The double edged sword of technology

Teddy is hooked up to way less than he was. That's not to say nothing, but he's just got his Picc line, some heart monitors, and, most annoyingly, his blood oxygenation monitor. If you've ever been in the hospital, or visited someone who has been, then you know what that is. On the monitor, it's the cyan line that's typically right below the green heart-rate monitor. It's measures, roughly, how much oxygen is in the blood at any given moment. For Teddy, given his condition, this should be between 85 and 95. Well, maybe. We had a couple of doctors in here this morning when it was going off at about 82, and neither of the cardiologists looked alarmed, and one of them said, "Where he's at is just about right." So, maybe it's closer to 80-95.
That's the first consternation regarding this damn sensor. When we first moved him over here it was set to alarm on 90-100. So, when he was right in the middle of where he should be, it was alarming constantly. And I mean that. Last night while we were here, Amy had a little moment where lack of sleep combined with the side effects of her pain meds, the whole "I just gave birth and am recovering from surgery," and the stress of him being here, and not home. And that's when the nurse on duty last night showed me the other real problem with this particular sensor.
The way it works is that it's a small sensor that is glued or taped to his hand or foot. So far, so good.

Teddy, in one of many moments where a momentary jostle
may have knocked his sensor loose.

the problem is that it's very sensitive. So if he pulls his foot or waves his hand around a little bit, it makes that sensor trip.  Now, if you've ever watched an adult, you've probably seen this make little scallops or waves below the sort of tick-marks that the heart telemetry monitor makes. It's generally pretty regular. On Teddy, I've been watching this all day. Regular is not the word for it. It meanders like a roller-coaster laid out by an insane drunkard. This generally indicates that it's a poor contact with his skin, and so the readings are...not fantastic. So our nurses come in when it goes off, look at him, and generally come to the conclusion that he's fine. It's just that the sensor's worked a little loose.