Turning a corner?

Ava is doing incredibly well. What a difference a few days makes! A lot has happened in the last 24 hours. First of all, Ava's oxygen pressures have been weaned from 7 liters to just 2 liters. In the next day or so they plan to replace her high flow cannula to a regular cannula (no pressure just oxygen). She has been taken off of almost all of her regular medications except a diuretic and her antibiotics. Sometimes she is given potassium or another medication as needed but not on a regular basis. They removed her ART line today which was in her leg to get blood from instead of poking her all the time. She still has one in her belly button (umbilical cord) to draw blood from. This means that they are no longer checking her blood pressure using a monitor all the time. They simply use a cuff each hour to do it. I also started feeding her today with a bottle! We started with just 10 ccs but now we are up to 25 ccs and she is tolerating it well. They said that just because she was good at sucking a pacifier didn't mean she would understand how to swallow. Especially if her vocal chords are still irritated from the breathing tube being in there. However, Ava is eating like a champ. This doesn't surprise me as she came out of the womb wanting to nurse.

Most importantly she just looks great! I am able to interact more with her and to be a bit more involved in her care (feeding, holding, changing diapers, etc.) and that feels wonderful. We did have one scary moment today, however, when her heart rate jumped up into the 220s and stayed there for a few minutes. Apparently the nurse had held one of her arrhythmia medications because it can drop her blood pressure which was already on the low side of normal. Her blood gas also showed that she was low on potassium which can also do this. So between those two things her heart rate went sky high. It hasn't happened again and I'm praying that they have the problem solved.

How do we feel about all of these changes? Very nervous. Jamie and I are not at all used to things moving so fast with Ava (as you all know she does things in her own time). It feels good to have things moving in the right direction but it's hard because we don't want to get our hopes up. Dr. Hirsh is even thinking that we may be out of ICU and in Moderate Care by the first of the week. While this sounds great, there is a definite sense of security in the ICU unit. Ava is taken care of by her own nurse or one that is assigned to one other patient. Also, the cardiologists are right there if one is needed. Please pray for Ava's continued progress in healing her tiny body.

Jamie and Brayden are trick or treating right now and while it's sad I'm not with them, at least I know that at 8:00 p.m. I'll be feeding Ava another bottle. I would like to thank Jamie for all he's done over the last five weeks for our family. I miss Brayden so much but I know you are taking good care of him, Jame. You're a great father and that's why he adores you so much. Even when you're not here, I hear your voice of reason and it calms me. On Monday night when the girls were here I was freaking out because Ava's SATs went a little haywire and they needed to sedate her. It reminded me of the last time when she had to go back to the ventilator. I was crying and sure that her blood gases would look bad. As I was getting all upset I said to Robyn and Jenny that you would have been so mad at me if you were here. I was getting all upset before we even knew the results. And of course the midnight blood gases turned out to be fine. I miss you being here to console me when I'm hysterical. I can't wait to see you and Bray this weekend!

Many thanks to Erin for the gifts you sent this weekend. We love the U of M shoes and slippers. Thanks again,Sara for the basket of goodies. I'm surprised I haven't gained 20 pounds from all the junk I'm eating. Chrissy, thanks for the beautiful blanket you made. Jeff and Charissa, it was so nice of you to send baby and big brother gifts. I can't wait to play the games with Brayden. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the sweet gifts. I love the saying on the little trinket box. It reads "To the world you may be only one person, but to one person, you may be the world!" Thank you, Kathy for the delicious goulash you sent with Jenny. Robyn, thank you for the haircut - I was desperate! And a huge thank you to Howard Township Baseball Committee for the gas cards. The generosity of the community has been amazing! We feel extremely blessed to have so much support and caring.