At 2:00, Daddy got to take Elise's temperature. The diaper changing is still proving to be a bit of a challenge with all of her wires and tubing. We will continue to watch the nurses and learn so that someday we can be brave enough to do it. Once she comes off some of the wiring, I think our confidence will improve. NICU nurses are very protective of their babies and we love that. They know parents would feel absolutely awful if a tube was pulled out or a wire stretched.
When we returned at 8:00 the nurse gave us a quick update. As of this morning, Elise is off ALL HER BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICINES!! Her hydrocortisone shots have been cut in half. Her oscillator has been turned down slightly and her oxygen fluctuates between 20-25%. Room air is approx. 21% so that is very good! We tucked her in for the night and sent kisses through the glass. I absolutely ache for the day that I can hold her...I know it will come. I just have to be patient and let her continue to build strength. She is not even a week old and look how far she has come?? Proud Momma here.
Her PDA in her heart (an opening that many preemies have) has NOT started to show problems...yet. We will have another heart and head scan on Wednesday to check for head bleeding and to check on the PDA. There is a small chance the PDA will close on its own...however, a more realistic chance that she will have to have surgery down the road. We just hope and pray she becomes stronger before the surgery because it is very hard on the preemies. Her numbers will decline for a few days after the surgery. The surgery will be our next critical time. This Momma hopes that with enough prayer the PDA closes on its own. If it doesn't close, my prayer is that she can be much, much stronger before she has to endure this surgery.
Before I close, I have to tell you all how much I appreciate my amazing husband. For those of you who don't know, G is a med-peds doctor. He double boarded in internal medicine and pediatrics at IU. As you read from his Doctor vs. Daddy post, I flooded him with OB questions the last 6 months that sometimes he could not answer. Now that Elise has arrived, I flood him with baby questions. What do these numbers mean? What did the doctor just say? What do you think about this? Etc. Etc. Etc. I was thinking tonight...I am an English Language Learner in the NICU :) I also think about how lucky am I...how many mothers are in the NICU right now with no fathers or fathers who do not have any medical background? I remind myself of how lucky I am when I get down emotionally or want to scream, "Why me??"
Until tomorrow...hoping for another strong day from my little lady Elise!
I am loving your blog; however, it brings tears to my eyes each time. I am amazed by baby Elise. She sounds so strong and continues to have so many people praying for her and for you guys. Praise God for his healing power. I am looking forward to the day that you guys get to bring sweet baby home and of course her first trip to Arkaansas, but in the mean time, we will pray for her little body and for you both as parents.
ReplyDeleteWaking up to two beautiful stories from Elise's mommy and daddy this morning. Nothing like a good cry at 6:17am! I think you and Grant should publish a book someday!! You are both awesome writers!! So blessed! What a loved little girl and what a beautiful family God has created when He brought the three of you together!
ReplyDeleteI work with Matt and Becky at Ranger. You have a beautiful, amazing daughter. Thank you for sharing your story so we can stay updated on your progress. I just wanted to let you guys know all of our thoughts and prayers are with you. Go Little Lady!!
ReplyDeleteHI! I am Matt's bosses wife that was just up in Indianapolis... I wanted to share that I had a baby that was at a Childrens hospital for his 1st 2 1/2 weeks of life. He is a happy, healthy, crazy 2 year old now with absolutely not a problem in the world! I pray for you to have strength during this time and to keep your head up. I was blessed to be able to stay with my baby for the entire time he was in the hospital and I would look around and see the babies that didnt have parents with them all day and it would break my heart. I strongly believe we went home after only 2 1/2 weeks because he fed off of my strength and love! I read to him every second and kept a journal of what he went through that day and how close we were getting to home. At times I thought the nurses wanted to tell me to go away but I was there 1st thing in the morning, stayed all day and left when they told me I had too. So stay strong and your family will continue to stay in our prayers until she is safe and sound in her own crib!!
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