Homecoming: Take 2

Our boy Simon was finally released from the NICU. They told us he could come home 4 different times, but there was always something that popped up and held him back. First he started having spells of apnea (no breathing) and bradycardia (slow heart rate). He needed to have have no "A's" or "B's" for 5 days in order to come home. Then he failed his sleep apnea study. It showed that his oxygen levels went down during feeding. They were going to send him home with an oxygen tank to use during meal time. This seemed preposterous to me considering he is our only child who has never been on oxygen. Ever. Then a doctor decided it may be a feeding problem instead of a breathing problem since he had a history of that. They did a swallow study that showed he was actually aspirating a little bit with each swallow. No wonder his oxygen went down, he was drowning. They found that if they used a thickener in his bottle, he did much better. He's on 2 reflux meds, 1/2 reflux formula, 1/2 breast milk and now a thickener. He's a bit of a slow poke eater and he takes forever to burp so feeding time can be drawn out for what seems like hours. He just can't be rushed into anything. Our boy runs on island time. :)