Josie's Journey

If you read the previous post, you'll know we didn't have the easiest time with Josie's hyperbarics oxygen therapy (hbot). But, the name of the game is power through! I'm learning it's all about trial and error, plus me realizing that if Josie is crying in the chamber, it's ok - as long as she doesn't throw up. We tried again this past Thursday and we changed some things up, such as slowing down the time it takes to get us to pressure, positioning her differently, letting her take her bottle despite last weeks event, but not all of it and making sure she doesn't get air, and me trying to relax (I'm pretty sure she's feeding off my anxiety in there). We made it through the dive on Thursday, but then on Friday she was crying so hard and I got scared so I got us out. I thought we might give up at that point. We didn't. We went back on Saturday and the techs were amazing, they held my iPad outside with my Infant Visual Stimulation app flashi...

So Josie and I attempted to start hyperbarics oxygen therapy this week. Ummmm, it's not going so well. The first day we made it through the 70 minute dive, but the next 2 times didn't work out. Basically, we lie down on a single person stretcher and go into a clear tube. We can't have anything on us that can cause static and potentially a fire - so no lotion, nail polish, makeup, deodorant - nothing. Back to the birthday suit. In the first few minutes while they increase the pressure, you can feel it in your ears like on an airplane. Once you're at the right level, it stabilizes. Yesterday, I gave Josie a bottle during that time to get her to swallow and prevent her ears from hurting; it worked for that reason, but then backfired. Typically, while she drinks her bottles she gets a lot of air and as it turns out, the oxygen mixed with extra air in your belly is bad news. They warn you not to drink carbonated beverages before, so it's a similar effect. At just a...