She Likes It

Right before shift change the nurses got a set of blood gases on Elli and her CO2 was back up to 74 so on the oscillating vent she went. Dr. P who has basically been in Elli's room all day pacing back and forth (especially those first few hours after she came off ECMO) discussed these most recent blood gases with the Neonatologist that was in house Dr. T and he decided that it would be best for Elli to go on the oscillating vent. Of course we had to leave for shift change and so when we got back they had done another set of gases that were only slightly improved, but as of 10:00 Elli's gases were PERFECT! What a little champ, she really likes the oscillating vent. Her color looks so much better and her blood pressure is finally up where it was before she came off ECMO. Also, it looks like her bleeding around the silo has pretty much stopped. There does not appear to be any new oozing from that area or around the abdominal tube (there had been a steady trickle from it earlier this afternoon). Apparently the Heparin is finally getting out of her system, and she is peeing like a champ which also helps to excrete the Heparin. So all things considered from this afternoon, Elli is pretty stable. Dr. P even turned down her vent settings at 11:00 and is going to get a blood gas at midnight to see how well she tolerates it. We are planning on staying at the hospital until that gas gets back, then we might go get some shut eye. Elli did wake up just for a few minutes this evening when she had a chest x-ray taken. Dr. P wanted to see what Elli's lungs were looking like. He showed Brian and I the x-ray and it looked pretty good. Her right lung looks well inflated with a questionable small area at the very top that looks like it might be a) collapsed b) pneumonia 3) hematoma area where the ECMO cannulas came out. He is going to keep a close eye on it over the next few days, but if it is pneumonia, Elli is on antibiotics. If it is a collapsed area the "jet" from the oscillating vent will "knock it out" so to speak. And a hematoma will resolve itself, so pretty much all bases are covered whatever the reason might be. Dr. P also seems to think that the little left lung "nubbin" looks like it is inflated. He showed us on the chest x-ray but it was pretty hard to see and you really had to squint. I guess any lung tissue on the left side is better than nothing and it wont hurt if it is helping the right lung out. I guess that's about it for tonight. Hopefully all will be well in the morning. I am sure that I am going to have to call at 2 and 5 when I pump just to make sure she is still doing okay. It's almost midnight now, waiting for the gases then off to the RMH. Thank you to everyone that has been checking the blog and leaving comments. I think that today was even more stressful then the day Elli had surgery. She is defiantly giving mommy and daddy some grey hairs, but they will be worth it when we get to take her home.