Starting to Feel Better

So after a couple rough days in a row, it seams that our Callie is starting to feel better. Yesterday afternoon they decided to give her some anti-aggitation medicine becuase she just seemed really upset, especially when people touched her (which they do almost constantly!) The medicine sedated her a little and allowed her to sleep, which she hadn't done in two days. They repeated the medicine last night and she has continued to rest throughout the day without any additional doses. She has still had a few Bradys, but a lot less than the past few days. Her nurse even agreed that she had a good day. So we are hoping that she is starting to feel better. Her doctors said that if she is stable for a few days in a row, they will start her feeding again. We don't know what made her feel better, it could have been the medication, the blood transfusion, or several other things that they adjusted last night...we are just happy she is acting more like herself. I want nothing more in the world than for her to have some quiet time to heal and grow, without any new issues!!

Weekend Update

We have had a weekend of ups and downs. Callie came out of surgery very well. Mommy and Daddy even got to hold her for an hour Friday night. This is her looking up at Mommy while being held! Saturday morning was uneventful as well. Then Saturday afternoon Callie started having some more Bradys (where her heart rate drops) than usual. This has been pretty much going on since. They are not sure what is causing the change at this point. They are just in the process of eliminating causes. At this point, they suspect that it could just be her body getting adjusted to the change in pressure in her head from the surgery, it could be she needs another blood transfusion, it could be a brewing infection, or simply a result of her prematurity. They already did a head ultrasound and have determined that the reservoir is draining as it should be. I think Mommy and Daddy are more worked up than the doctors. We just want her to be able to feed and grow, which they are hoping to start again this week (possibly tomorrow). Also before surgery Callie was down to the lowest ventilator settings and the doctors said if she wasn't going to surgery they probably would have taken her off because her lungs have improved to the point where she could at least attempt breathing on her own, they hope once they get the Bradys under control they will be able to say bye to the vent too! Thanks again for everyones support!

Another Successful Surgery

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers! Callie is out of her second successful surgery! It was only about 10 minutes from the time they called out to say that surgery had started until the Doctor came to speak to us. From what her Doctor said, everything was a success and she handled it great! We still won't get to see her for a little bit while they get her settled in and recovered. We will give you more details later as we understand them more. We feel so blessed to have all of you supporting us and to have the skill and knowledge of the medical teams that have had a hand in Callie's progress. We thank God everyday for giving us such a little fighter!

Surgery Scheduled

Here is a picture of our darling Callie showing off her bandage from her 1st surgery! The little pink heart under her arm is covering the stitches from her PDA ligation. I am sure she will like the fact that it is barely noticable when she is older!!

Today Callie was finally able to settle in at Johns Hopkins. Last night and this morning were a little rough because they kept examining her and drawing blood so she barely got a moments rest. This afternoon and evening she was finally able to catch up on some much needed rest. We got to speak with the Neurosurgery team today and it looks like Callie will be having her surgery on Friday. Right now it is scheduled for one o'clock, but that is subject to change. We also got to meet another family in Callie's room at the NICU that had the same procedure a few weeks ago and he doing great and has doubled his weight since. We are hoping Callie will be able to bounce back as quickly!! They haven't fed Callie anymore since the transfer and I don't imagine they will again until she has recovered from surgery. At her cares tonight, she is up to 1 lb 10 oz!! Thanks to everyone for your continued support and please keep Callie and her team at Johns Hopkins in your prayers.

Settling In

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers today. Callie had an uneventful transport to Johns Hopkins. The Nurse that was with her in the ambulance said she was a perfect angel and then she proceeded to give her Hopkins nurses a hard time. She wasn't very happy today. They stopped her pain medicine this morning and then with leaving one hospital and going to another requires a lot of poking and prodding and a lot of blood work. When we left tonight, she seemed to finally be settling in to her new bed. Their plan for tonight is to just have her get acclimated and then tomorrow they will make her treatment plan.

On a fun note, yesterday we were able to have a lot of quality time with Callie. Both Mommy and Daddy got to hold her!! It is such a blessing to have the opportunity to do "normal" parenting things...even as simple as holding and diaper changing!

Going to Hopkins today

Callie is being transported to Johns Hopkins this afternoon, she will get settled in there tonight and evaluated by the Neonatoligists and Neurosurgeons. From there they will make a plan on how to treat the Hydrocephalus. Please pray for Callie, her transport team, and new doctors for a smooth and safe transition to her new bed! We will update again later when we have a more detailed idea of what Callie has in front of her in the next couple of days. Thank you all for your continued support!

PS. Thank you for shoveling our driveway to who ever took care of that!

I'm Hungry!!

Today is a big day our little fighter! She finally gets to eat!! Tonight at 8 they are starting her on what they call "gut priming". They are currently thawing some of Mommy's colostrum/breast milk and they will use that to get her digestive track ready for use! They will start slowing through her OG tube and make sure she tolerates it well. She is 16 days old today and this is her first meal...so she must be hungry! We are just hoping this will help fatten her up a little so that she doesn't look so small compared to Daddy's hand.

Today was also a big day for Callie medically. Unfortunately, the spinal tap did not work, so they have made the decision to transport her either Monday or Tuesday to Johns Hopkins where they deal with this more regularly. Most likely, she is looking at surgery again later this week to put in a reservoir in her head. This will provide an outlet for the Neonatologists to drain the excess spinal fluid that is causing the pressure in her head until the blood clot dissapates. It is scary to think of another transport and another surgery, but we trust in God and know this is what Callie needs and that Johns Hopkins is the best place for her to be going. We hope down the road, she will be able to come back to St. Joe's to feed and grow. Callie also made big strides with her lungs today. She had her best x-ray yet and she was able to get the settings on the oscillator low enough that they have transferred her back to the traditional vent. And so far today, she has been requiring no additional oxygen which is making her Doctors and Nurses very happy.