UPS AND DOWNS

No matter how healthy a little preemie is, I learned with Justin that there will always be good days in the hospital and some not so good. I would call today an "ok" day. A few days ago, the docs discontinued her aminphylline which is the drug that helps with breathing and spells. It basically relaxes and opens air passages making it easier to breathe. The drug takes about 3-4 days to wear off and it has been pretty noticeable for Ava. She is clearly not ready to be off the meds. Each day since they discontinued the meds, she has had more de-sats and spells. So, today we decided to put her back on the aminophylline. We will try again to discontinue the meds when she is a little bigger and older. It's a good thing we didn't take her off her O2 monitor! I also talked to the NP this morning about doing some blood cultures in order to make sure she wasn't getting an infection. I think I am a little sensitive to that because of Justin's infection when he was in the NICU. So, she ordered blood and urine cultures just to make sure. I really wasn't worried about an infection because she was still acting normally and has been very alert. The tests came back this afternoon totally fine. We will not get her urine culture back until tomorrow. She got her first "loading dose" of aminophylline at 2pm (orally, through her feeding tube) and will get a constant dose every 8 hours going forward. Again, hopefully she will start growing out of these spells and de-sats soon, they normally do between 34 and 36 weeks. So, not a great day but could be much worse. And, I am so relieved it is nothing more than just needing the meds. Oh, and she gained half a pound. 3 lbs 13 ounces.