NICU Day 12

I spent most of the day trying to rest and fight off this cold.  Our dog, Darby, may be having seizures, I cooked some rice and bone broth for her since she didn't seem to want to eat this morning.  It is very concerning.

Baby Girl continues to sleep a lot, which is the best thing she can do for her development.  I asked what the target weight gain was for her currently and they told me 10 grams a day.  She met that goal again today with a gain of exactly 10 grams.

During rounds this morning they discussed the number of alarms Baby Girl has had that require "stim" (external stimulation such as rubbing her back) to recover from.  Alarms occur when Baby Girl starts breathing really shallowly, stops breathing entirely and/or has bradycardia (slow heart rate).  Given that the number of times someone has to interact with her to get her back on track had increased, they decided to switch her back to NIPPV (Non Invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation).  While this is a step back in terms of respiratory support, it is ultimately better for her as she gets better oxygenation and has people messing with her less.  Baby Girl continues to need oxygen support ranging from room air to in the mid to high 20's.

She held steady at 22 calories of fortified breast milk today, but the volume has been increased to 11 ml.  They will now begin bumping the volume of the feed up to our eventual goal of 14 ml, followed by increasing the fortification some more to get to a higher calorie load with more nutrients to help support Baby Girl's developing body.

Dr. Caldwell called today:

• stay at 22 cal today, volume will increase to 11 ml tomorrow morning, will be adding volume for the next day or so, then increasing calories again.
• goal is 10 grams per day
• Back to NIPPV, O2 on 24%, fewer desats
• 760 g (+10g)

Night Nurse: Kim (This also may have been the name of the day nurse... very confusing)