Preemie Steps

I am so happy we have made it this far. She will be 16 days old at 1:23 am. She is still very sick but she is not getting any worse. She is off of the oscillator ventilator and is now on a conventional ventilator. Right now the goal is to keep her ventilator settings low. The more work the ventilator does the more damage is done to her lungs. Unfortunately the ventilator is keeping her alive right now and we have to take the good with the bad. They have discovered that she has an infection in one of a UV lines (a line run through her umbilical cord which is used to provide nutrients and remove blood for testing). This line is scheduled to be removed but cannot till a replacement line is in place. They have tried to run standard catheter but her vein was not big enough. They will try to run one through a vein in her leg and if that doesn't work they will need to operate and surgically place a catheter line. We are really hoping to not have to under go surgery.

There is some improvement in her pulmonary interstitial emphysema although it is not much. There is not much more they can do for her lungs at this point. We just have to hope that she has enough fight in her to get better on her own. So for right now and for a while it is just wait and see. Everyday, every hour, every minute that she is alive just brings more hope.

Juliana opened her eyes for the first time early Saturday morning. Unfortunately, I was not there but she did open her eyes for us today. I was also able to hold her for a few minutes for the first time in her life. I have been waiting for this moment since the day I found out I was pregnant. Today was one of our better days in the NICU and I am sure there will be more to come. We have a long way to go still but we are taking preemie steps in the right directions. Please keep her in your prayers.