In Other News....

Little Bird withstood the transport rather well. And to think that it took a physician, a respiratory technician, two critical care nurses, and two paramedics to relocate all four pounds of her from point A to point B. She was very sassy during the trip, letting her entourage know that she would not tolerate anything less than the best. She is a tiny diva.

Yes, you read correctly. I did write 'four'. She currently tips the scales at four pounds, four ounces. Her nurses are also stunned by this, with several of them weighing her twice a shift just to be sure. Since the events of this past weekend, she's also unbelievably and impressively breathing with vent settings that have been adjusted to mimic C-PAP. Something she hasn't been able to do since Day 10. She subsequently required yet another blood transfusion after Saturday's episode, but her blood count has held steady since. Yesterday, an ENT specialist evaluated her airway in order to better assess the situation with the BPD. As far as they can tell, she may not have subglottic stenosis. And they are trying to refrain from invasively scoping her. Did I mention that I love this new facility?

Last night, her nursing team decided that it's in Little Bird's best interests to completely prohibit her from sleeping on her belly. They've also decided to sedate her, to reduce the risk of her removing her breathing tube again. Not a lot, just enough to keep her comfortably calm and quiet. A little common sense goes a long way. The attending physician on the floor concurs with what I've been preaching all along. That her lungs are still a bit too immature, but that she will come off of the machine. Little Bird will fly, in her own time. 

This afternoon, we spoke to her ophthalmologist. Her eyes will be rescanned tomorrow, in order to keep track of how her vision is progressing. They asked us for consent to allow Little Bird to be part of a study in which they'll take digital images of her retinas and email them halfway around the world, in order to prove that accurate diagnosis' can be determined this way. Not quite two months old and she's already pioneering medical technology. Kind of makes the rest of us feel inadequate, no?

At least for now, she is stable and content. She's eating. She's resting. She's growing. She's healing. Maybe she can't do that as quickly as the statistics say she should be able to. But then again, she isn't a statistic. Over the past two months, she's endured more than I ever could. And considering that she is not supposed to be here yet, I'd say that's pretty damn immeasurable. 


share on: facebook