Lauren had a relatively good night although she continued to have occasional bradycardic episodes. Her lab tests this morning showed that her platelets and her red blood cells (hematocrit) are low - so she will be getting a blood transfusion later today. The blood bank has a unit of blood ready that someone donated specifically for her. We all thank you for that priceless gift. Baby Lauren is now the third smallest in the unit. A set of 24-week twins were c-sectioned yesterday and one of them is smaller than her. While we were visiting, a baby in the other side of the unit "coded" (his/her heart stopped working) and everyone rushed to her side as they attempted to resuscitate her. After a few minutes everyone left the baby's bedside and returned to their jobs. As our baby's nurse walked back to us, I asked her: "Did you get her back?" "Yes," she replied, "she's back." I closed my eyes and said out loud: "Thank God." I silently thanked Him that our baby is still with us.
10/07/01 8:30PM:
Lauren got her blood transfusion today and there were no adverse reactions. The nurse told us that was the last of the CMV negative blood that the blood bank had for Lauren. She told us that we should start to line up another donor because she will likely need another unit in the next week. Lauren is holding up pretty well and seems to have settled in her incubator. She looks peaceful and opens her eyes more now that there is not so much direct light shining on her. Mommy got to rub some lotion on Lauren's skin - it was very dry and she particularly seemed to enjoy having her feet rubbed. She is still passing stools and the nurse is a little concerned that the central IV line going into her right groin might get infected due to the close proximity of the stoma (ileostomy) site. Dr. Bufo mentioned this morning that he would be changing the site to a line going into her shoulder sometime this week.
10/08/01 11:00AM:
Lauren had a restful night. The nurse informed us that her central IV site had gotten a little soiled from Lauren's stoma, since they did not have any little bags small enough to fit her small size. The hospital's stoma/wound care consultant was contacted and she said that they would have to special order in some smaller ones not normally stocked by the hospital. The nurse taking care of Lauren today let us know that Lauren is still on antibiotics and that they should protect her from infections for the time being. The neonatologists really want to discontinue the central IV on her right groin, but they can't until a new one is in place otherwise she can't get her TPN, antibiotics, fluids, blood, etc... Dr. Bufo has tentatively scheduled her new central line insertion for Friday. The nurse was finally able to modify one of the baggies enough to have a pretty good seal. Although the baggie is huge for her, now there won't be any stool getting on Lauren's IV site or on her skin, which can be very irritating. Mommy got to actually hold Baby Lauren in her two hands today with the nurse's help. I asked her how it felt to hold Lauren's full weight. With a shaky voice and tears in her eyes she replied: "She feels like a little bird..."
10/08/01 11PM:
Mommy & Daddy were exhausted tonight, so there was no visit to the NICU. When we called to check on Lauren, we were told she was resting, and that her CPAP settings were lowered some. Also, she weighed in at 1 lb, 3.6 oz, a small drop in weight.
10/09/01 11:45AM:
Lauren's oxygen saturation dropped some, so they went back up on the CPAP and oxygen settings. The baggie is working well and the IV site is still good. She has had some more bradycardic episodes, so they are keeping a close eye on her. Today Great-Grandma Esneda visited Lauren and was shocked at her small size. She said she just wanted to reach into the incubator and pull Lauren out and cradle her to her bosom. Today Mommy got to change Lauren's tiny diaper for the first time!!! It was a little tight and a little lopsided when she was done, but the nurse said she did a fine job for a first-timer. Way to go Mommy!!!