Let's start with the bad news. Karsie most likely has developed an infection. This is common with NICU babies because of all the tubes and everything being inside for long periods of time, plus she has Patch to worry about with that being sewn to her skin. They have all but ruled out pneumonia because they did a chest x-ray and everything came back normal. However, other than that they don't really know where it's coming from. They sent some labs down this morning and they will be ready in a couple days or so, but in the mean time they are pumping her with antibiotics, so it should clear up (hopefully) in a week or so. The other thing they are concerned about is that it could be meningitis so they are doing a spinal tap to check that, but she is not showing many signs toward it being a real bad infection anyway, so keep that in your prayers.Good news: As you can see, Karsie is off the ventilators completely. She has had an oxygen tube put in her nose (like athletes) and she seems to be doing fine. She was given a pacifier and it took her a while, but she has started the sucking reflex on that. They might start giving her food soon, but the infection possibility has slowed that down a bit. Maybe tomorrow. Best news yet is that we will most likely get to hold her tonight. She is needing to take a long rest/nap this afternoon as there was a lot of stuff done to her, so she has had a busy, tiring morning, but after shift change tonight we will probably get to hold our baby for the first time.
