The Incredible Shrinking Patch

This morning, Michelle received a call from Dr. Saenz. This took her off guard (especially because she thought he was on vacation). He was calling to inform her that he had taken a look at patch and decided, because it was getting kind of loose, to take off 2/3 of the gore-tex. WOW! He explained that there was granulation tissue all the way up the sides, and across part of the top. The remaining part of Patch is stuck to the granulation tissue that is still forming, but he anticipates it will be removed within a few days. The mound of organs is now mostly covered with granulation tissue and some skin. The dressing changes will happen every 12 hours now instead of 6, and the dressing is the wet-to-dry dressing. This will help facilitate skin growth and healthy healing. This is all amazing news, and we are hoping that now that Patch is shrinking down, that will mean faster healing (like when you take the band-aid off the wound and it heals faster).
Another great report, is that Karsie is now off CPAP! She of course, can be put back on for a little help if she needs it, but as of today, she is on nasal cannula 24 hours a day!!! Hooray! She was breathing about 27% O2 today when we were in and doing well with it.
Her feeds are still climbing back up; she is at 6.5mL today.
Michelle was also able to meet with the Occupational Therapist who talked to her about how to meet some of Karsie's developmental needs while she is stuck in the isolet. She recommended a mirror toy, some small teethers, and books and music. The really great news is that we have been doing most of that already. We have been reading books with her for quite some time. We have the little mp3 player for stories and music as well (though we are having some technical difficulties loading the music). And today Michelle took in some little linking teether toys for Karsie to play with and suck on. Now we are on a quest for a mirror toy. The OT said that mirrors are especially calming for babies because they don't like to see other babies cry. Therefore if they are looking in the mirror, and the other baby (their own reflection) is crying, they will stop crying because it makes the other baby stop crying! How great is that! It also helps them with moving their neck because they like to see babies! Our little miracle! Patch (on a diet)... you can see where patch ends now if you look at the bottom left of the patch. Most of the sides are gone! Only the top circle and a small area towards her head remain.
Grandpa spends some time with Karsie.
Karsie is holding one of her linking toys (thanks Auntie Carolynn)! These are especially great because they have different colors and textures and they are thin enough for her tiny hands to hold onto!