BIG, BIG NEWS!!!!

We are off oxygen!!!!!

Did you hear what I just wrote???

WE ARE OFF OXYGEN!!!! WOOO HOO!!

Sydney was removed from the cannula at 11:00 a.m. and she's doing great! They turned off the flow and left the prongs in her nose for 3 hours so as not to scare her. The prongs have now been removed and she's handling it like a champ. All her stats are perfect and she's doing great with her feedings.

We are set to room-in on Friday night and the official date for discharge is Sunday.

Woot!

Look at her face! No tape! :cry:

Are you ready for this?!?!

A certain big girl has not used her feeding tube in over 24 hours!!! I wish I could adequately describe how much better she is doing with feeding this week. She's so much more coordinated and her breathing is perfect. There's a theory that all the sedation last week gave her some much needed rest and allowed her lungs to FINALLY recover from RSV. My friend Amy told me that RSV can be frustrating and wow, she wasn't kidding.

The other great thing is that we are back to 12.5 ccs of flow for oxygen and that's where she needs to be weaned completely. We're thinking the docs will give her a trial run by tomorrow.

Weight is 7lbs 2.25 oz today!

Day 102

Sydney is doing great! They have started doing all her final testing to prepare her for discharge and so far, so good. Her EKG this morning showed no problems and the cardiologist gave her a clean bill of health. We're at about 22 ccs of flow for oxygen, so it's getting closer to where we were last week.

The doctors also instructed that she be fed 2 bottles in a row and then every third one by tube, just to pace her and not stress her too much. They did say though, that if she was awake and alert, we should try the bottle at the third feeling and see how she does. So far, she wakes up before every feeding and is taking all bottles! We have not had to use the tube at all today. She's now also up to 60ccs per feed - two full ounces!

Her weight is the same as it was yesterday and for once everyone is happy about that because of the huge gains the past few days.

The doctor said we should be prepared to take her home this weekend...

Day 101

Little Miss is doing so well! She's been taking her bottles like a champ, with no problems at all. She still has reflux but she's nowhere near as uncomfortable as she was even a week ago.

She weighs 7lbs today!!! That means a 6oz gain in two days and of course that caused some concern. They did a chest X-ray to ensure that she wasn't retaining any fluid and she's just fine. She also wasn't acting like a baby does when there's some retention going on and she's soaking her diapers between feedings. It's most likely due to the fact that she went from 49ccs to 58ccs in a few days and she was very inactive between Tuesday and Saturday morning. Now that she's doing bottles again and she's more awake and active, we should see smaller gains. They will keep an eye on her anyway.

We love good days!

Today was one of them...but it didn't start out that way. Last night they told us that Sydney's most recent lab tests suggested that she may have a bacterial infection but it was inconclusive. They ordered another one and expected to get the results this morning. They were also concerned that her blood cell count was low (suggesting infection) and that she wasn't tolerating being at a lower rate for oxygen since being sedated on Wednesday. If her cell count didn't improve then we were looking at a blood transfusion.

When I called at noon, the cell count was even worse and she was on the same rate for oxygen. She also wasn't tolerating any bottle feeds at all. A blood transfusion was ordered. I was of the opinion that she was still under the influence of the mega dose of sedatives and just needed some more time. Of course the doctors want to err on the side of caution so they are not big on the "wait and see approach" for most things.

Anyway, I don't think I've prayed sooo hard in my life. We just don't want her to be sick again not only because it makes her miserable but also because one illness adds an average of 3 weeks to a preemie's stay in the hospital. 2 weeks of antibiotics and then another week or so of observation.

Before we left home we were advised that the second test for infection came back negative. Woot! By the time we got there, she was wide awake and switched from the high flow cannula to the lower flow at a rate of 175ccs. By the time B changed her and got her out to try a feeding, she was down to 100ccs. 10 minutes later, her sats were so high, we turned her down to 75ccs. At that point, the lead doctor came to chat with us and talked about the upcoming transfusion. Then she said, "The fact that she's not tolerating being weaned suggested that she may need a little help." Then she looked up at the oxygen setting and was SHOCKED! She said, "Wait! When did this happen! I was just in here!" I told her that she was just improving dramatically before our eyes. She said, "Wow! I'm putting a hold on the transfusion. This is amazing."

Then I started feeding her (she's been increased to 58ccs per meal) and our girl gulped that thing down in the fastest time she ever has and she never took one break. Typically, we have to give her 2-3 breaks because her breathing would get fast and she would struggle. She also would have trouble keeping her oxygen saturation high. It wasn't awful but it wasn't as perfect as it was when she wasn't eating. Today, she didn't de-sat ONCE. It's the best bottle feeding she has ever done. She's also now down to 50ccs of flow on the cannula.

Thank You God.

Wow

I was just catching up on Nate's blog and he posted a few things about himself. I can relate to every one of the 6 things he posted. Well except for #3...my spouse isn't in the hospital but everything else in that paragraph is true.

My friend Lisa said something once that I will never forget. She said, "Whatever it is...it's never just you." No matter what we go through in life, it's never just us. Someone else has felt the same way and experienced and struggled with the same things. Bet yah didn't know you were that profound, huh Lisa?

Anyway, here's the post I'm talking about: http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/2008/01/afraid-of-heights.html

Due Date!!!!!

Woot! We made it!!! My baby made it to her due date! How awesome is that??!?! We are so thankful for her. If someone told me 4 weeks ago that she would still be in the hospital on her due date, I probably would have smacked them. :laugh: God knows what he's doing though. 4 weeks ago she was just coming down with RSV so obviously she needed to be there. God knows why she had to get RSV in the first place and we're not questioning it. She was in the best place to be treated for it. There are no more invasive tests in her immediate future and her follow-up stuff will be done after she has been discharged from the hospital. We've made it 99 days with no surgeries and no life threatening complications. Having seen so many other preemies suffer far more than she has, we are nothing but grateful and humbled.

She's a bit more alert this morning and her breathing is much more stable. It's funny though...the sedatives make her soo happy. Even when she's de-sating (low oxygen saturation) she's smiling. Everyone is running around trying to get her stable and she's grinning like it's no big deal. The nurses joke that she's still feeling the effects of her "happy juice." This is why you should say no to drugs, kids. Your heart rate is dropping and you're struggling to breathe but you don't even know it's going on.

She weighs 6lbs 10.25oz this morning! That's 10.25 oz this week alone! I suspect that has a lot to do with being tube fed a lot this week because of the sedatives and the fact that she's barely moved much in two days. Still, 10oz is awesome!