Sunday, May 24, 2009

SCN


What a day! It seems like Andrea wants to impress us in these days that we're gone. Mom and Dad went to see her again today, and the first thing they discovered is that she's been moved out of the NICU and into the SCN, which stands for Special Care Nursery. Basically, the SCN is a step down unit where babies go in the brief time leading up to discharge.

In addition to being moved out of NICU, Andrea spent 2 hours completely off the nasal cannula - she was breathing completely on her own, with no oxygen support. Her nurse put the cannula back on before Mom fed her, just to make sure that Andrea had no desats while eating. The nurse is going to try the 4 p.m. feeding without oxygen and see what happens. Now that she's eating on demand, Andrea seems to be averaging between 60 ml (2 ounces) and 72 ml of milk at each feeding. That's pretty much what a full term baby would eat at the beginning, so she's right on track.

Andrea's weight is up to 1985 grams (4 pounds, 6 ounces). When she gets to 2000 grams (2 kilograms) she will get the vaccinations normally given to two month old babies. We expect that to be any day now.

The process for bringing Andrea home is slightly different from bringing home a full term baby. We have to bring our car seat to the SCN two days before discharge. We also have to fill any prescriptions and bring them in early as well. Andrea will need to be seen in the pediatrician's office no more than two days after she comes home. There will be a lot to coordinate, but it will be a pleasure to have her with us all the time. Even when she wakes us up in the middle of the night!

We can hardly wait to introduce Andrea to the wonderful people who brought us to this point. Please keep the prayers coming just a little bit longer!

“True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island..to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.”
Baltasar Gracian

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