Answers re: Bennett's lungs

I spoke with the new doctor coming into service today (she was the one who was in service when he was born), and got clarification regarding the condition of Bennett's lungs.

Chronic lung disease is a diagnosis that is given when the baby has been on the ventilator or oxygen for over a month. As our dear boy turned one month old yesterday was was still requiring oxygen, he automatically gets that diagnosis. Chronic lung disease can develop into broncho-pulminary dysplasia (BPD) - which is damage to the lungs BECAUSE OF being on the ventilator or oxygen. This is usually only the case when the baby has been on the vent for a long time or on a high vent setting even for a short time, on oxygen a long time, or - surprise surprise - the baby's lungs were already in a weakened state because of being in utero without amniotic fluid when the mother's water has been ruptured for a long time prior to birth. Lovely. Bennett has some risk factors for developing BPD. They have seen some mild damage to his lungs, but nothing severe and she doesn't think it will escalate into anything more, and in fact will heal over time.

Now, that brings me to the second issue - whether to keep him on CPAP or push him on the nasal cannula. I am glad I raised my concerns about the prior doctor's plan to take him off CPAP on Monday because she agreed with me. She believes in keeping babies on CPAP longer, as it does not cause damage to the lungs, rather than moving them to the cannula with O2 for a long time. This is primarily because long term exposure to higher levels of O2 (30+%) can cause damage to the lung - i.e. BPD. So....The plan for now is to keep him on the CPAP until it looks like he is ready to go to the cannual on room air just for the flow. I feel much more comfortable with this scenario. This will decrease the likelihood that he has to come home on oxygen too.