Positive Steps Forward

Emma had a good weekend. It was a very long week for Alissa and I, but it looks like we are over the worst of it. Emma was taken off of the oscillator and put back on the normal ventilator on Thursday or Friday. It is much quieter for her now and it is easier for the nurses to reposition her. She also had her left chest tube removed in the middle of last week. Her right lung still has some leakage so they are waiting a little longer to remove that one. She has been on IV nutrients since her episode last Saturday, but it looks like she may be going back to milk today or tomorrow. With the IV fluids, she gained a lot of water weight and was looking very puffy. They countered the puffiness with lasix and she started to look like herself again on Saturday. They estimate that her real weight is around 3.5 pounds even though she is weighing in at 3 pounds 12 ounces. She is no longer on the paralytic, but will continue to receive pain medicine and sedation. Her white blood cell count is elevated, so they are testing to see if she has any infections. As a precaution, they have given her 2 broad spectrum antibiotics. If it turns out that she has no infections, they will take her off of them. We haven’t been able to take many pictures in the last week because her room has been so dark and we didn’t want to disturb her with the flash, but we’ll try to get some this week and include it with our next update. As always, thank you for you continued prayers.