Brooklyn is a rock star. Have I mentioned that recently? Yes, I am already a disgustingly proud dad, but little Brooklyn continues to bring her "A game".
On the lungs and heart front, Brooklyn's PDA was "intermittently opening" but the doctor decided not to give her another dose of the medicine she took at the beginning of her birth. This was a sigh of relief because this would mean cutting off of mom's milk and going back to the full-time IV for 2 days, then re-ramping up her food intake again. Brooklyn also has a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), a relatively common issue in about 1/4 of folks, which may be causing her to have small heart murmurs. The PSD will hopefully close back up as she packs on the pounds soon. As for the lungs, B is definitely off her honeymoon and showing her age. She has had to be brought up a bit on her O2 rate, but still remains at a somewhat low setting for her age. The nurses don't seem the least bit concerned...and if they aren't freaking out, then mom and dad feel better. Or at least we lie to ourselves that we're not stressing out! Ha.
On to the good news! The nurses informed us that Brooklyn's PICC line, that ugly thing stuck in her left arm, is coming out today. This was shocking news because we expected that thing to be in there for quite a bit longer. Since she is digesting her full feeding of a whopping 15cc's and poopin' it out so well (she's going to hate reading this in the future), B no longer needs that extra IV. Also, she is wrapping up 10 days of antibiotics today (also being delivered via PICC line) since her little immune system did some fancy kung fu fighting. She showed that bacteria who's boss. Word.
Brooklyn is also getting her calories pumped up today ahead of schedule in order to beef her up a bit more. As of last night, she is weighing in at 640 grams which is now 50 grams above her birth weight. At her lowest, Brooklyn was a wee 510 grams. The nurses all seem impressed with her packing on the ounces this week. One of the nurse practitioners had not seen Brooklyn for almost a week and took a peak in to see how things were going. It was a good feeling to hear "WOW!" from a normally stoic nurse!
On a side note, Kelly and I want to say a HUGE "thank you" to everyone for the dinners. Sitting here at the hospital all day and night can take its toll. It has been humbling to see what an amazing community of friends we have. We feel so blessed.
Morgan says,I can't wait to meet my new baby cousin!! Say hi to Brooke for me!
ReplyDeleteYaaaa little Brooklyn, I love to hear the progress...you keep on truckin' baby!
ReplyDeleteThank heaven for little girls!
ReplyDeleteLove GG
Praying for you all here in Pburg!! Probably don't remember me. :) Barb F told me about the baby and your blog. Tell Grandma Sharon I said Hi! Anna Carpenter
ReplyDeleteHi guys! Glad all three of you are doing so well!
ReplyDeleteGeneva was actually born with a slight heart murmur- can't remember the cause, but we were also told it is incredibly common and usually resolves itself. It did for her.
Thinking of you all.