Tuesday, May 13, 9:00 PM
Chase is doing very well for a little preemie. He's up to 5.5 cc of mommy's milk! If all goes well, he'll be up to 7.0 cc by tomorrow afternoon. He's starting to grow noticeably because of the feedings, especially his BIG head. And I mean, big. Babies heads are always bigger than the rest of their bodies, but his is just big. What else can I say... : )
Charissa scared us last night. I had called her bedside to inquire about her status. The nurse said in a worried tone that she had gone down to 70% oxygen saturation twice.... But what I heard was, "70 heart rate." I guess my mind was somewhere else. I kind of panicked. Her "normal" heart rate should be around 170, so 70 is huge!! Unfortunately I gave myself and my wife a heart attack! : ) Anyways, we were worried enough to go down to the hospital at 11PM. Everything was back to normal.
Today, the doctors took a different approach with Charissa. They decided to up her volume to help with her bloodpressure. She's on a regimen of blood transfusions & other blood products (albumen and platelets) until 3 AM. We're hoping to kickstart her system to normal. So far so good, she's off the dobutamine entirely and is simply wobbling up and down the dopamine. But please do pray that she will be completely off the blood pressure meds after she's done her regimen.
Our doctor did give us a bit of hope. She said that Charissa will eventually get her bloodpressure back to normal. It's not a question of if, but a question of when... ...but the quicker the better.
Because Chase & Charissa are both doing quite well as preemies, we've been reminded of the number 1 cause of concern... ...infection. The doctors told us that until they reach 30-32 weeks, infection is the #1 cause of infant mortality in the NICU.
So please pray...
1. Chase. Continue to eat well!
2. Charissa. Finally get off those blood pressure meds.
3. Infection. Lord would protect our two children from this ugly monster...
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Young, Yu Ran, Chase, Charissa, & Chelsea
