Eleanor Update 4

April 1, 2011:


Eleanor has come a long way! 1 week!

Where to begin? Yesterday she went back on the bili light because she had more jaundice. The docs want her level to be at 10 or less. Yesterday she was at 13 and today her level is at 10, but they will keep her on the phototherapy to get it lower. They will stop tomorrow. 

Each day they have lowered the amount of oxygen she needs. She started on her own when she was born, then she went to the ventilator for a few days, then she went back to the oxygen at a higher level. Tonight she is at 22% oxygen and has an oxygen saturation level in the 90's which is good. We breathe at 21% oxygen so she is right there. The docs want her to have an oxygen saturation level from 85-95%. The nurse said she may be able to breathe on her own tomorrow but the doctor did not say that. Either way she is doing great. 

The docs took the IV out of her umbilical cord and they are using a vein in her hand. As of right now she has oxygen tubes in her nose, feeding tube in her mouth to her stomach, heart monitor, IV giving nutrients, and the oxygen saturation monitor in her foot. She comes with a lot of wires! 

She is very aware.  She does not like any of the things on her. She has figured out how to pull out the oxygen tubes in her nose. This caused her to get her first timeout. The nurse was tired of putting it back in so she put a piece of tape on the tip of Eleanor's nose and connected it to the tubes so she couldn't pull it out. Well, Eleanor is persistent and she was able to work at the tube and loosened the tape. She got the tube out of her nose again. I think this is a sign of the future. She is also starting to suck which is something that usually takes preemies a long time to figure out. She started sucking on the feeding tube then she got her hand in her mouth and sucked her knuckles. 

It is priceless to watch her pull the tubes out of her nose and then the face she makes when we put it back in.

Food: she started taking 1ml of milk every 3 hours and tonight she is taking 4 ml of milk every hour for 6 hours then a two hour break and repeat. That is not enough for her to start gaining weight yet but the doctors think that in two days or so she will be taking enough milk  to start gaining. The feeding tube is a constant flow - for 6 hours milk is flowing into her tummy. The weight gain is the next most important step. They want her to gain half an ounce to 1 ounce each day. They also said they may add a calorie mixture to the milk to help her gain weight faster. That is another option that they will consider in the next few days.

Fun stuff: Yesterday Em was able to hold Eleanor for the first time outside her house. It was great and today we were both able to hold her "kangaroo style". Kangarooing is where we put Eleanor inside our shirts so we are skin to skin. This helps her bond with us and keeps her warm. It has even been shown to help preemies gain weight! Right now it is important not to take her outside her house too much b/c she burns calories just trying to stay warm. It was awesome to hold her for the first time. She was so comfy and fell right to sleep. She is also able to keep her eyes open longer and her hair is getting longer. 


All for now, She is so wonderful and full of personality! 


-Robert