Every day in the NICU brings it’s steps forward and it’s steps back or even sideways. A childhood friend referred to it as the NICU shuffle and that is definitely a great description. Last week we battled high sugar levels and raised white blood cell counts. This week it’s blood transfusions and neural ultrasounds added to the regular bradycardia episodes and the standard micro preemie issues.
Bloodwork this morning showed that her blood levels were low and she was reading anemic, all indicators the need for a blood transfusion was rearing it’s ugly head. Because babies this small require daily blood draws this can affect their blood levels pretty quickly. Day one this was something that was brought up as a potential need. Luckily, Glama Fox, is a universal blood donor (YAHOO!!!) so, we set up a directed donation even before she went home to Florida. Although, this is standard practice, this Mommy was still a bit uneasy about having Sofia go through this. As with any procedure the potential risks always seem to ring louder than the benefits. Luckily, everything went well and she is on watch for 24 hours to make sure that she is releasing any additional fluids that she has from the transfusion. So that’s one thing down and one new issue to go….so far.
Tomorrow night she is scheduled to have a neural ultrasound to see if any bleeding has taken place in the brain. This is the most nerve wrecking of tests so far for me. She has not shown any developmental indications of a bleed but the fact that they need to check for ANY reason is such a scary prospect. It’s one of the first complication that is brought up during preterm labor and facing the potential of having a micro preemie. This one will have me on edge until we are given the results, no doubt in my mind!
The other things we are dealing with are the “typical’ preemie issues such as Bradycardia and Apnea (A&B’s) episodes. Everyone keeps reiterating that this “normal preemie behavior”. A Bradycardia is when a baby’s heart rate drops very low and subsequently they stop breathing. Typical for preemies? Sure. Typical for a new Mom or Dad to be holding baby when she stops breathing, then, needing to rub her back to stimulate and remind her to breath again? Umm, yea, pretty much makes your heart skip a beat, or two, or three. The not so funny part is I’m actually getting used to it now. As soon as the monitors alarm sounds, give her a second or two to pull it up on her own and if not, start the back/belly rubs! Although, Sofia if you could have a few less of those a day this would make Mommy much more happy. I think Mommy needs a beer…which is evidently good for milk supply, so BRING IT ON!
