Go Away Desats! 1/20/13
Melissa
We love the weekends because we get to spend time together as a family! We are so thankful for our baby girl and can't get enough of her! It's hard to believe it's been two weeks since Hattie was born. Sometimes it feels like it's been six months and sometimes it feels like our journey into parenthood started yesterday. We cannot imagine our life without sweet Hattie and continue to praise God for her! Hattie wasn't being herself today. She was a little fussy and her machines were beeping a lot because her oxygen saturation was dipping into the high 70s. Her saturation should be between 85-95 and she usually hangs out in the mid to high 90s. The Respiratory Therapist put her nasal cannula back in with just a little bit of oxygen (room air plus 1% oxygen) to help stimulate Hattie's breathing and remind her to take deeper breaths. The RT did not seem concerned and said this is normal behavior for a 28 weeker, but Hattie was worrying us a little bit. We aren't used to her machines beeping! Chris kangarooed Hattie but it was a hard for him to enjoy because Hattie was desating so often.
Hattie's feeding tube was changed today. It's a surprisingly easy procedure the nurse did right in Hattie's bed. It took less than two minutes for the nurse to remove Hattie's old feeding tube and put a new one in. We got to see Hattie's cute little chin with no tape on it for the first time!
Hattie had more visitors today. She is quite popular and Chris and I feel very loved by the continued outpouring of support from our friends and family. Thank you.
We stayed at the hospital until after 11 p.m. waiting for the doctor to make rounds. Dr. Brown met with us and made us feel much better about Hattie's desats today. She said Hattie is acting her age and we should not be worried. Since Hattie's feedings have been increasing so rapidly her little belly is getting very full and pushing up on her diaphragm making it harder for her to take deep breaths. Imagine the feeling after Thanksgiving dinner when you're so full you feel like you can't breathe. Dr. Brown said the nasal cannula will annoy Hattie just enough to remind her to take deeper breaths.
Please pray Hattie does not continue to desat. Please pray she is able to come off the nasal cannula quickly and will not require further breathing support.
