We're having so much fun in the PICU that I almost didn't have time to post our progress for the day.
Vita still isn't breathing entirely on her own... but they gave her a smaller nose breathing tube so that they could resume feeding her. (The other nose breathing tube couldn't be used while feeding through the nose.) Below is a picture of her current nose gear.
Also, they've been turning down the settings on the breathing machine all day, and it's on the lowest setting now. Vita's breathing has been great, and they expect that she won't need breathing support much longer. However, she still hasn't cleared the goop out of her lungs, and the doctors are "mildly concerned" about that. (Vita doesn't seem concerned.)
We're still enjoying LOTS of cuddling and naps.
Tomorrow, Vita will do a "swallow test" with an occupational therapist. If she does well, we'll get to try to feed Vita a little bit from a bottle. Then, if she does well with that, we'll get to work on breastfeeding again.
There's talk that we MIGHT be moved out of the ICU tomorrow or the next day. That's going to depend on her breathing (which has been great) and her chest X-ray (which will hopefully show less lung goop).
Despite the fact that Vita's recovery has (so far) taken a little longer than we expected, we are starting to notice big changes from day to day. We finally have our daughter back!
Posts
