Today Natalie had another echo on her heart and the unofficial word is that the PDA appears closed, the foramen ovale remains open (not a major concern right now) and she continues to show signs of pulmonary hypertension. They plan to continue with her nitric oxide at 4ppm to help with the hypertension.
We had a very nice visit today. Her blood gas when we arrived was great so they were finally able to lower some of her vent settings. She responded well to the lasix and her oxygen requirement was an astonishing 26%!!! This is down from 66% last night. Room air that we breath is around 21% so we were very pleased.
She did have her first feeding. The milk goes through a tube in her mouth down into her belly. Four hours after she is fed they pull back on a syringe connected to the tube to look for milk that stayed in her stomach (they refer to this as residuals). For her first feed they put in 2cc of milk and when they checked for residuals they pulled back 2.8 cc (the 0.8 extra was stomach fluid). Well, we were warned that feeding was a stop and go process and may take awhile to get going. I was disappointed that the first feeding did not go through but remain excited that at least we are trying. I also remind myself that she is still on morphine and that slows the digestive tract. She is being weaned from the morphine now so hopefully with that out of her system things will move along more quickly.
The nurse lifted the top of the isolette to change Natter's diaper and it was still up as I prepared to leave. She whispered "do you want to give her a kiss?" Yes!!!!!!!! I leaned over and kissed the very top of her sweet little head. Nattie spread her arms out and had such a sweet expression. I will never forget it-her very first kiss. If i haven't mentioned it before, she has the cutest little head with soft dark hair. I do need to post newer pictures of her soon.
I would like to send a special thank you to my mother's coworkers. I really appreciate the love and support they have shown my mother and especially the warm welcome back she received today. It means so much to me that people we were willing to cover for her so she could be with us for Natalie's first days. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!
We have received great love, support and prayers from people we have never met. It has been a wonderful source of comfort and we are very grateful.
I will close by saying that when we called tonight to get our bedtime update Natalie was on 23% oxygen. That makes for very happy parents!
I LOVE that you got to give her a kiss! Kisses are always the best medicine! Soon you will be able to kiss her all over as much as you want so hang in there.
ReplyDeleteLots of love,
Donna
Awww her first kiss! How precious and Im sure you were in the clouds after that! I can't wait for more pictures. The feedinsg will come :) Yay fpr ;pwer settings. Great job Natalie!
ReplyDeleteHow sweet! You will cherish that kiss forever!!!
ReplyDeleteKisses are the best in NICU. I am so proud that she is almost to room air...way to go! I am keeping all of you in my prayers.
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine how very special that kiss was...for both of you! :) So glad the oxygen levels are coming down. She is simply amazing and so are you!!! Can't wait to see more pictures of your little beauty! xoxo
ReplyDeleteContinuing to pray for you and your little miracle. Thank you for sharing your story and progress. Our stories are very similiar. I'm at 25 weeks now and am getting a glimpse of what life could be like in the next few months. Take care.
ReplyDeletei cant even begin to imagine what the kiss felt like. how precious! im so happy to read that her oxygen levels are coming down. continued prayers. xo
ReplyDeleteSending lots of love to you all! Hang in there.
ReplyDeleteaudra
Jenn - SOOOOOOO happy that you were able to give Natalie a kiss! I think about you every day and pray that today is the day you start getting to hold her as long as you want.
ReplyDeleteWe're officially back off the feedings as well. The doctors started Timmy at 4ml last Thursday, increasing 1ml every 12 hours. He made it until Sunday night, got one 9ml feeding and they had to call it off. Still off because his digestive tract is running very slowly and his abdomen is a little distended.
Still on the cannula. Tonight was the first night they had to give him oxygen. He was at 27% when I left, so a HUGE congrats on the 23%!
Natalie is such a little fighter, just like her mom! Know you're in my prayers day and night. We'll get through this together, just like the pPROM! Wouldn't it be ironic if our kids get discharged the same day too...?
Hugs!
The first of many kisses!! I will rest better tonight knowing that you and Steve are going to bed as happy parents. You and Natalie have come so far and soon you will be going to bed as a happy family!! Love, your sister
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