12 days old and maybe a bright spot??

With the elephant big sis Livia got her!

12 days old/days in the NICU

Weight: ?

This morning, when I spoke to Ella's doctor, she told us that the caffeine and extra meds in her Neb treatments were still not doing any good and Ella was still destating a lot (her O2 levels were dropping). She was still doing the up and down in her O2 levels so they were going to start steroid treatments. The steroid treatments can be really effective but they can have some icky side effects like manic feelings, jumpiness etc. I asked her doctor what we would do if they didn't work and she said the only thing after this would really be to give it more time. It's hard to hear that because at this point, most babies Ella's gestational age are NOT on the vent and most of the time are even breathing on their own. Having her on the vent this long could be causing lung damage which could potentially affect her lungs in the future. Of course, we'd rather have a baby with slightly weaker lungs then no baby at all. 

So today, Ella got her first dosage of the steroids. I called at 3:00 and they'd only done it about 2.5 hours prior to that and there was no update. I called again this evening at 6:30 and spoke to her nurse who told me.............

SHE HASN'T DESTATED ALL NIGHT LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Since Monday, Ella has been destating (O2 going down to bad levels) constantly, as much as several times an hour. Since the steroids started to take effect, she hasn't dropped to dangerous levels AT ALL! She has another dose at 10:30 tonight and the nurse said that if the steroids are going to cause her to have side effects, it usually happens after the second treatment so I will be there for that. I'm staying at the hospital tonight to be there with Ella in case she has those side effects. They'll sedate her as needed. Of course there isn't much I can do except a gentle touch, sing to her and pray but it's better then nothing! Plus, it will make me feel better to be there with her.