Katherine (Katie) Elise has arrived! Nov 7, 2013 at 12:01pm, 7lbs2oz, and 20inches.
I am typing this on my phone from the hospital bed on evening two, so I will go into more details later.
The main points so far:
1) She came out screaming and was at it all day. She has calmed in day two but is still full of personality and has an adorable pouty face.
2) She is in the NICU, mostly to monitor the heart.
3) Her glucose went a little low so she is on an IV until her feeding gets strong.
4) Her body temp is a little low so they are keeping her bundled up. She got moved to the least controlled type of crib on the first night!
5) Her intestines and other organs are all working well.
6) Her mouth is structured normally and she is eating fairly well. We had 3 of 4 great feedings today!
7) She has good muscle tone! Low muscle tone is a common problem in Ds but she is kicking and swinging her arms. The nurses are impressed.
8) It is hard to explain here but her heart diagnosis has changed and is now Tetrallogy of Fallot. There is a hole in the ventricles and there is narrowing of the pulmonary artery, but a few other structural differences results in this new diagnosis. Her heart is stable, she does not need medication now, she will still need a corrective surgery but it may be a little earlier in attempt to 'save' some valve tissue and avoid the need for another surgery later in life.
9) The cardiologist is very positive and has even said that if things continue to look this good he sees no reason she can't go home on Monday!!
10) The hurdles to going home at the moment are... no new problems, feeding continues to get better so the IV can be removed, body temp stays controlled, heart stays the same.
1) She came out screaming and was at it all day. She has calmed in day two but is still full of personality and has an adorable pouty face.
2) She is in the NICU, mostly to monitor the heart.
3) Her glucose went a little low so she is on an IV until her feeding gets strong.
4) Her body temp is a little low so they are keeping her bundled up. She got moved to the least controlled type of crib on the first night!
5) Her intestines and other organs are all working well.
6) Her mouth is structured normally and she is eating fairly well. We had 3 of 4 great feedings today!
7) She has good muscle tone! Low muscle tone is a common problem in Ds but she is kicking and swinging her arms. The nurses are impressed.
8) It is hard to explain here but her heart diagnosis has changed and is now Tetrallogy of Fallot. There is a hole in the ventricles and there is narrowing of the pulmonary artery, but a few other structural differences results in this new diagnosis. Her heart is stable, she does not need medication now, she will still need a corrective surgery but it may be a little earlier in attempt to 'save' some valve tissue and avoid the need for another surgery later in life.
9) The cardiologist is very positive and has even said that if things continue to look this good he sees no reason she can't go home on Monday!!
10) The hurdles to going home at the moment are... no new problems, feeding continues to get better so the IV can be removed, body temp stays controlled, heart stays the same.
We are all doing very well and are incredibly happy that Katie is doing so well.
Ellee got to visit today but couldn't see Katie because it is flu season and they don't want children in the NICU. She was very happy to see Mike and I.
Mike and I love Katie to bits and are very proud of how well she is doing. We were afraid to dream that she would do so well that she could come home on time. At the moment it is looking good. Even if she needs a few extra days it will be an impressive start!
Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers and kind words. We are truly blessed with amazing family and friends.
Yay, yay, yay!
ReplyDelete