Big Girl

Lots of Big News to Report!

Weight: 908 grams (2.00 pounds) We expect her to lose a bit of weight in the next few days since they had to stop her feedings, but we know that she's capable of packing it on when she's eating well. Yay! We plan on having a 2.5 pound party, as that will be double her birth weight :)

Gastro-Intestinal: They have increased her feedings to .5mL every hour, running continuously. We're hoping that we'll be able to increase this each day, as her feedings are really the best medicine for her at the moment.

Lungs: Last night, Charlotte Amalie was taken off the vent! On Sunday she was switched back to the regular ventilator, as she was requiring way too much oxygen on the Oscillator. (At one point, she needed 100% oxygen and she was consistently requiring almost 90%.) The same time they switched her ventilator, she was also given a dose of hefty steroids to help her breathe better on her own. Previously, we had discussed giving these steroids to get her off the ventilator, but by Sunday she was relying on the vent so much that they had to give steroids just to bring down the vent settings. The steroids worked really well, and within hours of requiring nearly 90% O2, she was down to only needing 50% O2. By last evening, she had developed an air leak around her tube and she's not quite ready for the larger sized tube yet, so they decided to try and see how she would do on the SiPAP. So far, so good! Last time they extubated her, she struggled, tiring herself out. So far, the doctors and nurses seem pleased with her efforts and she doesn't appear to be struggling. We really didn't think she would be able to be extubated for another week or two, so we're really excited, even if it only lasts a day or two.

Heart: When she went on the Oscillator, they had to give her a medicine called versed, which is a sedative. Often babies get agitated on the Oscillator, since the machine shakes them so much, so they give a small sedative to keep babies calm. CA had a nasty little reaction to the versed and her blood pressure plummeted. She was put back on the hydrocortisone to increase her blood pressure and has been doing well ever since. (Yet another reason to get her off of the Oscillator).

So in summary, she weighs a whopping 2 pounds and is off of the ventilator! A big day for a big girl.