More Milk, Less Oxygen

Andrea is doing better today, as she recovers from her respiration problems of last week. She is down to 2 liters of oxygen per minute, at 25%. Her weight has increased significantly since Friday, but her milk had not been adjusted for her new weight. She is supposed to get 150 calories per kilogram of weight. She now weights 1865 grams (4 pounds, 1.8 ounces) so she should be getting 35 ml at each feeding. Believe it or not, a 5 ml increase is too large to make in one day, so today we went to 32 ml. If all goes well with that, she'll be increased again tomorrow, and possibly again on Friday. Today was the fifth day of her antibiotics, and all the cultures have continued to come back negative. What a relief! The doctors are going to continue the medication for two more days, and if all is well, she'll be taken off it.

Physical therapy is now part of Andrea's daily routine, Monday through Friday. She does well, but seems to hate the process. She cries while she's having her arms and legs moved, even though it doesn't hurt her. I think she just wants everything to be on her terms, and is annoyed at being manipulated. Andrea is remarkably strong, and is able to move her head from side to side when she's on her stomach. She can't lift it very far, but is able to it turn from one direction to the other. When Andrea is on her stomach, she'll also push up on her arms and can lift part of her chest off the mattress. She's a tough kid.

Tomorrow marks Andrea's 12 week birthday. If she has a good night (no breathing problems, eats well, etc.) I'll be working with a lactation consultant to see if Andrea can learn to nurse. I'm only mentioning it today so that those of you who are freaked out by nursing (I can name a few from among the followers, LOL) know if advance that you might want to skip the post, or skim first, in case it's too graphic!

Please keep praying and sending us good wishes and positive thoughts. We are relieved that Andrea has done so well so far, and are optimistic that she is once again moving in the right direction.

"To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first."

Shakespeare