First and foremost, Michelle got to hold Karsie yesterday and today. We thought the picture and Michelle's smile spoke way more than anything we could type. Karsie went right to sleep and stayed calm when Michelle held her....both times.
Patch: GONE! We now need to find a new name for Karsie's lump. Any ideas? We'd love to hear them on the comment section. Dr. Saenz came in today and took the rest of it off. Her skin has done a Magellan and it covers all of the organs. Now it's just time to toughen up. The doctors are going to try and find a way to see if Michelle and Karsie can orchestrate skin to skin contact when Karsie is being held.
Feeding: Still going strong. TPN is slowly dying in Karsie's feeding. It's down to 5.5, which means her breast milk feeding is at 10.5. They did labs today and her bilirubin levels are down, which is fantastic seeing as they had been going up slightly. The more she continues to feed the better she will do on that because the TPN will be decreased. Also, even more exciting, is that tomorrow she will start to try to bottle feed. They will do this for one hour a day and see how she handles it. Moving on.....
Breathing: Karsie is still doing well on her breathing. She stays real close to 22% on her O2 levels, which is only 1% off of room air. We think we're getting pretty close to having the breathing under control.
EEG: Yup. There was an EEG. We didn't know about it. Thank the Lord! And, for all intents and purposes, it was normal!! The doctor did say that there was some spiking happening, but she was also moving. It's almost impossible for a baby to have a normal reading as they move, but all of the previous two issues that was seen is now gone. She looks as normal as any baby would look at this point. And moving on.....
Discharge: So...the doctors are at least talking about that now. Not that she will be discharged any time soon, but they seem to be getting their ducks in a row. Michelle has been questioned on what kind of car seat she has and if we had found a pediatrician. These are questions that are new and suggest a finish line at least on the horizon. Again, it will still be a long time before she comes home, but the word "discharge" has been uttered.
What a day indeed.....
