Business in the front, party in the back.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

11 days old

Looks like Charlotte has an infection of some sort - her white blood cell count is elevated. X-rays showed that a small part of her bowel is enlarged, which could mean a vast array of issues or it could mean nothing at all since an infection elsewhere could mean that her body is just redirecting it's attentions. The spinal tap turned out negative and they're doing blood tests for other changes every few hours. The results of the tests for which kind of infection she might have won't be back for 48 hours so they've put Charlotte on an antibiotic that they usually use to treat most infections they see in the NICU.

In the meantime, they've taken out her umbilical IV line in case that is the source, and replaced it with one in her hand. She's also off feedings until this is all resolved and her digestive system is ready to get back into action. They've inserted a tube into her stomach that intermittently pulls out any contents so they can keep an eye out on what she's generating. So the progress she made in getting off the emulsified fat infusions, vitamins and fluids by IV has been turned around.

Charlotte has also been placed on an infection quarantine so as not to spread anything to other babies. In order to touch her, you have to be wearing a gown and gloves.

The good news is that she was sleeping but stretching and shuffling around today, which we haven't seen since Sunday, so that is a little reassuring. She has also only had one dsat since the treatments have started, so that is always nice to hear. Let me tell you, it is freakin' scary to get a call from the hospital - no matter the reason. Since her abdomen was distended and her bowel enlarged, I was afraid that she had Hirschprung's and would need some sort of surgery to repair it. I don't want Charlotte to have a scar and be different from her sister, or anyone else, because I had that and it wasn't easy to deal with growing up.

Lilah is now on half-feeds (breast milk supplemented with super-fortified formula) and totally off the IV, so they pulled out her PICC line entirely. Now the only attachments she has are the feeding tube and the monitors for her heart rate, respirations and O2 levels, which all have to stay on as long as she is in the NICU. Way to go, Lilah!

2 comments:

NanaHess said...

I'll bump up my prayers for Charlotte. I don't know how you guys are making it. I can't even fathom what you have been through the past 6 months! And again little Lilah is such a champ. Take care and I'll try and forgive you for the prebaby weight update...

G-MA said...

The four of you are rock stars - Britt you are my hero. Love to all, G-Ma