oxygen at night and ?

Mbitner

After reviewing Aiden's recent sleep study his care coordinator feels he will at least need oxygen at night (maybe apnea monitor too).  Can you tell me what this is like?  It is a big machine?  Are the tubes small?  Is it easy to get the cord wrapped around you?  Is it easy to travel with?  I am really trying to imagine this with Aiden. Waiting for pulmonology team to call us with recommendations.  Thanks! 

bhilyer

I'm not a regular poster here, but I thought I would respond.

One of my guys is on oxygen at home.  The machine is not too large.  It plugs in to a regular outlet and filters the room air to concentrate the oxygen in it.  We have about 20 feet of tubing that gives us some mobility.  

You will be given tender grips to help keep the canula in place.  I don't have any issues with my LO getting wrapped up in the cords, but he's still being swaddled at night.

For travel, we have portable tanks so we don't have to lug around the machine.  Our tanks are small and weight about 8 lbs.  My LO is at 1/2 L right now and the tank lasts for several hours.

I don't know about an apnea monitor, but we have a pulse ox monitor and it's a PITA.  Mostly because anytime it alarms it's a false alarm, but at 3 in the morning you tend to forget that.  I know there are several moms on the preemie board that use/have used apnea monitors at home.  I'm sure they would be glad to answer any questions. 

Try not to let it overwhelm you.  I built it up to be a lot more than it really is.  GL! 

Mbitner

bhilyer:

I'm not a regular poster here, but I thought I would respond.

One of my guys is on oxygen at home.  The machine is not too large.  It plugs in to a regular outlet and filters the room air to concentrate the oxygen in it.  We have about 20 feet of tubing that gives us some mobility.  

You will be given tender grips to help keep the canula in place.  I don't have any issues with my LO getting wrapped up in the cords, but he's still being swaddled at night.

For travel, we have portable tanks so we don't have to lug around the machine.  Our tanks are small and weight about 8 lbs.  My LO is at 1/2 L right now and the tank lasts for several hours.

I don't know about an apnea monitor, but we have a pulse ox monitor and it's a PITA.  Mostly because anytime it alarms it's a false alarm, but at 3 in the morning you tend to forget that.  I know there are several moms on the preemie board that use/have used apnea monitors at home.  I'm sure they would be glad to answer any questions. 

Try not to let it overwhelm you.  I built it up to be a lot more than it really is.  GL! 

Thank you for your input- I really appreciate it!   

TriciaJoy

I can't answer the O2 question, but the apnea monitor, I can.

It's very small. Ours was maybe 10" square and 4" thick? It has a battery, so it's very portable wherever you go. For Robbie, his leads wrapped around his chest with a band, and then we ran the wires (thin wires, a bit thicker than speaker wire) down his leg and out his pants or pajamas or whatever. With them run down and out, we didn't have any tangling problem. 

If it's only going to be at night, it's not as big of a PITA. If you have to travel with it, you'll step on the cords and the alarm is *LOUD* and you'll cuss and hate the thing. But night time, you get used to it pretty quickly. You just learn to make sure to get the cords plugged in tight so tehy don't come loose and scare the crap out of you with a false alarm.

TriciaJoy

I was trying to find a picture of ours.

Here you can see the wires running up and out of his pajamas, then how they plug into the larger wire, which runs back to the box itself: 

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7H22srZPuU4/SPL5E7OX-tI/AAAAAAAAAYM/QnuWkaPJCAk/s400/October9-13+025.jpg

 

And that's the machine itself, sitting next to the bouncer: 

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7H22srZPuU4/SOxl66TUu7I/AAAAAAAAAWM/xRJp0eBW4ZI/s400/October1+021.jpg

 

 

Mbitner

TriciaJoy:

I can't answer the O2 question, but the apnea monitor, I can.

It's very small. Ours was maybe 10" square and 4" thick? It has a battery, so it's very portable wherever you go. For Robbie, his leads wrapped around his chest with a band, and then we ran the wires (thin wires, a bit thicker than speaker wire) down his leg and out his pants or pajamas or whatever. With them run down and out, we didn't have any tangling problem. 

If it's only going to be at night, it's not as big of a PITA. If you have to travel with it, you'll step on the cords and the alarm is *LOUD* and you'll cuss and hate the thing. But night time, you get used to it pretty quickly. You just learn to make sure to get the cords plugged in tight so tehy don't come loose and scare the crap out of you with a false alarm.

Thank you!!!  I remember the alarms going off a lot when LO was inpatient....but it def helps to know what it is like at home.  Thanks!  

Mbitner

TriciaJoy:

I was trying to find a picture of ours.

Here you can see the wires running up and out of his pajamas, then how they plug into the larger wire, which runs back to the box itself: 

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7H22srZPuU4/SPL5E7OX-tI/AAAAAAAAAYM/QnuWkaPJCAk/s400/October9-13+025.jpg

 

And that's the machine itself, sitting next to the bouncer: 

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7H22srZPuU4/SOxl66TUu7I/AAAAAAAAAWM/xRJp0eBW4ZI/s400/October1+021.jpg

 

 

Thanks!!