Mommy reports that Lauren weighed 2 lbs, 3.6 oz tonight, and she doesn't look swollen at all. They took out the IV line that was in her left hand, so now she can really suck that thumb. They moved her back into an incubator and she is resting peacefully. She is still on 28% oxygen, but they decreased the flow rate to 1 liter per minute. They increased the feedings to 6 cc's every three hours and she has been tolerating that with some occasional small residual volumes. Her blood tests showed that her platelets are now higher (but still below normal). Mommy was told tonight that we can start holding Baby Lauren whenever we go to visit. It will be very nice to finally hold our beautiful little daughter in our arms after 47 long days of holding back... but who's counting??? Baby Lauren - no pulling on Daddy's chest hair, OK???
11/14/01 11:30AM:
Lauren is having a good day. She is tolerating the feeds with very little residual volumes. Her oxygen was increased to 30%. The nurse said she is sleeping....
11/14/01 11:00PM:
Lauren weighed 2 lbs, 4 oz tonight. Her feedings were increased to 8 cc's every three hours earlier today, and she is tolerating the increased volumes well. Mommy got to "kangaroo" hold Lauren (up against her chest, skin-to-skin contact) today and said it felt really nice. Lauren was very calm and her breathing was very regular. Pictures will be posted within a day...
11/15/01 8:00AM:
The pictures came out so nice that Daddy posted them right away.... Click here!!!
11/15/01 9:00PM:
Lauren weighed 2 lbs, 4.6 oz tonight. Her feedings have been increased to 10 cc's every three hours. Daddy got to hold his little girl for the first time tonight. Pictures have been posted at the above site as well. Daddy got a really good look at Lauren's surgical wound and it looks like it is healing nicely. Het TPN feedings have been slowed and she seems to be tolerating the enteral (tube) feedings well.
11/16/01 10:00PM:
Lauren weighed 2 lbs, 5 oz tonight. Dadddy got to hold her again tonight. She fell asleep on his chest, and Daddy followed shortly thereafter. It was 9PM already when the nurse tapped Daddy's shoulder and asked if it was OK to weigh Lauren. Daddy watched as Lauren was weighed, bathed, dried, and had her diaper changed.. He then "fed" her via the gastric tube. Lauren's feeds are up to 11cc's every three hours, and the plan tonight is to increase her feeds if she tolerates it. She will get 11cc's again, then 12 cc's twice, and then increasing to 13 cc's by morning. She had about 1 cc of residual volume in her stomach while Daddy was there, but it was mostly mucous that she had swallowed. Her TPN feedings have been stopped, so she is again relying solely on Mommy's milk for her nutrition. She is still getting theophylline, and it seems to be working, since her breathing had been free of apneic episodes. Lauren is still on 28% oxygen at 1 liter per minute via her nasal cannula. Let's hope that she continues to tolerate her feeds.
11/17/01 11:00PM:
Lauren's feedings were increased during the day and now she is tolerating her feeds at 17 cc's every three hours. She weighed 2 lbs, 4 oz tonight, probably due to the discontinuation of her TPN feeds yesterday. If they need to increase her caloric intake, they will probably start her on the MCT (oil) supplement and/or multivitamins. That will be a scary time, since that was the point at which she had abdominal problems last. Dr. Bufo mentioned that Lauren's wound looks great, and asked if she was on bottle feedings yet. Although it seems too early for that, she does suck on her pacifier (and everything else) really well, and the fact that she has mucous in her stomach seems to inducate that she is swallowing. To be able to tell how well she is swallowing they would have to conduct a swallow evaluation - it would tell them whether any of what she swallows goes into her lungs. Any feedings going into the lungs would give her a nasty aspiration pneumonia. Hopefully all will be well...