Kintropy In Action

Trill! Trill! Trill! I’ve just settled Hannah down to go to sleep and her Fisher Paykel (humidity machine for ventilator) starts to sing at me. Hannah takes the cue that she doesn’t need to sleep yet and pulls off her ventilator tube. So the ventilator is now alarming and she is getting sick so her saturation levels drop and the pulse oximeter starts to beep.

I spring from the floor tell her "No!" and re-attach her to the vent. I silence the pulse oximeter while it is catching up and notice her oxygen tube has fallen off again. (Sometimes I really wish I could just use some super-glue.) I try to look at the Fisher Paykel. I check all three connection points. Hannah pulls off the vent and twists into a position where I have to unwind the tube from her legs then reattach her to the vent. I do a quick look at the pulse oximeter hmmm 92 saturation she wasn’t off that long. Oh the oxygen tube has fallen off again ok I reattach it. The Fisher Paykel is still humming in between. I turn the Fisher Paykel off then on.

Everything is silent for a moment. I hold my breath. Hannah signs for a pacifier I find it in her bed and hand it to her. I look back down at the floor where my project on the computer is …. Hmmm maybe I can get back to work. Hannah turns away from me. I sit on the floor and roll into a laying position kind of a mini cobra stance at the laptop. I start to think about the programming I’m working on.

Trill! Trill! Trill! The Fisher Paykel is at it again. Hannah pulls off her vent and starts the cycle again. We do this about three more times. I’m thinking I should replace the temperature probe for the Humidity machine. Trill! Trill! Trill! I’m re-wrestling the vent back on to my defiant child when Robert the Daddy walks in. "Can I help you?"

I feel awful he should be sleeping he is getting up at 4:00 am to relieve me. "Sure, I was thinking of replacing the temperature probe."

"How about the circuit?" We had this problem last night too.

"Well actually the whole circuit was changed today."(Circuit is all the tubing for the vent and the dome for the humidifier) We have a limited supply we don’t just want to break into new equipment if it’s something to do more with the permanent pieces.

He stands by the crib and amuses Hannah helping to keep her from pulling off her vent while I’m trouble shooting. (My Hero) I change out the temperature probe. The trill seems to settle down. We stand there a minute or two talking to Hannah and each other. She shines in the attention then Daddy goes off to bed.

Hannah doesn’t ever want Daddy to leave so the vent power struggle begins a new. But at least I know why the ventilator is beeping. This is our machine mambo for the night.

-- Mom