Kalyssa was on assisted breathing for only a couple of days. After that the removed the tubing from her mouth and put a thin forced air strip beneath her nose. She also had a tube that went directly into her belly for feeding the first couple of days. During the first few days she also lost a few ounces. At her lowest, Kalyssa weighed in at 2 lbs 5 oz. but at that point she began to pick up weight again.
The following is from an e-mail I sent to my mother-in-law on day 5 …
I didn’t go and visit little Kalyssa today at all as planned because Brianna has developed both diarhea and vomited late last night too… She has been eating today and we hope that means it was a 24-hour thing, but we’ll keep an eye out. Pray that everyone else in the family stays well!!!!! I’d never forgive myself if I made Kalyssa or any of those babies in the NICU sick - so I’m being cautious. Nothing like comforting your toddler wearing an allergy mask and latex gloves!
Instead of visiting the NICU I called twice to get updates. They’ve removed Kalyssa’s belly feeding tube and today they attempted gavage feedings instead (so far so good). The goal was to get her up to 12 cc’s of formula by today’s last feed. If she doesn’t accomplish 12 they will likely insert an IV in her to monitor fluids tomorrow …
Additionally, she’s experiencing a bit of apnea which is to be expected at her maturity level. The good news is that she seems to regulate the apnea on her own right now. If that lapses at all they will introduce a tiny amount of caffeine into her system to help stimulate things along – but so far the doctor thinks she’s correcting on her own without doing so.
I am recovering slowly but surely. Mom has gone home for the night and Tad is now my helper this evening :0)
Tonight we start me back up on my MS (multiple scleerosis) medications to hopefully prevent an episode or lesson one that is more likely to occur in the 3 months after delivery. I’ve had quite enough vision problems, aches etc. with the pre-eclampsia so I’m REALLY hoping this helps!
Well, that’s pretty much our little family update in a nutshell for today. I’m considering starting a family/friend blog so that people can check in on Kalyssa’s improvement as I post it etc. Will let you know if I ever get that accomplished.
