Gone are the Sundays when all we had to worry about was how bad our hangovers were. And the only decisions we had to ponder were which take-away to have for dinner and how many hours of The Wire to watch.
The morning call to NICU revealed that Willow's oxygen requirements had gone up to 70-80% overnight. Being that normal air is 21%, and she was only needing 40% a couple of days ago, this was not sounding good.
We talked to the doc, who filled us in on the latest. Willow has another infection, which is probably contributing to her less than satisfactory breathing ability. The docs have worked out a long list of things that they're going to try in order to help her lungs. These include the usual suspects - antibiotics, different types of ventilation, steroids. Hopefully the infection will be clear by the middle of the week and she can start on her second course of steroids to strengthen her little lungs.
We felt better after talking to the doc, as usual. They tell us pretty crappy things but at least we know exactly what is going on. It's not a hopeless situation, he said; but there are many risks involved. All we can do is hope for the best.
There was a lot more hope in the incubator next door, where Stanley was being Stanley. He's now off his CPAP machine for 12 hours a day, so just on nasal prongs for that time. That means he's only getting extra oxygen to help him, but no pressure to keep his lungs open. Seeing how well he is doing compared to his sister illustrates just how different two babies who were given exactly the same start in life can be.
We just can't wait for Willow to get to this stage - so we can actually see what she looks like without all the tubes and other stuff all over her face, and to be able to hold her like any normal person can hold their baby. It's just difficult keeping positive, without your mind collapsing into disarray every time you stop and think about it for too long.
On the plus side, at least we don't have to go to Southampton every day. I won't complain the next time we have to go to Ikea, that's for sure. In fact, once the babies are home I don't think I'll complain about anything again. Well, actually, I won't hold myself to that.
I'm leelas niece Kayleigh, I live over in Essex. I just wanted to let you both know we are following your beautiful babies' progress and think about you everyday x we send you all our love and support and only wish we could do more x I am both amazed and impressed by your strength and reading your posts I've had a little cry at the emotion I can sense through your writing x take care, we wish you al all the best x x all our love Kayleigh, dan, Jane, Paul, frankie, immogen, alfie and Saxon x x x x x x x
ReplyDelete