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In spite of a rather rough shove into the world and a rude first week, Ms Jordan is doing just fine now. A very short labor and easy delivery had everyone thrilled to see her face, but on closer inspection, we noticed her face seemed somewhat bruised. We all thought that was due to a fast trip out. Turns out, our little miracle wasn't getting the oxygen she needed. Nana (my mother) and daddy got to hold her before the problem was noticed. She was then whisked off to the nursery to be evaluated. With oxygen, we all believed she was going to be fine, just needed a little bit of help. Wrong again. With every struggle for breathe, little Jordans' chest caved. The pediatrician on call assured us that some babies just have ribs that curve in a little bit and it had nothing to do with her breathing problem. She got better, then worse. She started struggling a bit more for breathe and the pediatrician decided to consult with a Neonatal Specialist at Medical City in Dallas. He was not happy with her progress and ordered her to be careflighted in. The hospital staff where she was delivered intubated her to assist her breathing and to introduce surfactant into her lungs. This is a "substance composed of lipoprotein that is secreted by the alveolar cells of the lung and serves to maintain the stability of pulmonary tissue by reducing the surface tension of fluids that coat the lung." (A big thank you to websters.com.) Basically, it lubricates the lungs. She didn't have any and it was causing her lungs to stick together when she breathed. Immediately, there was a noticable improvement in her breathing. Her chest didn't cave nearly as severly and her oxygen level improved. Shortly after she was born, she was receiving 98% oxygen. Within fifteen minutes of getting the tube and surfactant, she was at 40%. DRASTIC improvement. As they loaded her on the helicopter (YES, I was freaking out) I asked one of the CareFlight nurses to take care of her. Holly, the nurse, responded with, "As if she were my own."
Once in Dallas, we were relieved to see Jordan so drastically improved. Her oxygen had been knocked down to 27%.Within two days or so, they took her off the respirator. The next day, they took her off the oxygen. August 4, they took her off the ocygen monitor and August 5, we got to have her sleep in a hospital room with us. August 6 (yesterday as I write this) they sent her home. She is doing BEAUTIFULLY. There are no special instructions, no limitations. She is a normal, happy, healthy baby and happy to be home. As soon as they are developed, I will post pictures of her being loaded onto the helicopter. For now, here are some pictures of her in Dallas at Medical City. (And her chest has no hint of a cave in it now. It was breathing related and is now gone.) |
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