Emily lost quite a bit of fluid weight yesterday. She was given medication to help her get rid of some of her excess fluids and had three diapers which were 40g, 116g, and 30g yesterday afternoon. She now weighs four pounds, 14.7 ounces again, but is doing much better with her breathnig. She isn’t working hard today and her O2 requirements have come down.
We spoke with the doctor who was on service today about Emily’s feeding. Basically, her orders are for us and the nurses to keep doing what we’ve been doing with Emily – to try and feed her if her respiratory rate is good, she’s awake, and sucking. If she’s too tired or breathing too fast, we shouldn’t try to feed her, which we weren’t doing anyways.
Jennifer also talked with the doctor about moving Emily to four-hour feeds, which is also something that the doctor is a big fan of, so Emily started taking 60 cc’s of milk every four hours starting at midnight. At 4 AM and 8 AM she took 20 cc’s from the bottle each time.
One of the pictures last night was taken through the little hole in the top of her hood she’s in to get humidity while she’s sleeping. (It looks like Emily’s in a blue circle.)
In other news, Emily’s great grandparents are celebrating their 61st wedding anniversary today.
Tony
Wow, I am so sorry you had such a lousy day today. I have never heard of a speech therapist giving recommendations as to whether someone is feeding or not!!?? You guys are doing a great job…unfortunately, the condescension doesn’t end in the NICU and you will always have to be viligant and put up with idiots for Emily’s sake. Keep up the good work, it sounds like you handled the situation well!
Emily is looking beautiful today!
Susan