Lauren is steadily gaining weight now. Tonight she weighed 3 lbs, 13.6 oz - less than 3 oz to go until she is four pounds... She is still on the TPN at 3 cc's per hour and bottle feeds at 32 cc's every three hours. One of the stomas is starting to protrude a little bit again, but it's not bad enough yet to worry about.
12/30/01 10:00PM:
Lauren is now three months old, and she weighed in at 4 lbs even. She is still on the same feeds, and the temperature in the incubator is down to 79-80 degrees. Lauren is having no problems maintaining her body temperature at this setting...
12/31/01 11:00PM:
Lauren weighed 4 lbs, 0.6 oz today, and they changed her feedings to 45 cc's every four hours. They also took her out of the incubator and she is sleeping in an open bassinet. She is having no problem maintaining her body temperature and she eats the entire 45 cc's in less than five minutes. Baby Lauren wants Mommy and Daddy to say Happy New Year!!! to all the family and friends....
01/01/02 11:15PM:
Baby Lauren now weighs 4 lbs, 1 oz. Her feedings continue at 45 cc's every four hours. She is not getting any more medications, and her urine output has dropped a little bit. The nurse practitioner says that it could be due to the fact that she is not getting any additional sodium supplementation. She was placed back in the incubator because her temperature dropped to 97.3 degrees. Dr. Bufo has informed Mommy that he is going to schedule Baby Lauren to have her iliostomy reversal surgery in the third week of January....
01/02/02 11:45PM:
Baby Lauren is still sleeping in the incubator, but they have turned the heater off and she is maintaining her body temperature at a normal level. She weighed 4 lbs, 3 oz tonight. Her feedings continue unchanged, and she is getting some good rest....
01/03/02 11:00PM:
Baby Lauren weighed 4 lbs, 5 oz today. Last night developed a low-grade fever (99-100F) and the neonatologist got worried that she might have an infection due to the central IV line that Lauren has had in her neck for over two months. He ordered blood samples sent to the lab to be cultured to see if any bacteria grow and he put her on a cocktail of antibiotics just in case she does have an active infection. Additionally, he also ordered a blood test to see if her white blood cell levels were elevated, but they were not. A rising white blood cell level is a good indicator that there is infection. The blood test revealed that her platelets have dropped some (from over 200 to 132) but not to the point where she would need to be transfused. It is possible that she might have MRSA in her blood...
01/04/02 11:15PM:
Baby Lauren weighed 4 lbs, 4 oz today. She continues to have a low-grade fever, and the blood cultures they sent to the lab came back positive for Gram-Positive cocci bacteria, but they cannot yet identify the specific one. The neonatologist is planning on pulling out the central line tomorrow since that is the most likely culprit for a source of infection. Dr. Bufo has tentatively scheduled Lauren's surgery for January 16th....
01/05/02 11:45PM:
The central line was removed today and they started an IV line in her scalp vein through which she is getting the antibiotics and the intravenous feedings. She is still getting her bottle feedings at 45 cc's every four hours and she sucks them down rapidly. Today she weighed 4 lbs, 4.4 oz, and she does not look sick at all. The blood cultures have positively identified the bacteria as Staphylococcus aureus, but they cannot yet tell what antibiotics this particular strain is sensitive and resistant to. Worst case scenario it is resistant to methicillin (MRSA) and she will need a course of potent antibiotics to fight off the infection. Such potent antibiotics could damage her liver... Hopefully this is just another small bump on Lauren's road to coming home healthy and thriving...