September 1st

Kate did much better yesterday! The echo was done on her heart and the cardiologist confirmed that her PDA valve was closed.  I'm so grateful for all the people that fasted and prayed for her and that she doesn't need to have that surgery!  Her bilirubin went down and she was taken off the lights.  She was able to be swaddled and she does so much better that way.  She was still letting the ventilator do a lot of the work for her, but the doctor said he wants to start making her work again.  They were able to lower a little bit of the settings yesterday on the vent. and make her try to do some it on her own.  Her hemoglobin was back up to a 10, which is much better, but still a little bit low.  They want to see if she can bring it up herself.  Research has shown that it's better to give them less blood so their bodies will try harder to produce it.  It's pretty normal for them to receive 2 or 3 transfusions at this age.  The doctor also started her back on her feedings.  He doesn't want her digestive system to atrophy from not being used.  She will be on 1 ml of my milk again to see if she can tolerate it and it will slowly increase.  Kate was also given some extra fluids because she is not putting out enough urine. 

We took the kids up to see Kate last night.  They have been really wanting to go see her.  Children 2 and older can visit for 5 minutes on the weekend as long as they have their vaccinations.  September is usually when the NICU stops allowing children to come in because it's the beginning of RSV season.  Kale was out of town with a friend so hopefully we will be able to take him next weekend before they close their doors to kids.  They all loved seeing her and asked questions about everything going on with all the tubes.  Kinnli was excited to see Kate move her fingers and said she was waving at her.