Katelyn: The first week

It is really hard to go back and re-cap what happened in the first week of Katelyn’s life. It is all a blur at this point. Right after they were born and Amy was still unconscious, I remember sitting and watching 10-15 doctors and nurses scurry around and try and keep both babies alive. It certainly was intense and overwhelming. After the first couple of hours things slowed down a bit, but not completely. There where constant up and downs. As we would sit next to either beds we would often hear monitors go off and see doctors (calmly but certainly with alarm) rush over and attend to the babies. They would adjust oxygen levels, medication levels, draw blood and run tests. Both babies received many blood transfusions and other blood products during their first week of life. In fact, they had received so much blood before birth that it was difficult to determine their blood type.

Katelyn certainly had a rough start. There are a lot of risks associated with prematurely. The first concerns where all of the important body functions. The heart and lungs are vital. She was quickly hooked up to a ton of monitors and a ventilator that pumped rapid burst of oxygen into her lungs. Because of the tubes in her throat we still haven’t heard her cry. She was soon put under several lights to treat jaundice.

We have been receiving daily updates with a bunch of numbers that track all kinds of things. It would be very difficult to describe everything but we can say that we are learning a lot. During one of the test the doctors discovered that Katelyn has a PDA. Babies have a valve between the two chambers of the heart that is open during pregnancy. It should close shortly after birth. Katlyn’s opening was rather large. She was given a first round of ibuprofen (yes this can help and this is also why pregnant women shouldn’t take ibuprofen during pregnancy – it can cause early closure). It helped but it didn’t close completely. We have begun a second round and we will see how it goes. If medication doesn’t work she will need to have an operation and a small metal clamp will be placed to close off this opening.

She is doing really well know but she will be in the NICU for a couple of months (if not longer). They have been able to turn down the settings on the ventilator and reduce many of the medications she is taking. She has been also doing well enough that they have begun feedings of breast milk through a tube. She has a reputation for being very feisty. She often pulls at all of the monitors and cords that are attached to her. We’re able hold her hand and interact with her. We have also been able to give her couple of “baths”. We gently wipe her down with cotton balls. We have to be careful because her clavicle was broken at birth.

She continues to improve everyday but the doctors have warned us that it will be a bumpy ride and most likely there will be other problems along the way.