep and didn't wake up until around 6:15 a.m. when the nurse was doing another blood test. Fortunately or unfortunately, the machine did not change much the level of carbon dioxide.

We then got discharged from the hospital at around 9:30 a.m. and had to rush all the way back to San Francisco for his pulmonologist appointment at 10:30 a.m. We were a little late, but not as late as I worried. We talked a little bit about the test results and what happened. I commented that Logan's O2 saturation throughout the night (with his cannula in) was actually very good, mainly in the high 90s and 100. Except, when he was feeding and we took his cannula off, his numbers went down to the 70s. I told her I was confused why his numbers were so well, yet the blood gas results were not good. At least she assured me that Logan has enough oxygen going to his brain, thus won't interfere with brain development. The problem seems to be the inability to get rid of the carbon dioxide. She couldn't give me an answer, but to tell me to keep the cannula on, and forget about the bi-pap machine for now. She might check-in with the doctor of the Sleep Center again to see if they have a different mask and might have to re-do the test.

For now, I am looking forward to the ENT appointment in Oakland on Wednesday, because this doctor might be able to answer some of my questions regarding Logan's hearing, feeding, and breathing.

And we still need to do a cardioechogram on Tuesday to check his heart. I believe everything will be fine, it's just a precaution since the heart works closely with the lungs.