4 weeks 4 days old

Sorry for the delay in updating. I keep wanting Andy to do the updates...I love how he writes, but he has been really really busy at work and I don't want to add yet another thing for him to do, he already does soooo much. That being said I will update as best as I can...

We went to visit with Amirah yesterday for the first time since Tuesday. Wednesday we were snowed in and then on Thursday and Friday I was afraid I was getting a cold and didn't want to risk getting her sick. It turns out its my allergies, so we went to see her for a nice long visit yesterday.

The biggest event that happened with Amirah this week is that she was changed from the "Jet" ventilator to a "regular" ventilator. Overall this is a positive step. The "jet" ventilator is very delicate and easy on her lungs, but at the same time does a lot of the work of breathing for her. The new vent she is on does less breathing for her and forces her to work harder. They watch her carefully to make sure she is not getting to tired. Another good thing about the new vent is that we are able to hold her on this one. We haven't held her yet, but we are hoping to get the opportunity to do that today.

Yesterday, while we sitting with her, she had a little episode that was pretty scary for me and Andy, but very typical for her and all preemie babies. She had a de-sating episode. I guess I should explain what this is. They monitor very closely what her saturation of oxygen in her blood is. They want it to be in the mid 90% range. Amirah has a history of going up and down pretty drastically with her saturation level. The amazing nurses are so use to dealing with it. But to be honest it scares me half to death.

So anyway, Andy and I were sitting there just enjoying the quiet of NICU when all of a sudden she started de-sating fast... she dropped form 94% oxygen to 67% to the low 50's. The nurse came right over as it started to de-sat to the 60's range and then as it went lower, the started to use a bag (like what they use for cpr) to help her breath and they started to stimulate her too,trying to get her to wake up. It was really scary for me and I had to walk out of the room...its how I handle this things... I can't really be there. Luckily Andy is much stronger than I am and is able to stay, even though he to is extremely scared. He amazes me with his strength. And I just wanted to say that.

I should add that even though we find these little episodes so scary, they really are typical and the nurses know exactly what to do to deal with them.

After she recovered from that little episode they called in the doctor to listen to her lungs a little bit. He said they did sound a little wet, but mostly he thought they sounded more tight. He gave her another does of laysics to help with the excess water.

They are also giving her does of Albuterol to open up her lungs. This medicine really seems to help her, but after a few hours it seems to wear off. They were talking about upping the amount they are giving her.

She is eating (through a tube still) really well, and she is gaining weight. She had been eating formula, but as of yesterday she started on breast milk. I had to come of some medication before being able to give her my breast milk. Hopefully my blood pressure will continue to cooperate and I will be able to keep up the breast milk. As of last night she was 990 grams (just about 2lbs 3 oz) :). She is clearly getting older and really looked at us yesterday. I am really excited and a little bit nervous to hold her for the first time.

I really will try and update more. Thanks for all the continued prayers and support. Keep 'em coming...We would love to see her come of the vent soon and for her lungs to clear up and become stronger and stronger.