the little bird had a great night/morning! i got to speak to one of the doctors today about some of her changes...here's the scoop.
her vent settings are now down to 20 breaths per minute. this is down from 40. they've also adjusted some of the other settings, that i don't quite understand, down as well. the doc said they're almost at the minimum they can do with the ventilator. that we could probably expect her to be off of it in the next few days!!! yay my little breather!!! :) he said that if she didn't do so hot, and was going to need to be re-vented that we would know within 24 hours of extubation. if they take her off the vent they will also have to find a new way to administer the gentamicin that she's currently getting through her nebulized treatments. the doc said they'd work with rt on that and figure something out. (he said he doesn't want to leave her vented for longer than necessary just for the sake of the antibiotics because the vent could also be exacerbating the situation with the infection... infection clings to foreign things much easier to our bodies..)
they're redoing the blood culture from last week. apparently it grew something (a bacteria that is common for picc lines) after about 5 days. the doc said that this is usually classified a "contaminate". so, he's redoing the culture to see if anything grows again... he said she's not acting sick, so he trusts her more than the result. i was also comforted to hear him say that he didn't want to put her on unnecessary antibiotics- whew, that's a relief!
she does have a diaper rash right now. it popped up overnight. it manifests differently in preemies than in full term babies. (from what they tell me.) she actually had what looked like a pin prick on her bum- it bled! as well as a huge swatch of reddish raised area. (instead of the usual "rash" that you would see on a baby). the nurse explained to me that because their skin is so sensitive and thin it acts differently.
he expects her to reach a kilo soon! yay! he also said that we should really only look at the weekly trend in her weight gain/loss. that if they weigh her with a full diaper at this point it can change the results. they do want her to gain about half an ounce a day from here on out.
her feedings have been upped to 7ml/per hour. she's going to be a fatty soon enough!
they've also ordered the prolacta! yay! it's in her chart now that that is what she will be getting. prolacta is the hmf that is actually made from milk. according to the people who make it it is 6 times more concentrated than regular breastmilk. this is a great alternative to similac hmf. i think there is a time and place for formula- but just like most things... it is SOOO abused! (sidenote: i found that the omega 3 from algae that one of the docs was big on me switching to is actually made by enfamil. imagine, formula companies making supplements. i have to hand it to them for at least acknowledging the necessity for omega 3's in our health. i'm sticking with the nordic naturals. it's 3rd party tested and i trust the brand.)
more updates soon!
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