So getting all that fluid off Haven’s lung was a good thing. However, since we last posted she has drained about twenty more ounces from that very same tube, so they have become quite concerned about where all this fluid is coming from. She has had some ultrasounds and x-rays today to look for problems, but they haven’t shown anything abnormal that would cause so much fluid to build up. Thankfully, the rate of the drainage has slowed down over the past few hours, but it is still concerning. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday’s procedure to put in a drainage line into the left side of Haven’s chest cavity was successful. Everyone was surprised to find just how much fluid they were able to pull out of her chest. They initially pulled out three ounces and since have drained out twice as much!

To put that in perspective: 3 ounces of fluid on a 9-pound baby’s lung would be like a 120-pound adult having 40 ounces of fluid on their lung. That’s more than a large drink from McDonald’s!!! No wonder her lung was collapsed. Her numbers improved almost instantly when that fluid initially came off. So that side is continuing to drain. However, chest x-rays from this morning indicate that the upper lobe of her other lung is partially collapsed as well. They don’t believe there is as much fluid there as was on her left side, so they are attempting to treat that without putting in another drainage tube. We’ll see. Read the rest of this entry »

Early this morning, they transported Haven down to have her second digestive test. This test determines if there are any structural problems with her digestive system. Results won’t be available until later this afternoon or tomorrow. As soon as they are in we will post those results.

Due to her frail condition, she came back from the test with a few more problems (possibly caused by the stress of being transported to the test and back). Many doctors from several areas of expertise have been constantly giving Haven their attention all day. She is retaining a lot of fluid in her chest, particularly on her left side. Read the rest of this entry »

Putting Haven back on the ventilator seems to have been a good decision. She has been holding pretty steady today and has been comfortable and restful. Today the doctors started focusing on some of her other health issues realizing that her digestive issues are having an effect on her ability to be strong enough to breathe on her own. She took a big trip down to the first floor for a GI test where they took pictures of how well food moves through her stomach. The results of the test: food is taking a long time to move through her stomach and some is being refluxed back out.

For us, these results were far from earth shattering, but Read the rest of this entry »

Since our last post, Haven has struggled with a couple of issues. Last night, though she was tolerating milk through her feeding tube, her body didn’t seem to know just what to do with it from a digestive standpoint. At surface level, it appears that when food goes into her stomach it stays there and doesn’t move on through the system. Therefore, as food keeps going in, it just inflates her stomach more and more until the natural reaction is to throw it all back up. So, they have decided to stop her feeding until they can do some testing to figure out what the problem is exactly. Read the rest of this entry »

Haven started receiving milk through her feeding tube today. She’s been getting it very slowly over the past six hours and has kept it all down. We’re thankful for that! She’s having some problems with the drainage tube in her chest, so the doctor is coming down this evening to decide what to do with that. Rumor has it that if Haven does well enough this weekend, she may be moving out of the Intensive Care Unit and in to a less critical unit sometime early next week. That would be wonderful–just one step closer to going home!

Haven had a good night last night and so far today her numbers have been holding steady.  She’s been awake most of the morning and fussing quite a bit.  They started feeding her pedialyte through her NG tube as well.  So far, she’s kept it down.  It seems that the next big obstacle is getting her diet problems fixed.  The main issue here is that she hasn’t eaten hardly anything in her 5 1/2 weeks of life so her stomach doesn’t take food too well.  They’ll be trying a couple of things to get her to respond well to getting nutrition through actual food in her belly.  Thankfully, since she is off the ventilator, we were able to hold her for a little while this morning.  Hopefully, things will keep moving in the right direction.

Early this morning, the doctors decided to pull out one of the two chest tubes she has left. They will continue to watch to make sure fluid does not build up in her chest, but we are excited that she has one less tube. Mommy was feeling under the weather this weekend so Daddy has had plenty of practice taking care of two women. Today’s nurse even assigned him some of her tasks. As Mommy was sleeping in a chair, she heard the nurse call in “Okay, Dad.” That meant he was to perform Haven’s bi-hourly care… diaper changing, taking her temperature, changing her position, and cleaning out her mouth, etc. By the end of the day he was able to do all but the mouth cleaning without an auditory complaint from Haven. We won’t mention how many diapers Haven went through in one changing… let’s just say she likes to wait for a clean diaper until she does her business. She has been sleeping a lot today, but wakes up once in a while to charm us. Grandpa and Grandma McMullin thouroughly enjoyed their time “babysitting” this weekend and many nurses pop their heads in the room just to admire how cute she is. We couldn’t agree more!

Today was similar to yesterday though she seemed to be feeling a little more comfortable. She’s been charming us with her precious cry, big blue eyes, and high-pitched little coos. We were finally able to get her to take her pacifier without gagging on it or just letting it fall out of her mouth. We were also able to get a few video and sound clips taken today with the camera. We’ll work on getting those up on the site within the next few days for you to enjoy.

Haven has been sleeping most of the day today. Although it looks like she’s off of the ventilator for good, she struggled today with several issues. Besides her fever, she has been back and forth with her blood gas (oxygen & carbon dioxide) levels. She has been very irritable and uncomfortable as well, but this evening she was able to relax for a few minutes. We can tell she’s getting sick of this hospital stuff (all those tubes in her nose and chest and other places), but she’s a fighter and she’s come a very long way. We are so thankful for our little family and the precious time (one month today) we’ve all had together. Hopefully, tomorrow she’ll be feeling better and be able to enjoy us as much as we enjoy her.