Day 7 - 1 Week Birthday!

Today, Erin is one week old. Seems like a pretty tough way to live your first week, but we are finding that she is not just an amazing baby, but a very strong and resilient baby at that. Her strength isn't just mental, she has some muscle as well!

Overnight, she did pretty well with the exception of two incidents. First, her oxygen sat levels started dropping to the low 80's and didn't bounce back. As a result, the decision was made to increase per PGE back to .o5 from .025. Secondly, her IV line in her arm failed and they had to put a new one into her right hand. Nurse Haley said that she never complained at all. She was helped by a nice dose of Sweeties, and spent the ordeal sucking away on Mr. Binky.

We arrived about 8:30 to find her sleeping soundly. Nurse Janet did her assessment of Erin, which consists of taking her temp (I did it and it was normal), using the dreaded stethoscope (Erin hates those) and checking her blood gases. Then it was time to change the diaper. Two for two, she gave me another very large, messy surprise. Sheila was conveniently out using her breast milk pump. At least, that's what she claims. I think it was pretty convenient, but that's another story. Anyway, I did much better than last night and managed to not get it all over everything. Erin was in a new outfit (since I soiled last night's) that required me to take off her little skirt/panties, and then unsnap her onesy top. You may wonder why I am documenting a diaper change. Well, I have to tell you that with all of her wires, tubes, and other gear, adding clothes like this ups the difficulty factor by a large margin. I was rather impressed that I pulled it off.

The reward was getting to sit and hold Erin for two hours. She was sound asleep the entire time. When I finally relinquished her to Sheila, she didn't even wake up during the rather complicated exchange. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter she had a re-occurrence of her fever spikes. These are so hard, as she shakes, gets beet red, and cries while her heart rate zooms. Today, it topped out at 233. It happened over and over for about an hour. In between spikes, which can come in waves, she goes back to sleep. I have read that babies use sleep as a defensive mechanism against anything that they find overwhelming. Sheila did a great job calming her during this time. It is just heart breaking to witness Erin going through this. Her fever was 102.

When it was over, Erin happily sucked on Mr. Binky and seemed pretty calm. The spikes are much further apart now, and appear to be settling down. Sheila thinks that Erin needs to have her diaper changed. It is Sheila's turn. Hopefully, Erin will be as kind to Sheila as she has to me the last few times and leave her a very nice surprise!

Sheila and I can't thank everyone enough for all of the e-mails and notes that we have received. We started this blog as a way of keeping family and close friends up to date with what was happening, as we are spending all day long in the ICU and can't use cell phones here. Along the way, it occurred to me that keeping a permanent record of Erin's entrance into life would be something of value to her at some point in her life. I also came to the realization that writing this blog was very cathartic for both of us. It is a release of the emotions and stress we are enduring, and something that I can do sitting next to Erin's bed. I don't really care if anyone reads it from that standpoint, as writing it is enough. But in spite of that, it is amazing to both of us as to how many times this blog has been forwarded on to others. We are grateful that so many people are pulling for Erin, and grateful beyond words for all of your support.