Monday, April 27, 2009

My Way or the Highway!

Andrea is incredibly strong-willed for such a tiny baby! When I got to NICU today, she was on her back, sort of half awake and half asleep, but not moving very much. Her legs were uncovered, so I tried to put her blanket back on. Every time I covered her, she managed to kick the blanket off. I saw this as just another indication that she likes everything to be her own way all the time. Remember, Andrea is kept in a climate controlled isolette because she can't maintain a body temperature. It's unlikely she was warm - she just didn't want to be covered.

I held Andrea for more than two hours today. She did remarkably well with her oxygen saturation levels, and was finally returned to the isolette because she was getting cold, not because of any difficulty with her breathing. When the nurse put Andrea back, she did all the assessments without Andrea's CPAP tube in place. It doesn't take long, but it was still a few minutes that Andrea was able to breathe on her own, with no help at all. She was retracting a lot, but she maintained oxygen saturation levels above 80% for the whole time. This is definitely a HUGE step forward.

Andrea weighs 1205 grams today (2 pounds, 10.5 ounces). Once she reaches 1250 grams, she may be able to start wearing clothes - just an undershirt to start, but once again, it's another step forward. Her feedings were increased to 23 ml of fortified milk and MCT oil. She's maintaining pretty good saturation levels with +7 pressure on the CPAP and 23% oxygen. I forgot to ask how long she was when she was measured last night - I'll try to remember tomorrow.
The camera batteries were dead, so today's picture was taken over the weekend. She's still too cute for words.

Please continue to pray and send us your positive thoughts. Today was day 60 of life - we're fast approaching 9 weeks!
"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another."
Walter Elliott, The Spiritual Life
















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