Day 49 - You Down With ROP?

It's been a busy week here at Beth Israel, Room 976. First, our little chica got a well-needed bath from mom and nurse Colleen on Sunday. Five days later? She's back to her original stinky self, I must admit...but it's a cute baby stinkiness if there is such a thing. It could just be that her monumental cuteness supersedes any malicious odors. It's worth pondering...perhaps.

Then came Tuesday where it was CPAP vs. Brooklyn in Vegas (or an imaginary BostonVegas)! It has been a fight for the ages. The first two rounds went to CPAP (this is the part where you boo), but in round three Brooklyn is ready for the KO. After 2.5 days sporting the beer helmet, little miss B is doing quite well. She is on lower CPAP oxygen settings than she was while intubated on the ventilator! Girl's got breathing skillz. It looks as if Brooklyn is off the vent for good (hopefully) and will continue to reduce her CPAP settings over the next few weeks.

On to Wednesday. The optometrist from Children's Hospital came across the street to check for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Brooklyn's eyes. This is a common concern with micro preemies where the retinal blood vessels tend to grow all wrong - possibly due to high oxygen levels required by such wee ones. It's a serious issue (in fact, the nurse practitioner just told me this is why Stevie Wonder, born a preemie, went blind) that can often be fixed by laser surgery if necessary. Anyway, they had to dilate Brooklyn's eyes and she was NOT happy. It was so hard to watch her be unhappy for the rest of the day with swollen eyelids. Poor thing. Thankfully we were told that Brooklyn has "excellent eyes" for being born so young. Her vessels have grown perfectly so far, but Children's will need to perform another exam in two weeks. 90% of kids her age develop at least mild ROP, most requiring no surgery, so be praying little B's eyes continue to develop well.

That brings us to today. Kelly held Brooklyn for over 3 HOURS this morning! Also, she weighs 2 pounds 14 ounces which means it's almost time for Brooklyn to be swaddled. If she does well with maintaining her temperature while swaddled in the isolette, then she'll move on to a crib!!! Our little girl's all growns up and growns up.

Kelly and I feel as if things have kicked into high gear this past week with all the new changes, and upcoming changes, occurring so quickly now. It's both a blessing and a curse. We are continually amazed at Brooklyn's progress, but now that there is a light at the end of the tunnel it's become harder to stay patient for 7-9 more weeks. Ha. Anyway, we know all your thoughts, prayers, and visits are essential to Brooklyn's continued health and we thank you for it. God bless.