Day 7 (9/27/08)

Ashlyn's PDA is open only a tiny bit. Her IV was removed yesterday so all she has on is three sensors on her chest and two oxygen sensors on her feet. They were thinking about sending her home tomorrow, but if she needed a monitor it would be Monday. Then they decided to discuss her case in the Cardiology conference they have Monday nights, so it may be Tuesday. We are keeping our fingers crossed. I am not in a rush though, I want her to come home when they think she is ready.

Her vitals have all remained good. Her oxygen saturation was varying from 85% to 94% today when I was there. I was able to feed her soon after I got there. I held her for a while after and then went to eat and pump. It was about an hour later I came back and she was still up but quiet. So I held her and talked to her until she fell asleep. She definitely is more alert as each day passes. She is eating three ounces every 4-5 hours and sleeping for good chunks of time.

They put her on medicine today to help her breathing. I think it is called Liocin. I will learn more about it before she comes home. The medicine can be administered by adding it to her bottle or syringe to her mouth, but I think it will be easier to add to her bottle. They also want me to try putting her to breast, which probably will help regulate my milk supply. Currently I am getting about two ounces or more every three hours and she has 3 ounces every four hours, so it's almost enough, I just need to get on her schedule. We will see how it goes when we get home and if she latches, otherwise I will continue to pump for her and supplement formula when needed.

Tomorrow John and his Mom are going up with me. This will be the first time Daddy has seen her in almost a week! He will get to hold her and feed her too. When he was there last, we weren't able to yet. His Mom hasn't seen her since the day she was born, so she is excited too.

Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers. Almost a week ago, I never thought we would be this close to coming home with her. I know we still have a long road ahead of us with her surgery, but at least we get to bond with her at home and she can be with her sisters and her family.