Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

We are learning that having a child in the NICU is not a day-to-day event. Conditions can change more quickly.

This morning was fabulous: We were finally able to hold Ingrid!!! Mommy held her for a while and then Daddy was able to hold her for over two hours - rocking, singing, cooing. It was wonderful.

A little later, Dr. Ponsky (an elementary school classmate of mine), came in to change the dressing on Ingrid's omphalocele. He said everything looked encouraging and that she was progressing nicely.

An echocardiogram (ultrasound) of Ingrid's heart showed that her heart is functioning well and the repair to her artery is looking good.

Unfortunately, later in the afternoon Ingrid seemed more uncomfortable and her breathing was more labored. The amount of oxygen flowing through her nasal canula (the tube going up her nose) was upped to 50% (what we all normally breathe is 21%) because the amount of O2 in her blood appeared to be dipping slightly. A test of the gases in her blood indicated that she wasn't breathing deep enough breaths to get rid of enough CO2. In order to get to her artery during her surgery they had to collapse or partially collapse her left lung and her doctor thinks that it hasn't fully recovered and isn't inflating properly.

I had to leave at 5:30 pm before any decision had been made, but it looks like Ingrid will have to go back on the ventilator. It's disheartening but we understand that she needs a break from struggling to breathe so that she can fully recover from her surgery. We are learning to take it all in stride - hour-by-hour.