Movin' up!

Good news! Good news! Lauren has been moved from the level III area of the NICU to level II. This happened on Friday and she has been doing well. The level III area needed room for new babies and Lauren was stable enough so she got the boot. Being moved means they don't think she will go back on the ventilator and that she will continue to grow healthy and strong.

She is on CPAP still and it seems to be going well. She is getting 15mls of milk every 2 hours and then they attatch a syringe to the tube (from her mouth to her stomach) to vent air from her stomach after she eats. The CPAP constantly blows air, so some air ends up going to Lauren's stomach which she doesn't like too much. When she gets bothered by the air she tries to push the air out by "burping" through the tube from her stomach. Sometimes when she is trying to "burp" she holds her breath and she desaturates, but recently these are the only time her oxygen saturations decrease. To avoid so much air being blown into her stomach, the doctor is considering changing Lauren to high flow oxygen through a nasal cannula. It could be a couple days or weeks before they try the switch if at all. I was reassured by her Nurse & respiratory therapist today that if she did go on the high flow and didn't tolerate it, she would just go back on CPAP and that is not a set back like going from CPAP to the ventilator is.

I can't believe how much weight Lauren has been gaining lately. She is doing so well in this department! She is 2lbs 15oz now. She did look a little puffy in her feet today so she may lose a little over the next day or two. I was looking at pictures from when she was first born and comparing them with today's pictures and she looks like such a big girl now. My perspective on baby size has really changed after having a micro-preemie.