Busy Day

So, Cora had a lot of stuff today:

• Eye exam - no evidence of ROP, though she is still young, so they will do follow-up checks.
• Echo-cardiogram to check on her little heart murmur (and high blood pressure) - results show that the murmur is nothing to be concerned about, as Preemies often have murmurs because blood moves through the body differently in the womb than outside. The high blood pressure is likely due to the hydro cortisone that she is slowly weening. However, they did discover a small pocket of fluid, incidentally. The cardiologist said that it is probably nothing, but ordered a follow-up on Friday, expecting it to go away or to have no change, which can be normal. Ahhh - this Preemie process is so stressful!
• Blood draw showed that her hematocrit level did go up (which is good - from 29 to 30), so she avoided another blood transfusion for this week, though they gave her some iron, to keep boosting the crit level.
• Gave her a dose of Lasix to help clear fluid from her lungs. She tolerates the 1-time dosages of Lasix. When she was on a regular regimen of Lasix, her electrolytes got way wonky, so I would like to avoid this drug as much as possible.
• Feeds moving up in volume and feeding tube is placed in her nose, now, along with the nasal cannula. The Nurse Practitioner and I agree that Cora is not ready to go off of the nasal cannula, yet. Additionally, since she responded so well to moving back to a feeding every 4 hours, from every 3, we are happy to just stay that way to let Cora continue growing (averaging about an ounce a day!). If we stress her out by manipulating these things before she is ready, then she will have a harder time growing out of these issues.
• Cora is participating in a number of research studies, one of which is a Pacifier Study, where the research team visits with her and monitors/evaluates her abilities around sucking with a pacifier that vibrates. They did a session with her today... she has good coordination with the pacifier, which may bode well for learning to eat without her feeding tube!
• Weighed in at 2lb 9oz!

In order for me to save paid time/leave for when Cora comes home (I intend to take at least 8 weeks of leave when she comes home), Matt and I are switching-off days to visit with Cora Leigh in the hospital. It is a relief to know that Cora will still get quality Kangaroo time with her Daddy, so I don't have to make the trek to the hospital every day. But, like any treatment that the doctors give Cora, there is another reaction to missing time with her, for me, emotionally. Today was a good example of a day when I wish I could have been there, because so much was going on, but I am grateful for the phone discussions with her providers and I cannot wait to see her tomorrow!