Monday, March 23, 2009

Fortifying Andrea for the Future

We had another eventful visit to Andrea today. She is looking GREAT - really gaining weight and starting to look more like a baby. Her fingers are almost chubby, compared to where they started, and she has great muscle tone in her arms and legs. She is still thin compared to full term babies, but she has filled out so much from her starting weight. Once again, she has not gained any length, still measuring at 12 inches, but in a way that's good. It's allowed her to put some flesh and maybe even fat over her skeleton. The nurses and doctors frequently remind us that she's still small for her age. It'll take some time before she's completely caught up.


Once again, one of our favorite nurses was caring for Andrea today. She told us that there is a plan to remove the ventilator at the end of the week, if all goes well. In working toward that goal, Andrea got an additional blood transfusion today to boost her blood counts. The down side to that was she needed to have an IV line inserted. They removed her line on Saturday, so she needed to get stuck again. When she gets blood, she can't be fed, so they need to give her IV nutrition. In preparation for removing the ventilator, the team is watching her oxygen levels and trying to have her gain as much weight as possible. On Thursday, she'll be 4 weeks old, or what would have been 30 weeks gestation. I guess there's enough data to support the decision to remove the tube. Honestly, the thought scares us to death, but it'll scare us whenever they decide to remove it. We elected to have Andrea at Robert Wood Johnson because the hospital, staff and NICU are the best in the state. We have to trust that they know what they're doing, and will do the best they can for Andrea.

We met a new doctor (new to us, I mean) today. He spoke to us briefly about how unusual Andrea's progress has been so far. His comment was "whoever you're appealing to, continue to do it". We mentioned that we have family and friends from every religion praying for us, and we do believe that is a major factor in Andrea's recovery. While we were once again warned that (to quote the financial people) "past performance is no guarantee of future returns", we continue to believe that faith, prayers and positive energy will see Andrea through the challenges that await her. Keep those prayers coming.

"All human wisdom is summed up in two words - wait and hope." Alexander Dumas

1 comment:

  1. I have just read this blog from the beginning and will continue to follow Andrea's progress. She shares a birthday with my own daughter. Maria and Gina will be praying for Andrea to continue on her journey to growth and good health. Andrea is a blessing and will be an inspiration to others as time passes! You as a parent are an inspiration to me, to write this blog! Our prayers are with your family. Maria

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