The numbers really say it all. Heart rate: 207, SpO2: 86, Breaths: 80. Even right now, she is at rest sleeping and her saturations are 82 and her breaths are 110. She is on 1 liter of oxygen (the most available). I have not seen these kind of numbers in a very long time. Although she has a cold of some sort and her nose is congested (making it tough to breathe), I don’t think it accounts for this much strain on her system.

Dr. Kays has been notified. First, he ordered a chest x-ray. Once he takes a look, they may decide to give her lasix. Since she does not have access via IV, they would have to give it IM (intramuscular) which is somewhat painful. Poor Bun!

In addition, Dr. Kays stated that we can either increase her diuretic input or decrease her fluid intake (food). For now, he has ordered a decrease in food intake (58 ccs during the 5 daily feeds and 20ccs continuous for the 8 hour feed at night).

In the meantime, we are just sitting by her bedside and praying that she will remain comfortable during this latest challenge. Thank you for all the love, prayers and support at this time.

UPDATE – 3:00PM EST (by Josh):
We didn’t think she missed it that much, but we’re back in NICU 3. Since our last post, Ella continued to show signs of respiratory distress, and had a major event in NICU 2. She couldn’t catch her breath and required blow by oxygen just to bring her back up and calm her down. After getting her up to 3, she had another event that even took longer to recover.

Once she was stable, Tina and I consoled her while nurse Kelly placed an IV in her foot. They got the Lasix on board and hopefully Ella will continue an upward trend. If not, she may need to be put back on CPAP or re-intubated. At this moment she’s on 3 liters of O2 (1 liter is the maximum they give in the NICU 2).

They also have us in an isolation room, the same one we were in a couple months ago. Last time we were here just for the space. This time though we are taking extra precautions, just in case she does have some respiratory virus. They’ve taken a swab of her nose to do some analysis which normally takes 48 hours. Because of that, we also get to dress up in yellow gowns, masks, and gloves.

Thanks for the continued prayers.

UPDATE – 7:00PM EST (by Tina):
Ella has stabilized. She is still dealing with a virus of some sort with the largest symptom of a runny nose and overall congestion. But, she is in the NICU 3 and being monitored more closely.

Her oxygen was weaned to 2 liters and they will be trying throughout the night to see if she can tolerate less oxygen. The goal is to get her back to 500ml of oxygen.

The increased oxygen and dose of IV Lasix has helped and we are hopeful that she will not need to go back to CPAP or be re-intubated.

We can sense that she is feeling better. We were shifting her positions and Nurse Kelly started talking to her. Ella probably recognized the voice and thought the mask looked silly, so she gave a few grins.

One thing is for sure: she has perplexed everyone. No one has ever seen a baby have a tough switch from IV diuretics to PO diuretics, even with increased dosages. But there must be something…

Thanks for the continued prayers.

UPDATE – 10:30PM EST (by Josh):
We left Ella tonight and she was sleeping comfortably on 2 liters of oxygen with saturations at 99-100%. We hope to hear from Dr. Kays tomorrow about the next steps.

Thank you again for continuing to lift our baby girl up in prayer. Praising our Lord for the fact that He is in complete control.

Sleep well Ella Renae.

UPDATE – 5:00AM EST (by Josh):
Just called to check on Ella. She slept solid from the time we left (10pm) until 3am this morning! Her numbers looked like her normal baseline too (heart rate: 145-150, SpO2: 100%, breaths: 45-50). She’s also been weaned down to 1 liter of O2. Nurse Amy with the help of another nurse suctioned her when she started to stir, and got a lot a stuff out. Ella settled right back down and is behaving more like herself.

If there’s anything to learn about this, Ella just wants what she wants. Give her what she wants, and she’s happy. I can already see a pony in our future, and I’ll be praising God every time we have to pick up after it. 😉

 
Thank you Jesus for this restful night. Thank you for your peace, mercy, and grace. You are an awesome God and your name is above all names. We praise you in all things and desire to be obedient to you. Thank you for showering us with all these blessings and the love of so many others from around the world. You are a mighty God, worthy of our praise. Thank you Jesus! Amen