Good day

Both Hazel and Jude were able to wean a little bit off their breathing settings today. Hopefully they do well with slightly less assistance so that they can continue to progress to the next step (SIPAP for Jude, nasal cannula for Hazel).

Jude had another head ultrasound and the clot looks slightly smaller than 2 weeks ago. This is a good thing! The bleed seems to be clotting and reabsorbing naturally. His head has not had any swelling, which is really great. The neurosurgeon looked at his ultrasound 2 weeks ago and was "pleased" with the way things looked. Hopefully he will say the same thing when he looks at the one from today. We continue to pray that this heals naturally and that he will not need a shunt put in.

Hazel's billirubin level did go up a little bit today, but the doctor did not order phototherapy yet (under the lights). I think he's hoping it resolves itself in a couple of days. She'll have her level checked again on Sunday.

Hazel started on a 1 ml/hour continuous feed of Elecare (lactose free, predigested formula) today. We're hoping that she tolerates it and then can start alternating that with breast milk. We attended a parent meeting last night with parents who have been through the NICU experience and one of them was telling us that this formula costs something like $3000 a bottle! I haven't looked into it to see how accurate that is, but I'm sure our insurance company LOVES us right now. Good thing she still has several weeks to learn how to digest before coming home, because there's no way we're buying her that stuff (even though we do love her a lot)!

Jude is doing well with his feeding and was increased to 6.5 ml/hour today. He is completely off his TPN (vitamins and other nutrients given through the picc line). They are starting to fortify the milk with extra calories today. It will be so great when he gets rid of his picc line! It might be awhile yet since it's hard to get in and they don't want to remove it too early. Also, they've been administering his antibiotics through it, so it will not be removed until he's free from antibiotics and eating very consistently.

We're really praying that Jude can get off the vent soon. If he gets off the vent, he can be held, he can stop getting fentanol (a drug he's been receiving for pain), and he can get rid of another line he has in his foot that they draw blood from all the time to check blood gases. That will be a day to rejoice.