What a day! Last night we were so excited with a lower CO2 and I did get that peace I was asking for. However, this morning was a different story. Her levels went back up to the low 80s and stayed around there no matter how the settings were changed. They put her on a different machine that would allow her to take her own breaths and just give her support. Although it seemed to make her more comfortable it didn't help her CO2 levels. She also started desatting and dropping her heart rate a lot more than usual. In fact lately she barely does that at all. Today it seemed constant. She just really doesn't feel well.
The truth of the matter is that she may have had high CO2 for a while and we just didn't know because she was compensating well (too much CO2 can lower the Ph of the body and her Ph was staying pretty normal) and showing no signs of distress. They also weren't checking blood gases so we had no way to know that she was working so hard. Until now. Just like so many of us she was working so hard to put on a brave face until she just couldn't do it anymore. She just needs some help and the ventilator can do that for her.
The good news is that once we get her CO2 down I think we can still go ahead with her surgery plan and let her recover from that while she grows and her lungs mature. Then we can get her off of the vent and take her home. Of course this time I may be a little more cautious with getting my heart set on a certain time frame to have both my girls home. That one bit me this time.
So, the plan is to see how she does through the night first and if she shows that she needs it then she'll get her intubation. Hopefully it will make her more comfortable and if she's more comfortable then so are we.
Lydia will be going to Methodist Germantown tomorrow for a swallow study to see about her reflux. It might be good for me to go somewhere other than Lebonheur (as much as I love that place) and maybe show Lydia off a little bit to our friends at the NICU there. It always does a mother's heart good for people to "oooo" and "aaaah" over her baby. It's shameless...but I'll take it!
One more thing I just have to mention is just how grateful I am for the way that God puts the right people at the right place at the right time. Today Penny's RT and her nurse were people who had worked with her from the beginning. They know her and they love her and they did the absolute best that they could for her today. That made the whole thing just a bit easier. Also, I had lots of questions and uncertainties flying through my head when our favorite doctor (who also knows and loves Penny) just happened to be in the building for a meeting and dropped in for a visit. Perfect timing. She calmed my nerves and set my mind and heart at ease about what kinds of things face Penny. Then as I was leaving the hospital some nurse friends texted to check on Penny and then my cousin who's a NICU nurse practitioner called to check on her. If I had any questions left it was my own fault! The Lord provided every possible comfort for me and I'm so grateful.
Ok, I have to go eat dinner and love on my big fat baby now. The pictures are Penelope saying "I love you" today, and our little partial family picture with daddy skyped in on the computer.
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