Day 2

Day 2 in the NICU had a lot less drama.  Robin was feeling better, the baby was wiggling around and acting more like she should, so we were starting to settle in to what things are going to be like for us until KelliAnne can go home.  She had some issues with acid in her blood that they were working on the day before, and the medicine they were giving her actually got the acid levels back into an acceptable range by the end of day 2 (May 17th).  She was showing signs that her lungs were also in better condition as they were able to reduce the usage of the respirator and let her pick up some of the slack.  Much of this day was spent by me asking tons of questions regarding all of the numbers on the monitors, learning what ranges we wanted to see them in, and we also spent a lot of time doing the hand containment.

They explained to us certain milestones they want to see out of KelliAnne to be demonstrating progress.  First, less dependent on the respirator so they can work her up to a SEAPAP machine (exactly like what people use for snoring or sleep apnea), then a canula (not sure on spelling).  Other movement they wanted to see was a couple days of stability in her other organs (heart, brain, liver, kidneys) before they would start feeding her.  Day 2 went well for this category, so she was getting closer to receiving trophic feedings.  1 mL of breast mile every 3 hours.  Trophic feedings are to coat the stomach and let the antibodies from Robin help protect the baby from infection.

I am not a real doctor, but I could play one on TV at this point.