Fiesty One

We've had several people ask about how our Curly Q is doing in the NICU. Thank you for your concern. I'll try and keep this updated. First of all, Curly Q is earning a reputation in the NICU. Every single one of her nurses have mentioned that she is a 'fiesty one'. It makes me smile and grateful. I think she needs to be fiesty in order to survive all this! She constantly tries to pull her cords and tubes out. When she gets upset, she really gets upset. She'll probably give me gray hair before I turn 30!

Secondly, Curly Q is breathing on her own, mostly. They took her breathing tube out Thursday evening because she was doing so well. They did have to apply a little oxygen mask over her nose to give her oxygen help. It has some medical name, but it's a little device over her nose. They are trying to wean her off of that, a little at a time. They have numbers to measure things (I don't really remember them all). Her oxygen measurement number was at an 8 yesterday. Today was a 7. They want to get her lower than 5 before they'll remove the oxygen mask.

Third, Curly Q gets to be under lights. Her belirubin levels were high, so she gets some lamp treatment. This is no big deal - tons of babies need this. But preemie babies like Curly Q might need it longer and might need several treatments of it while she's in the NICU. The only downside is, she hates the little eye covers that she has to wear. When I went to see her today, they were pushed up over her forehead. The nurse came over and fixed it and said that Curly Q keeps wiggling out of them. Another reason why she has her reputation!

Fourth, Curly Q has an IV through her belly button helping her get nutrition. They started introducing breast milk to her through a feeding tube. They started with a real minimal amount, but she seemed to tolerate it really well. They upped the amount, and she did well. Again, they upped the amount. Her digestive system seems to be working fine, they just need to go slow. While I was there today, I was able to change her diaper. It was one of those tender mercies. Curly Q hated it, but I loved hearing her cry. It kind of sounded like a little lamb.

Fifth, her little arm and hand are doing just fine. As you probably read in my previous post, Curly Q tried climbing out arm first. She had a pretty nasty bruise on her arm and hand. It's all healed up and she has good movement in it.

She is doing really well, considering how terrible she should be doing. She really wasn't in an ideal situation for the last seven weeks. But all the risks of being in low fluid, don't seem to be a problem for her. She's doing as well as any other baby born at 30 weeks. Honestly, they don't have any reason to believe that she won't breathe just fine on her own. She should learn to eat just fine and put on weight. Honestly, it's a miracle. We thank the heavens for those answered prayers and hope we'll continue to be blessed.