Ella continues to grow. She is now up to 3lbs - 8oz.
Her breathing has improved significantly. Recently the doctors have tried giving her a diuretic medication that has helped to flush out fluid from her lungs (and makes her pee lots...). This has really stabilized her breathing and reduced the amount of extra oxygen that she needs. She still gets too comfortable at times when sleeping and stops breathing for short periods (sleep-apnia). This is something that she will grow out of as she gets older. Of course we cannot take her home until she decides that she is ready to cooperate...
This improved breathing is good news - makes it easier to hold her, and less stressful for mom and dad since her monitors beep much less often.
Her feedings have been up-and-down. Feedings of breast milk resumed on tuesday, but resulted in lots of residual stuff coming from her stomach. This means that her intestines are not processing the feedings fast enough. So, doctors have tried switching to formula instead of milk, and have tried lowering the rate of feeding, both with marginal results. Next we will try a pre-digested formula that may be easier for her to tolerate.
Ella's Nurses have come to the conclusion that Ella is sensitive to the light in the room since she breathes and sleeps much better when the lights are dimmed. So, they hooked her up with her own version of a 4-post canopy bed. Livin in style.
Ella's Nurses have come to the conclusion that Ella is sensitive to the light in the room since she breathes and sleeps much better when the lights are dimmed. So, they hooked her up with her own version of a 4-post canopy bed. Livin in style.
Probably the most significant news of the week - Dr. Lee has scheduled her re-connection surgery in 2 weeks - Wednesday Aug 19th. He feels that she has grown enough to tolerate the stress of surgery, and the sooner that he can get her hooked back up, the better. We are really nervous, but hopeful that she will come out of it and make a quick recovery. This gives us a light at the end of the tunnel - after surgery, it will take several weeks of recovery, but if things go well we could potentially be ready to take her home sometime in September (fingers crossed!!!).
This week mom and dad went home for a visit, and picked up a cradle, carseat, stroller, and other stuff. Ouch, this parenting stuff is not cheap. Also Ella had some good visits from Grandma and Grandpa T, Kathryn, and Grandpa C.
Thanks for all the continued well-wishes.
Love - Bill Denise Ella T
I'm so excited for Ella's progress! tell her to keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteWow! Ella is strong! She has been through so much and so have you. You continue to be in my prayers. I am grateful that she is getting such good medical care and I know she is getting lots of love from you. I am looking forward to meeting her. Love, Pat Elliot
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