February 28, 2009

Today when Casey and I went in to see Ava, the doctors were in there making their rounds so we got to listen in on everything that is going on with her. They took her off of her antibiotic yesterday but they started it back up today because her WBCs (white blood cells) were low which could indicate pneumonia in preemies. They said that her chest xray didn't show that she had pneumonia but that they like to take care of any possible problems before they become a problem. They also said that Ava's platelets were low and which can keep her blood from clotting so I signed a consent stating that she can receive platelets and they started that at noon today. She is still on the ventilator and has been back and forth with how much oxygen she wants us to give her. Last night she got down to 30% (21% is room air) which is really good but at times she would go back to needing 50%. This is nothing new for her and nothing new for a baby born as early as Ava. Her nurses always joke and say that Ava just likes to have attention and will need her oxygen to be turned either up or down as soon as they walk out of the room. They didn't have her legs covered up this morning so we could see her skinny little legs all stretched out and her little toes! I think she gets her long fingers and toes from her daddy :) It makes me feel good to hear that all of the nurses enjoy taking care of her and how they love her spunky personality. She is always moving around, dancing like a little queen, and as the nurses say "making big plans!" I will continue to keep everyone updated, thanks for the checking up on her and for all of the messages :)