The Emma Report

I was in to visit Emma tonight and she’s still having a rough time, although the nurses told me that ups and downs are to be expected, and this is one of the downs. She’s needing additional oxygen and a higher vent rate, but she has lost some weight, indicating that the lasix is working. This will hopefully help eliminate the excess fluid and dry out her lungs. A sample of secretions from her lungs were sent to the lab last night, and we’re hoping that there is no sign of infection. The good news is that she’s tolerating feeds well, and they’re continuing to increase her food volume. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

According to the NICU nurses, Emma is “not having a great day” today. Fluid is accumulating in her lungs and they’ve had to give her additional medication (which then can affect her kidney functioning). She hasn’t been responding well to the ventilations (up from 35 bpm yesterday to 55 bpm today) and is still requiring higher oxygen levels.

this roller coaster ride is not fun

Eric visited Emma late this evening and reports that she is now much more stable. Yay!!!

Nurses say she clearly let them know she did not appreciate the move from CHEO and would much rather sleep undisturbed, thank-you-very-much.

sleep well and grow strong, little one…

This photo was taken while Opa, Grandma and I were visiting Emma today…. I think Emma was telling us she’d had enough excitement for one day and wanted to have a snooze

As the docs at the Children’s Hospital deemed her condition to be adequately stable, Emma was transferred back to the General Hospital’s NICU this morning. She did not enjoy the journey, and all the necessary poking/prodding, and was more unstable today. She had several “spells” (apnea episodes), more frequent desaturations, and needed more oxygen than she has for several days. Her hemoglobin has dipped again (meaning she will probably need yet another blood transfusion) and a heart murmur can still be heard (not sure what that means, will have to talk to the neonatologist about it).

Hopefully she will have a better day tomorrow…..

Emma’s grandparents came into town today and we took them by for a visit. Emma’s doing well — her requirement for supplemental oxygen continues to decline, during our visit she was on 22% O2 and maintaining her sats. She did have some problems tolerating feeds, but so far nothing really serious. Emma is now receiving caffeine to help minimize apnea episodes (and she didn’t have any “spells” today!), so Mom can stop drinking decaf.

This photo was taken at the Children’s hospital on August 17th around 10:30am. (You can click on it for a larger version)

Laurie, Michaela, and I all dropped in to see Emma this afternoon, and she’s doing very well. Her need for supplemental oxygen continues to decline – in fact while we were there she was on 21% (i.e. standard atmosphere). She’s being fed 1cc of breast milk every three hours and is tolerating it well.

…and Emma continues to do very well.

When I arrived for a visit this afternoon, though, I found her surrounded by a crowd of NICU staff. I immediately feared the worst, but luckily a friend was with me (thanks Lisa!) and I was able to remain fairly calm even though seeing the team feverishly working on Emma scared a decade off my life. Turns out Emma has finally grown enough (she now weighs in at almost 1000 grams!!) to “graduate” to a larger endotracheal tube and I had arrived just as they started the procedure to change the tube. According to her nurses, Emma tolerated everything well and by this evening it was clear that the change was a positive one… she is having far fewer tube leaks and the team was able to lower her oxygen and ventilation requirements.

The best news is that as she has now stablized, Emma will be returning to the General NICU as soon as a bed there becomes available (they’re full right now, so we’re just waiting for another baby to be discharged). That’s a very good sign!

Apart from one scary apnea episode (just as I was about to leave), Emma had a fantastic day. She’s looking much happier, antibiotics have been discontinued, and she was restarted on breast milk. When I touched her chest she made it quite clear that my hand was too cold, but she seemed happy to hold my finger for a while. Hopefully she continues to improve and we’ll have a good cuddle in a few days.