Arriving at the NICU this am, we met with Cardiologist Jamie who gave us a bit of bad news. Overnight, Erin had turned diaphoretic. This is a condition that cardiac babies get, and is evidenced by her being clammy. Her liver had also enlarged, which can be a sign that blood is backing up on her heart. The second place it goes is to the liver, thus the engorgement. Her statistics have all been great, and her lactate at her 6 am blood gas was 1.5. Unfortunately, it is the other things that are bothering the staff. In the words of nurse Julie, she just looks more fragile today. She also thinks that Erin is turning more blue during crying spells than she did previously.
Jamie cautioned us that this may just be a bump in the road, a two steps forward, one step back issue. It is impossible not to feel really down about this turn of events. We had such high hopes walking in today.
To combat this, they are starting her on two oral medications. One will help her heart to pump more strongly, and the other will raise her blood pressure slightly. Both are medications that she could go home with. In addition, they feel that she may be eating too much, and that is causing her to have too much fluid. They are giving her a dose of Lasik, which is a diuretic to help her reduce her fluid levels. Finally, her oxygen flow rate has been turned back up to the maximum level 4.
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