Day 32... Happy 1 Month Birthday to Lilly and Davis!!!
Today was another crappy day for Lilly and another good day for Davis.
Most of Lilly's infection tests have come back and all are negative. Also, her cultures do not appear to be growing anything, so that's good news too. They also took another x-ray of her belly and they do not see anything in her intestines... more good news. However, during the monthly screening of patients at the NICU, Lilly turned up positive for the MSRA bacteria in her nose. She does not have an MSRA infection, but is now more susceptible to one. Apparently MSRA is pretty resistant to antibiotics, so if she does get an infection there is some special stuff they will need to do. They are starting her on antibiotic ointment in her nose to try and get rid of the colony. However, getting rid of the colony is tough to do (due to their resistance to antibiotics...). Because she tested positive, she now must be in isolation for the rest of her stay at the NICU. This means mommy and I will have to wear gowns and gloves whenever we are around her cage, touch her, hold her, etc. We can not go back and forth between Davis and Lilly like we normally would do. They recommend we come in and spend time with Davis first, then suit up and spend time with Lilly, then leave.
Lilly also had an echocardiogram yesterday. The doctor said that she still has a moderate to large PDA. They also saw signs of strain on her heart due to having to pump extra fluids (the PDA can cause blood recirculation, making the heart work that much harder...). Both of her left chambers are dilated, however both are still working properly. So, they are going to start Lilly on more diuretics (Lasix) to help reduce the fluids her heart has to pump. If the PDA doesn't look like it is closing within the next couple of weeks, then we'll have to talk about surgery. We're definitely not ready for that conversation, so we are hoping and praying it will close on it's own...
Lilly's blood count went up from 21 to 30 from the blood transfusion she received yesterday. However, she will probably need another transfusion soon. An increase of 9 points was good, but they don't want her count to fall below 30.
They started Lilly back on her feeds today since her tummy x-ray came back clean. She gets half feeds today and if she handles them well, she'll go back to full feeds tomorrow.
If the cultures still show no growth tomorrow and Lilly is able to go back to full feeds, they will stop her IV antibiotics tomorrow and remove her IV (this would be great... once less open area for the MSRA, or any other bug, to infect).
Davis is doing well again today. He is still on light CPAP support and handling it well. He is also doing well with his feedings.
Daily weigh in...
Lilly gained another ounce, so she's now 2 pounds and 12 ounces. Davis gained 10 grams... not enough to bump him up an ounce, so he's still at 2 pounds and 7 ounces.
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