An Update

Yesterday I was able to go see Ellie for the second time. She is absolutely beautiful and precious. The doctor updated us on her status then and we received basically the same update today. She was doing well given how young she was gestationally.

She had gone up to somewhere around 41% oxygen Sunday night but was back down around 27% when we were there yesterday. (21% is basically room air so she was pretty close to room air.) I didn't notice this morning when I visited her where her levels were at. She's still breathing quite fast so they're wanting her to breath less quickly. The doctors have said to expect her to have more respiratory problems come and go in the coming days/weeks as premature babies often sway back and forth.

The doctors have also said to expect that we might hear word in the next couple of days of her having a heart murmer. This is because the ductus, which normally closes 24 hours after birth of a full term baby, doesn't close as quickly on a premature baby and allows extra blood to get to her heart. Although there is medicine that they can give her to close the ductus, they prefer to monitor premature babies closely to see if the ductus will close on it's own.

They are planning to have a percutaneous line placed soon so that they can remove the feeding tubes from her umbilical cord. This line will offer a more long-lasting solution than a typical IV, which only lasts 3-4 days.

I went by myself and saw Ellie this morning before Kit arrived, our first mommy/daughter alone time. Her nurse explained various things to me, and then I was able to hold Ellie's hand for a long time (put my pointer finger in her palm and she wrapped her fingers around it...most amazing thing ever). Kit went a saw her just a bit ago, and we're going together at 2:00 for her "hands on time" because 2:00 is when they take out the CPAP briefly and get her cleaned up before putting in back in. So I'll get to see her precious little face for the first time.

My doctor came by this morning and asked if I wanted to be discharged today. Although I'm feeling better each day, my major problem right now is exhaustion. So I'm trying hard to rest today, eat as much as I can (haven't been able to tolerate eating very much) and spend my energy on time with Ellie and Kit. My doctor is going to start me on iron soon, which should also help with my energy. Because of the severe blood loss I experienced, they've said it will probably be a couple of weeks before I really get my energy back.

Thank you for your continued prayers.