It was another really good day in the NICU with Noelle. The doctor said
today that he was "proud of Noelle and her progress." He talked about
how a couple of weeks ago when she was born that the prognosis looked
pretty grim but explained that this is why they take each baby as an
individual case and care for them accordingly. We are so thankful to God
for the care that she is receiving--it's an incredible team of people,
and we cannot thank Him enough for how He orchestrated events to place
us exactly where He wanted us to be during this time. Noelle lost 20
grams which puts her at 420 grams / 14.8 ounces. It's still showing
improvement since this has been typical with her the last week, but
overall she is still creeping up in weight, so that is a good sign. She
is still tolerating her feeds well, even with the increases every 12
hours, so that is a praise as well. Overall, today was a pretty quiet
day for her--she rested most of the day and spent a short time with her
eyes open and responding to us as we talked with her. She did manage to
pull her feeding tube out--she is forever grabbing things and pulling
them off, so they have to keep a close eye on her, and it is yet another
reason she has "feisty" written as a description in her chart. It
makes us wonder what we are in for with her, but it looks as if it will
be anything but dull!! They did have to put a PICC line into her arm
today as the lines running through her umbilical cord had to be pulled
out (they only last for about 2 weeks before the body starts closing off
that area). We did not stay and watch, but we spoke with her nurse
this evening who told us that it went extremely well, and they were able
to get it on the first try (a HUGE answer to prayer...especially since
she is so small). She tolerated the procedure very well and was already
sound asleep when we called to check on her. We know we still have to
take it one day at a time and they expect her to still hit "bad" days
and have set backs, but we are incredibly grateful to God for each day
that passes and especially for the improvement and growth we continue to
see in her. He is teaching us so much right now--it is amazing how He
can use such a tiny little person to change our lives so drastically.
Thank you for your constant prayers for us--it carries us through so
many days. We cannot say "thank you" enough...
Showing posts with label Feeding Tube. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feeding Tube. Show all posts
Monday, February 6, 2012
NICU Day 10 (December 17th)
***Written by Chris McDowell, Jill's Mother***
Thank you all so much for your prayers. Jill and Tom were able to meet at length today with the neonatologist who was on duty. He happens to be the one present at Noelle's birth and helped take care of her and has even checked in on her this week when he was off.
First off, one correction is that Noelle has hypOthyroidism not hyper--. That was a misunderstanding on the terminology. Anyway, the medicine they started her on for that seems to be helping. Her blood sugars have been stable the last couple of days.
Her breathing is doing very well. She has done very well with her oxygen levels even as they have stepped down the work that the ventilator is doing for her. We hope to see improvement soon in the one small area of lung that wasn't as developed.
Major praise today--Jill actually got to hold Noelle outside the incubator for about 30 minutes. Noelle just snuggled up and slept.
The doctor took Jill and Tom to an area where he could show them all the images of Noelle's brain and show them the area that was of concern. The big concern is for a brain bleed. He said they aren't seeing symptoms of that. The lateral ventricle (I don't know if just one or both) slightly larger than what they usually see. He said this may just be normal for Noelle and not mean anything. They are watching for a brain bleed and for fluid build up in the brain, but he said that if this were to be going on there would be symptoms and Noelle is not exhibiting any symptoms so they will just continue to monitor closely.
Her feeding tube was bumped up to 0.3 ml/hr today. She tolerated the 0.2 well the last 24 hours. Still a ways to go. They usually like to see babies this small be taking in 3 ml/hr. I figured out that at the 0.2 level that gets her 1 tsp. in 25 hours. At 0.3 she should get 1 tsp. in about 16 hours. I pray she continues to do well so this can step up to a more substantial amount, but she is tolerating this well and it is allowing her intestines to grow and start to function properly.
She weighed 440 grams today which is about 15.5 ounces. That is good. She had so much swelling and edema from the birth that they warned Jill and Tom that she would drop weight -- most likely below her birth weight (365 grams/13 ounces). The swelling/edema/retained water is almost gone, but her weight is still up. She did drop 10 grams today because yesterday she was 450 grams, but that is not anything of concern. We hope to see this weight continue to go up.
Lastly, Jill and Tom would appreciate your prayers for recovery, rest and calmness in the midst of stress. It's beginning to catch up a bit. (That's why I'm doing the update tonight). They are trying different ways to work their schedule to see what will work best and I know they would appreciate prayers for wisdom and discernment. Thanks to you all and my God Bless!!
