Ellie's Progress

Ellie has made a lot of progress this week. We are so proud of our little girl, she is working so hard. She was breathing on her own most of Monday and Tuesday, with about 50% oxygen going up through tubes in her nose. On Wednesday they intubated her, and the ventilator was breathing for her. They also placed a tube in through her side into her left lung to drain air bubbles that were forming. They gave her a dose of surfactant, a type of steroid, to help her lungs mature. They took her off the ventilator, and she was breathing with the help of about 40% oxygen. On Thursday her status remained about the same, her oxygen flow varied a bit. They did however put her under photo therapy lights to treat her jaundice. On Friday, she no longer needed photo therapy. She was also breathing room air, which means that she was breathing all on her own. They fed her for the first time, and she did really well. They clamped her lung tube, since the air bubbles seemed to be decreasing in her lungs. Today, she was put back onto photo therapy. She has had some trouble digesting the breast milk, but they are continuing to feed her a teaspoon every three hours. The lung tube has been unclamped as a precautionary measure, but nothing seems to be coming out, which is a really good sign. They will xray her lungs in the morning. As soon as the lung tube comes out, we can hold her...so we hope that come out tomorrow. She weighs 3lbs 1 ounce now, which is a little scary. All the nurses reassure us that it is perfectly normal for a premie to lose weight. So hopefully the breast milk will start fattening her up real soon. Her color looks great, and she is much more active and alert. We'll keep everyone posted on her progress. Pray for the best!