Can You Tell What's Different...

Notice anything different about this picture...that's right! Lauren is back on CPAP as of 11 this morning. Her blood gases have been great and she did well when they turned the ventilator rate down to help her start taking her own breaths. So far, the doctor and nurses are pleased with how she doing off the ventilator. They are slowly increasing her feeds as she is still having problems with reflux, but at least she is able to get some milk feedings. They have been weaning down the IV and her blood sugars are back in the normal range, so Insulin for the last 2 days.

My mom & I had a nice visit with Lauren for a couple of hours today. I didn't get to kangaroo her because her nurse thought we should wait a day. She was pretty hoarse when she cried after the extubation and her nurse didn't want to irritate her airway anymore with moving her to me in case she cried. I always want to hold her, but I am content with just being by her side and able to put a hand over her. Lauren has been putting on some more weight and is up to 2lbs 4oz! Hopefully she will continue to gain. My mom thought that she looked HUGE compared to when she was born. :)

I asked the nurse if there was any specific weight that Lauren would have to meet before being discharged and she said Lauren will have to maintain her temperature, be able to feed and be able to adequately oxygenate. She said they send babies home that are only 4lbs! We also got a call from our insurance case manager that she reviewed our policy and our insurance will only pay for a transfer if it is "medically necessary." Well, St. V's is a level 3 NICU as is Salem, so there would be no necessity, just convenience for us. I spoke to the doctor who was on today about it and she said that occasionally if St. V's has a high enough census they & the receiving hospital sometimes split the transfer cost. That would be great, but for now we just have to wait it out and let Lauren grow stable enough for a transfer.