Thank you all so much for your prayers. Jill and Tom were able to meet at length today with the neonatologist who was on duty. He happens to be the one present at Noelle's birth and helped take care of her and has even checked in on her this week when he was off.
First off, one correction is that Noelle has hypOthyroidism not hyper--. That was a misunderstanding on the terminology. Anyway, the medicine they started her on for that seems to be helping. Her blood sugars have been stable the last couple of days.
Her breathing is doing very well. She has done very well with her oxygen levels even as they have stepped down the work that the ventilator is doing for her. We hope to see improvement soon in the one small area of lung that wasn't as developed.
Major praise today--Jill actually got to hold Noelle outside the incubator for about 30 minutes. Noelle just snuggled up and slept.
The doctor took Jill and Tom to an area where he could show them all the images of Noelle's brain and show them the area that was of concern. The big concern is for a brain bleed. He said they aren't seeing symptoms of that. The lateral ventricle (I don't know if just one or both) slightly larger than what they usually see. He said this may just be normal for Noelle and not mean anything. They are watching for a brain bleed and for fluid build up in the brain, but he said that if this were to be going on there would be symptoms and Noelle is not exhibiting any symptoms so they will just continue to monitor closely.
Her feeding tube was bumped up to 0.3 ml/hr today. She tolerated the 0.2 well the last 24 hours. Still a ways to go. They usually like to see babies this small be taking in 3 ml/hr. I figured out that at the 0.2 level that gets her 1 tsp. in 25 hours. At 0.3 she should get 1 tsp. in about 16 hours. I pray she continues to do well so this can step up to a more substantial amount, but she is tolerating this well and it is allowing her intestines to grow and start to function properly.
She weighed 440 grams today which is about 15.5 ounces. That is good. She had so much swelling and edema from the birth that they warned Jill and Tom that she would drop weight -- most likely below her birth weight (365 grams/13 ounces). The swelling/edema/retained water is almost gone, but her weight is still up. She did drop 10 grams today because yesterday she was 450 grams, but that is not anything of concern. We hope to see this weight continue to go up.
Lastly, Jill and Tom would appreciate your prayers for recovery, rest and calmness in the midst of stress. It's beginning to catch up a bit. (That's why I'm doing the update tonight). They are trying different ways to work their schedule to see what will work best and I know they would appreciate prayers for wisdom and discernment. Thanks to you all and my God Bless!!
NICU Day 4 (December 11th)
***Written by Chris McDowell, Jill's Mother***
Noelle has had another "good" day. Her oxygen levels were stable. Her blood sugar has fluctuated quite a bit today. She also needed another transfusion of blood this morning. They had to give her fentanyl to sedate her a bit because she is fighting against the ventilator, trying to breath on her own and she is definitely not ready. They were able to start feeding her through a tube in her mouth. They are feeding her colostrum on a slow drip. She has tolerated it well so far. Jill was discharged today, but they had them stay in the hospital one more night. Tomorrow they will start working on their daily schedule of Jill being at the hospital early in the mornings for grand rounds to get the Doctors' updates and such, then go home for a while and then after Tom gets off work, go back to the hospital for a few hours. Jill is not in any shape to drive yet so she will have help. My sister is going to be there for several days this week.
We can't thank you all enough for your continued prayers and support as there are still many hurdles ahead.
God Bless You ALL.
Noelle has had another "good" day. Her oxygen levels were stable. Her blood sugar has fluctuated quite a bit today. She also needed another transfusion of blood this morning. They had to give her fentanyl to sedate her a bit because she is fighting against the ventilator, trying to breath on her own and she is definitely not ready. They were able to start feeding her through a tube in her mouth. They are feeding her colostrum on a slow drip. She has tolerated it well so far. Jill was discharged today, but they had them stay in the hospital one more night. Tomorrow they will start working on their daily schedule of Jill being at the hospital early in the mornings for grand rounds to get the Doctors' updates and such, then go home for a while and then after Tom gets off work, go back to the hospital for a few hours. Jill is not in any shape to drive yet so she will have help. My sister is going to be there for several days this week.
We can't thank you all enough for your continued prayers and support as there are still many hurdles ahead.
God Bless You ALL.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)