She is still on the ventilator with her average oxygen requirement at 23%, which is really good. She's still under the phototherapy light, though her bilirubin levels are getting a little better each day. She needed another blood transfusion today and did well during that. She was given some more formula and is digesting almost all of her food, at one feeding digesting 1.5 ml of the 2 ml that she was given. At this point she is only being fed twice a day, so she's receiving 4 ml/day.
She's a tiny little bugger, but she's proving to be very strong.
Melia had a rough day. And of course, so did Mike and I - as a bad day for baby equals a bad day for mommy & daddy. Today was a downslope on the emotional roller coaster that we're riding. We were warned that the first 48 hours were critical. We were warned that there is a honeymoon period during the first 24 hours, where things seem to be going well, but then like outside of the womb begins to set in and things get more and more complicated. And here we go...the warnings have become reality and we're starting to see just how up and down this ride is going to be. Melia seemed to be doing so well with her breathing that the doctors decided to see how she'd make out without the CPAP. So at about 3pm they took her off of CPAP and put her on a nasal cannula, which is just a plastic tube with two prongs placed into the nostrils to provide supplemental oxygen. We couldn't wait to see her without her fighter pilot mask on, so we rushed downstairs to see her beautiful face....what a gorgeous sight that was!
She was still strapped up a bit. You'll notice in the picture that she has a binky in her mouth and it's being held in by the cloth strapped around her mouth and chin since she doesn't know how to suck yet. And of course, she's still wearing her eye mask to protect her eyes from the phototherapy light. And without her fighter pilot hat strapped to her head, we were able to finallly get a good look at her hair.
So THAT'S what 7 months of heartburn will do, huh? ;-)
Unfortunately, her body didn't handle this change very well and after about an hour or so it was evident that she was struggling to breathe. So by 6:30pm, she was put back on CPAP. She started getting formula today and digested all 2 ml of formula given to her through her feeding tube during one of her feedings. She was fed a total of 4 times today. She's still under the phototherapy lights.
Unfortunately, Maddie and Lia both had their first apnea/bradycardia episodes today. Apnea is when the baby stops breathing for more than 20 seconds. Bradycardia is a slowing of the heart rate, usually to less then 100 beats per minute for a premature baby. Bradycardia often follows apnea or periods of very shallow breathing. Maddie had an episode while we were visiting and during that same visit, Lia had two. To say that it was terrifying would be an understatement. I watched Melia's heart rate drop down to less than 40 beats per minute before they were able to revive her and I too couldn't breathe in that moment. Lia had a total of 4 episodes throughout the day and luckily, Maddie only had that one while we were there.
To combat these apnea episodes, the doctors began administering caffeine to the babies. Yes, you read correctly, caffeine! I battled migraines throughout my pregnancy because I wasn't allowed to take Excedrin migraine because of the caffeine...I wasn't allowed to have more than a cup of coffee or a glass of soda per day because limited caffeine intake was so important, yet now they are shooting the babies up with pure caffeine to stimulate them enough so that they keep breathing. I'm not complaining...I'm just sayin'. The doctors say that they will grow out of these apnea episodes as they grow and develop.
Both girls also has an ultrasound of their heads done tonight. This ultrasound is done to make sure that there is no bleeding on their brains. Those results won't be in until tomorrow. Stay tuned.
