So baby Katea has been doing amazing for the past couple days. The RT's have been able to wein her rate quite a bit and she's been tolerating it pretty well! They got the title volume to the lowest it could, and so they switched the way they were ventilating her back to the SIMV, which is where it gives her breaths. She was down to 23 breaths and doing so good....the plan was to lower it by one more breath every 6 hours until they got down to 15 breaths a minutes...then they were going to leave her there for a little bit to make sure she could tolerate it and then they would extubate her again.
Friday morning she was down to 18 breaths and if they would have continued with their plan, she would have be at 15 that day. The NNP called me to let me know that baby was doing awesome and that they were so happy with her progress....they could tell her lungs are working more on their own and she's breathing more often. She was letting us know that they were going to extubate her on Saturday. Ova and I had already planned to be at the hospital all day on Saturday, so it was perfect because we would be there when they take her off the vent.
She had a different plan though....afterall, she's the boss!
When the NNP called me on Friday, Ova and I were actually getting ready to head out the door to go to the hospital.....when we got to the hospital, I saw Natalie at the door (the nurse who helped me give her a sponge bath) She told me that baby Katea had a surprise for me. I said, "I love surprises"...but as I was walking down the hall to go to my daughter's room, I double thought that statement I made. When we got to her room, her nurse and the RT were standing by her bedside.....we walked up and looked at her and sure enough....the surprise was that she was on the nasal IMV! She had managed, again, to pull her tube out of her throat....but instead of putting it back down again, since they were planning on taking it out the next day anyway, they went ahead and put her on the nasal IMV. It was a good thing, but I was so nervous....I just really want her to be ready....I would hate for her to have to go back on the ventilator again.
She was visibly irritated.....just from all the stress....but she was stable and doing good! She had blood running down her face, puddled on her pillow from her nose. For some reason this time, the prongs really irritated her nose and both nostrils were bleeding pretty badly. She also had a lot of mucus in her nose and in her mouth.....when she's on the vent, if she gets too much mucus in her chest, they push a tube down her throat to suction all the gunk. Since she doesn't have anything down in her chest anymore, she has to figure out how to get all the gunk out on her own. She coughs it up, but it just sits in her mouth and nose....so we have to do oral cares often to make sure to keep her mouth and nose cleaned out.
The RT (Gorgi) told me she had a surprise for me. I asked what it was and she left the room for a little bit. She came back in and gave me this picture! She snapped it when there were no tubes or wires in her mouth. I LOVE this picture. She looks so different without all the tape on her face. Such chubby cheeks....I think the 2 lbs she's gained since she's been born went right to her cheeks.....hahaha!
Today is Saturday and she's been doing awesome off the vent! What I was most scared about was her having those ABD (Apnea Bradicardic Desaturations)....but thankfully she hasn't had any at all....not one! That was since she was extubated on Friday at 5pm. I'm so thankful for that, and I hope and pray it stays that way so she can just work on her getting better and stronger at breathing on her own. She is amazing!
They haven't really changed anything else with her, they're kinda just letting her rest and get used to being off the ventilator. Her blood gases look great....so she's still doing what she needs to be doing. They have her second eye exam scheduled for this coming Wednesday. She's up to 27ml of breastmilk every 3 hours, still fortified to 24 calories with protein. She's gaining weight and growing which is exactly what we want her to be doing. Tonight at her cares she was up to 1600 grams....that equals 3lbs. 8 1/2oz. That's my girl! :)
Friday morning she was down to 18 breaths and if they would have continued with their plan, she would have be at 15 that day. The NNP called me to let me know that baby was doing awesome and that they were so happy with her progress....they could tell her lungs are working more on their own and she's breathing more often. She was letting us know that they were going to extubate her on Saturday. Ova and I had already planned to be at the hospital all day on Saturday, so it was perfect because we would be there when they take her off the vent.
She had a different plan though....afterall, she's the boss!
When the NNP called me on Friday, Ova and I were actually getting ready to head out the door to go to the hospital.....when we got to the hospital, I saw Natalie at the door (the nurse who helped me give her a sponge bath) She told me that baby Katea had a surprise for me. I said, "I love surprises"...but as I was walking down the hall to go to my daughter's room, I double thought that statement I made. When we got to her room, her nurse and the RT were standing by her bedside.....we walked up and looked at her and sure enough....the surprise was that she was on the nasal IMV! She had managed, again, to pull her tube out of her throat....but instead of putting it back down again, since they were planning on taking it out the next day anyway, they went ahead and put her on the nasal IMV. It was a good thing, but I was so nervous....I just really want her to be ready....I would hate for her to have to go back on the ventilator again.
The RT (Gorgi) told me she had a surprise for me. I asked what it was and she left the room for a little bit. She came back in and gave me this picture! She snapped it when there were no tubes or wires in her mouth. I LOVE this picture. She looks so different without all the tape on her face. Such chubby cheeks....I think the 2 lbs she's gained since she's been born went right to her cheeks.....hahaha!
(please excuse the quality....this is a picture of a picture!)
Today is Saturday and she's been doing awesome off the vent! What I was most scared about was her having those ABD (Apnea Bradicardic Desaturations)....but thankfully she hasn't had any at all....not one! That was since she was extubated on Friday at 5pm. I'm so thankful for that, and I hope and pray it stays that way so she can just work on her getting better and stronger at breathing on her own. She is amazing!
They haven't really changed anything else with her, they're kinda just letting her rest and get used to being off the ventilator. Her blood gases look great....so she's still doing what she needs to be doing. They have her second eye exam scheduled for this coming Wednesday. She's up to 27ml of breastmilk every 3 hours, still fortified to 24 calories with protein. She's gaining weight and growing which is exactly what we want her to be doing. Tonight at her cares she was up to 1600 grams....that equals 3lbs. 8 1/2oz. That's my girl! :)
3 comments:
aww this made me smile from ear to ear!!! So happy to hear such great news!! LOVE YOU BABY GIRL :)
Love that picture of her
Cute pictures Monica! She is sooo cute! Glad that she has fewer tubes and wiring on her face. Way to go babe! Glad for good reports!
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