May 25, 8:30PM
We went to the NICU to spend some time with Chase & Charissa. As we gazed upon their little bodies, we took time to have family worship with each one of them. How good it truly is to worship our Lord with our family! We sang some hymns, Yu Ran prayed, and I read from Psalm 103 and taught my kids a short lesson in trusting in God... Short but truly a blessing.
Update...
Chase continues to eat like monster! They raised his maximum dosage to 6.3 cc/hour on a continuous feed. As his weight increases so will the dosage. Of course they add the necessary nutrients, proteins, etc... for a premie. Now his breathing is another story.
Being on the bubble CPAP means two things. 1. They maintain a certain pressure in his lungs to help his lungs expand to a certain capacity. This is measured on a scale of 1 - 10 PEEPS (a fancy acronym), with 1 being the least amount of help, and 10 being the most. 2. Oxygen level: 21% being room air. 22 - 40% acceptable help. Over 40%, they're stressed. Chase was on 6 PEEPS and 30% oxygen when he began the CPAP on Saturday morning! A wonderful suprise! But over the next 24 hours he began to stop breathing and his oxygen saturation rate (how much oxygen his lungs contains: 85% - 95% is normal) would drop to 70%. So they would have to 'help' him to start breathing again...
But the doctor told us this was normal. Over the course of the next 48 hours (36 hours so far at the time of this writing), his lungs have to get used to breathing on their own... She told us that Chase will learn and not be worried. So we're not! She raised his PEEP level to 8 and his oxygen level to around 32%. I guess Charissa is an overachiever. Once she came off the ventilator she's had no problems. Steady at 6PEEPS and 24% oxygen level!
The great news is that the bubble CPAP will not damage the lungs at all. The doctor said they won't be in a rush to take them off the bubble CPAP. They will simply take their time until the kids are ready. The only inconvenience is not being able to see the kids' faces. The CPAP completely covers their cute little mugs... ...oh well...
Charissa's mysterious infection still alludes the doctors. They called in an Infectious Disease Specialist from the children's hospital to try to identify it, but to no avail. BUT the Specialist Doctor said that Charissa is getting better! They will continue the full treament of the anti-fungal, as a precaution. She is now on continuous feeds as well. She is up from 2cc/hour to 3cc/hour! She is also a whopping 1.01KG (2 lbs. 3.7oz) from her birth weight of 1lb 8 oz. Her cortisone level is still high (1.0 being the physiological norm [how much a normal baby makes]) at 3.0 (down from 4.0). They are weaning her down slowly... Our big prayer is to see all those IVs come out of her by the end of this week. We don't want any more risk of a bloodstream infection & for her bloodpressure to maintain as the cortisone is weaned down...
Our kids are now 29 weeks gestation, still 11 weeks from a full-term baby! I'm so amazed at the skill & wisdom of our doctors & nurses. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful NICU here in Atlanta.
My wife and I thank God every night for our fragile little ones. He truly has "fearfully & wonderfully" made them.
Resting On The Sabbath,
Choi Family
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Yesterday I again submitted to my church's "servants' council" a request for continued prayer for you guys. So know that many angels are being dispatched from the City of Angels to watch over your little girl and your little boy.
We rejoice at the continued good news that both little ones are making progress. We know the road ahead's long, but Elizabeth and I are already dreaming of a Choi Family visit to California. Gabriel, Charissa, and Chase playing in the Malibu Beach sand. The four adults kickin' back under the warm Cali sun and the cool Pacific Breeze, chilaxin' with some Mojitos, talking about how our Lord is so very, very good.
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