Elizabeth has been doing much better in the last few days. Her breathing has improved significantly since she started the round of DEX. She was even taken off the "Low Flow" for a couple of hours and was breathing all by her self. She will continue to get the steroid for three more days. The doctors have warned us that it is very common for preemies to need some help after the DEX is finished.
Elizabeth is very alert. She does not sleep as much as she should be. Every time her parents come in to visit, they just see two big eyes peering out of her isollette. Her mom and dad have repeatedly tried to tell her that she needs to sleep so she will grow, but little Elizabeth won't listen.
Her measured weight last night was 873 grams, which is higher than the day before. Elizabeth has been losing weight since she started the DEX.

"Quick! Take me home, while the nurses aren't watching!"

Elizabeth has been doing well. The steroids are working and she's been able to go on "LowFlow", which gives her a small amount of oxygen (smaller than with CPAP).
Doctors from General surgery removed her IV line as she no longer needed it. She is on full feeds at 5.5 ccs per hour. Her milk is spiked with extra calories to help her gain weight.
Her primary nurse, DJ gave Elizabeth her first bath at 9 o'clock tonite. Elizabeth was confused at first but seemed to enjoy it.
Now that her IV line is out, she is able to wear clothes. Today she was sporting a very fashionable lavender hat, white booties and a pink undershirt.

"My first bath (neonatal style)."

Posing for an X-ray.

The last three days have been very rough for little Elizabeth. On Wednesday night she was re-intubated because of a small collapse in her right lung. Her belly was also filled with air, which compressed her lungs, so that she couldn't take deep breaths. This is a side effect of being on the CPAP.
The results of her belly ultrasound showed that her liver was O.K.
Elizabeth is still being fed, but her feeding routine has changed. She is now fed continuously. The amount of milk that she was getting previously every two hours was too much and she was getting reflux. The reflux seemed to make her heart reate and breathing decrease. So far this change has not helped. Her heart rate and breathing still fluctuate.
On Friday, she was extubated and put back on CPAP.
Due to the infection in her nose, the nurses frequently have to suction her, so that she is able to breathe. Elizabeth doesn't like that and expresses her dislike by pulling out her suction catheter. Her cries are getting noticeably louder.
Today, Elizabeth's belly was filled with air again and she seemed very uncomfortable. Her mom tried to settle her by putting a warm mini-IV bag (normally used to give medication) on her belly. This seemed to help and she was able to sleep for a while.
To help her lung development, a round of steroids (DEX) were started this afternoon and will continue for the next seven to ten days. The doctors are hopeful that the medication will start working soon. Two side effects of DEX are higher chance of developing Cerebral Palsy and no weight gain (while on the medication). If the medication works as expected, Elizabeth will be able to come off the CPAP and breathe on her own sooner.
Mom and dad can't wait until Elizabeth is feeling better and starts to gain weight...

"This is what I look like today without the CPAP mask."

Elizabeth is a growing girl. She is getting 11 ccs every 2 hours. At 895 grams, she is 165 grams above her birth weight. Some of the weight gain is due to fluid that she has retained. She was given medication to make her pee more and get rid of the fluid.
The doctors and nurses are concerned about her liver. A blood test done a couple of days ago showed that the level of bilirubin (the cause of jaundice) in her blood was higher than normal. Elizabeth is now too old for newborn jaundice and that is the concern. The doctors are reviewing the results of a belly ultrasound that was done earlier in the day and hopefully will be able to determine the reason for this soon.
Mom and dad were able to hold Elizabeth for a couple of hours today too and even got to kiss her on the cheek for the first time.

It's 13:37 on Sunday afternoon and Elizabeth has the hick-ups, but she doesn't seem too bothered. She is now getting 9 ccs and is slowly starting to gain weight. She was 820 grams at 9 o'clock last night.
She is still on CPAP!
On Friday she was very pale and sleepy. She was getting a lot of secretions from her nose and had to be suctioned almost every half hour. Yesterday her doctor ordered a blood transfusion. Luckily her dad's blood was available, so Elizabeth got 12 cc's. Within minutes of her transfusion her colour improved. She is also getting antibiotics that seems to be helping with the infection. Her secretions have decreased, making it easier for her to breathe.

Elizabeth has been on CPAP for over 48 hours, which a significant improvement. The last x-ray of her lungs revealed some "haziness", which is making it a little more difficult for her to breathe. The nurses and doctors are watching her closely.
She still has the infection in her nose despite the round of antibiotics, but that does not appear to be bothering her too much.
Her feeds were increased to 6 cc every 2 hours and she seems to be handling that reasonably well (she has spit some up).