October 7, 2008

Amaree's love affair with the Binky. This is the larger Binky. They move up in sizes so they can develop the correct muscles to learn to suck. It is so big!

A lot has happened. First, Amaree has lost some weight, quite a bit actually, around 100 grams (four ounces). This is due to several things. First, the steroids make her loose weight. Secondly, the caffeine makes her loose water weight, and thirdly, her isolette wasn't working quite right and she was cold and had to use some of her energy to keep warm. The good news is that she was able to maintain her temperature on her core or they would have found it sooner, and they fixed the incubator to keep her warm. The water weight is good to come off because a lot of it was in her lungs and making it more difficult to breathe.

She is breathing really well now and is maintaining oxygen of 25%. Humans breathe 21% so it is really close to room air. She also moved back down on her ventilator settings. Her lung x-ray showed that her lungs are really clear-the pneumonia is gone and she is getting stronger.

Her echo showed that the murmur is due to a valve narrowing, if I understood it correctly. They aren't going to do anything for it, and it isn't serious. It is very likely she will grow out of it eventually.

Just look at those fingers!

The last bit of news is that she continues to love her Binky. Several of the nurses have told me that when she is agitated they give it her and she calms down and just sucks on it. We really need to get her off the ventilator so she can really suck on it and learn to feed.

Annie said that Andrew had a small murmur when he was a baby too. She really is his child in so many ways!

Amaree has grown two whole inches! When we put her back in the Giraffe after changing it, she was stretching.