Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Smallest, but not most critical

We went to see Andrea this morning, and were thrilled to learn that, despite her small size, she is not considered the most critical baby in NICU. The doctors were doing rounds when we got there, and they start with the most acutely ill children first. Andrea is toward the bottom. It is kind of funny that she is still the smallest baby in NICU, despite her weight gain.

We spent a considerable amount of time talking to her nurse, who filled us in on the kinds of discussions the doctors and nurses have about Andrea now. Everything in medicine is a judgement call...as Andrea progresses, the staff needs to decide if today is the day to remove the ventilator (no) or the IV (again, no). The IV is on what they call "leave open" status. That means that enough fluid is given every hour to keep a clot from forming at the end of the catheter, but Andrea is not getting nutrients or medications via IV right now. She is getting 8.5 ml of milk (until tonight, when it'll go to 9 ml) every 3 hours in a feeding tube. The milk is being fortified with extra calories and minerals to help Andrea gain weight. Through the same tube, she is also being given calcium and phosphorous, which will help with her bone development.

Since Andrea's progress has been so steady, I am considering not posting every day. Ken & I cling to the daily report of nothing bad has happened, but I'm not sure everyone else feels the same urgency to be constantly updated. If you have an opinion, let me know. I am happy to report the minutia of each visit, but would like to avoid becoming repetitious or redundant.

As always, THANK YOU for ongoing prayers. We continue to have faith that God is watching out for her, and we have hope that all will be well, but Andrea will thrive because she is loved.

And now abide faith, hope, and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

2 comments:

  1. You are all in my thoughts daily and I look forward to hearing about Andrea's progress.If it's not a burden to you, please keep them coming.Victoria, I hope you are feeling better each day too. Pat Bollinger

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  2. Keeping you in our thoughts and prayers. We had a health scare with Dean shortly after he was born (even though he was full term) and understand the power of that support. Every piece of good news is a Godsend. :)

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