Day 4 update

Erin's oxygen sat levels continue to stay low. In addition, her red blood cells are down. We are told that this is a combination of drawing blood from her on a regular basis to check her blood gases, as well as the fact that many babies become anemic during the first month. As a result, she is about to get a blood transfusion to help give her more oxygenated red blood cells. Hopefully, that will help with the oxygen sat levels.

She also had yet another ultra sound to check how her heart and pulmonary artery is doing. She isn't a big fan of these, as they are somewhat intrusive with the poking and prodding. This time she handled it really well. Of course, I bribed her with a treat called "sweeties", which is sucrose and water that I put on her pacifier as a little treat. I talked to her throughout, and she didn't fuss at all. I am now officially a sweetie pusher.

Afterwards, nurse Julie talked through with us what to expect. She is very kind and gentle, and only has everyone's best interests in mind. She told us that we need to prepare ourselves for it to get worse before it gets better. Cardiac surgery on newborns is a traumatic experience, and it is especially hard on the parents who have to watch their child recover. The first week is brutal, as the baby is puffy from fluids and swelling. The baby is intubated with a breathing tube down their throat, and often they are put in a paralytic state, where their muscles can't move in order to keep them sedated and quiet. Narcotics are used to manage pain, which can result in the need for methadone to manage withdrawal. Finally, they can need a chest tube to re-inflate their lungs after surgery. Wow...talk about a buzz kill.

The one bright spot today is watching Sheila with Erin. She is such a natural at comforting her and making her relax. Erin opened her eyes and studied Sheila pretty carefully, and actually had something that looked a lot like a smile. Probably just our imagination, but we will take just about anything right now. The nurse tells us that Erin recognizes our voices from being in the womb, and from all the time we are spending with her. I hope so. Of course, if she could remember any of this later in life, she would probably tell me that her main wish during her time in ICU was that I shut up and stop talking to her so much!