February 17th, 2010

These past few days, Kierson has made steady improvement in her oxygen requirements. She is still on high-flow nasal cannula but this has been decreased to 5.5 L/min and an FiO2 of approx 28-30%. This is the best she has done, ... ever. This seemingly good news is tempered by the fact that this has been enabled by her being on steroids that act to reduce inflammation in her damaged little lungs. Her neonatologist is slowly weaning her off of steroids over the next number of days - as being on steroids blunts neurological development (so did being on the ventilator, but for different reasons). He said we can expect her oxygen requirement to go back up. We are hoping for the best.

Kierson's tube feeds have steadily continued to increase without any difficulties or complications. Today was a milestone as she was fed also by bottle for the first time. We are a little bitter about this, as we weren't notified that this was going to happen and WE wanted to be a part of this "first". Reportedly, she did well with the nipple feeds.

Deitre has begun making Kierson clothes to wear. Here is a picture of her Valentine's Day outfit. This has been a good project for Deitre as it makes her feel that she is able to do something for Kierson. This is one of Kierson's first smiles...if you look closely, she is getting mother's milk through her feeding tube.

Emmie continues to be her cheerful self. She is growing-in her bottom front teeth, babbling almost non-stop and smiling all the time. We have had to make the first adjustment to her crib, lowering it down six inches to prevent her from pulling herself up over the rail. She moves all over the crib and we find her sleeping in strange and what look like uncomfortable positions during her naps. She is a lot of fun. She likes to play with all her toys and especially likes you to play with her. Emmie can't wait for Kierson to come home!