WHAT GOES UP, MUST COME DOWN

Since moving UP to the higher observation pod  C and being a few days post-op, Priya has started to make huge progress with her oxygen saturation and upped feeding amounts. Her PICC line was removed Saturday, and her nasal trumpet was removed yesterday. For the past couple days, she has managed to keep her oxygen saturation above 85% (much improved from 40-50%), and is usually able to keep it in the 90-100% with only a few occasional drops.  She has to work harder than we do to keep it up there, but no more blue lip or blue baby episodes.  She still sounds awful when she breathes sometimes and does something called "periodic breathing," which looks scary if you don't know it is her "normal."  I guess it is something we are just going to have to get used to.  Her overall intake of milk has been increasing steadily without signs of reflux.  She still struggles with oral feeds, but the G-tube takes the pressure off that, and it is something we will continue working on with an outpatient speech therapist. 

Priya had a VCUG today to look for reflux between her bladder and kidneys, because she has had two renal ultrasounds that showed bilateral hydronephrosis.  I went down with her and watched her go through the procedure; she was one tough little girl.  I imagine we get the results during rounds tomorrow.

We got some great news during rounds today!  They are going to keep Priya under observation for a few more days to watch her breathing, but if things continue to look like they did today, she will be discharged by the end of the week!  She was moved DOWN to a lower level observation this evening, so back to pod J!   This means I get to stay overnight with her again!  This is really bad for sleep, but really good for peace of mind!

Mike went back to work this week.  It was really hard for him to pull himself away from her this morning, but fortunately, his schedule today was pretty light, as is tomorrow's schedule, so he gets to kind of wean himself off Priya slowly.  He loves to spend time with her, and she practically melts into his arms when he holds her.  He's a good daddy, and she clearly knows it.  We will both miss having him around as much.