I wanted to explain a little bit about the machines in the NICU, so everyone can kind of get a feel of what we see. If I were in your place and I heard you talking about desats and I saw all those wires hooked up to Kayleigh, I wouldn't know what you were talking about. So I decided to take a few photos of the machines that are hooked up to Kayleigh and educate you all a little so you understand what we are talking about.
In the first photo, you will see Kayleigh's monitor. The top green line is her heart rate and she usually varies from 115 - 180bpm, but her average is around 145bpm. Kayleigh has a shiny gold heart sticker on her chest that monitors her heart rate. The blue line is her oxygen saturation. This is not supposed to be higher than 98 or lower than 85. If the machine starts to chime, you will notice she is satting too high or too low. If it is too high, then the nurse will turn down the amount of oxygen she is getting. If it is chiming too low, that means she is having a desat. This is caused by not getting enough oxygen, either by not breathing or the nose plugs have come out. There is a strap with a bright red light that is attached to Kayleigh's foot that monitors her saturation. We call it her E.T. foot. If you look back to some other photos, you will see what I am talking about. The bottom yellow line is her respiratory status which monitors her breathing. There is a sensor on her tummy that measures movement. If this line is flat, that means she is not breathing and then you will notice her oxygen saturation (blue line) start to drop and if that drops too, her heart rate will follow causing an all our DESAT!!! As you can see, her heart rate looks good, her oxygen is good and she is breathing. That is how we want it to be always :)
This is a photo of the amount of oxygen she is getting. If she is satting too high, they will turn this knob down and if she is satting low, they will turn it up. Right now, she is doing AWESOME and is right around 24% oxygen. The lowest setting (21%) is room air, like what you and I breath.
This photo right here is the bubble of the bubble CPAP. I can't begin to tell you how it completely works, but I do know that it really does have a bubble. ha-ha Actually, I was told that the bubble helps keep the sacs in the lungs from closing, so we don't have respiratory failure. It is really tough to inflate a lung after it deflates, so we want to refrain from that happening.
Kayleigh has a tube that runs through her mouth all the way to her belly to give her Mommy's milk which by the way is coming in great. Aimee filled up one of her little containers and half of another in one sitting, which will feed Kayleigh a full day if she was getting her maximum amount of feeds. Way to go Mommy!!! Kayleigh also has a couple IV's where she will get her medicine, like the Dopamine photo above. Those machines are cool because they are set to give her the medicine over a period of time, so the nurses don't have to sit there and squeeze the syringe themselves. She also gets her nutrients in another IV (Tripple Mix) which I joke by saying that Kayleigh is "Brown Bagg'n It". Beyond the healthy milk from Mommy, they make sure she is getting a lot of proteins, fats and carbs with the extra nutrients.
Well that is it for the lesson today. Kayleigh is having another great day. The test results came back and the urinary track infection was the reason she was having a rough day the other day, but the infection is no longer. The medicine they gave her cleared it up and she is doing great. They increased her feeds to 6ml today and will increase it tomorrow if she continues to do well. I am ready for her to get to 12ml and have no issues, so she can grow! She didn't gain any weight from last night, so she is still at 747 grams. She did have a couple desats, but the nurse explained they only dropped in to the 70's (Which for Kayleigh ISN'T a true desat). I didn't take any photos of Kayleigh tonight because with that Bubble CPAP on, she doesn't look any different from all the other photos with it on. So the only thing different you would see are her sheets. But if you really want me to take photos of her sheets, then I will :)
If you all have any questions about anything or if you want to just email us personally (If you'd just rather not post), please email me at Adam@TeamFreemanProperties.com. I hope you all have a blessed day tomorrow and keep praying for Kayleigh to grow :)
Love,
The Freemans :)
8 comments:
Thanks for sharing that...obviously, I know all of what you are talking about, as Parker had most of these as well!
I wish my milk would have come in...I pumped for 8 weeks straight, made myself so stressed and sick over the fact that I wasn't producing a lot...i ended stopping and it has made all the difference. But great job to Aimee I pray it goes better for her!
I am proud of you guys for taking a night off...do it once a week, it will make all the difference, that's what Andrew and I do..date night we call it...and it's a great little refresher!
Hang in there...been thinking alot about you lately!
Ugg all those monitors and numbers look very familiar. You know I can still hear the beeping in my head to this day? And anytime I hear something beep part of me jumps inside! Funny how that effects you so much. Its amazing all the medical lingo you learn in the NICU.
Kim
Wow Good job on the milk! That is one of the best things for Kayleigh. It is so much easier for her tiny digestive track to digest and there for she is able to take all those extra calories and fatten up. Breast Milk freezes well and I am sure you will use it later. Way to persevere!
Also your class was amazing! Been there done that, but for those that have not I think you explained stuff really well! I hope you save this Story for Kayleigh when she is big to read.
Ok Now for questions:
1) How tall was Kayleigh when she was born? I looked through all the passed bloggs and could not find it.
2) She was 28 weeks when she was born but weighed in as a 22 weeker. Does that mean development will be like a 33 weeker or a 27 weeker now? Or in other words the sucking instinct kicks in at around 34 weeks will Kayleigh get to drink a bottle next week? Or did the lack of nutrients from the placenta also cause the development to slow down as well as her growth?
I am really excited to see her eat!I know I could hardly stand it for ours as well!
She is amazing and seems to be doing so well!
God Bless the Freeman family and help them to grow and be healthy and happy so they may do your will.AMEN
Wow, that's a lot of technology to understand and be grateful for! Thanks for taking the time to post all of that. Here's to more good days.
~Rebecca
GiGi,
She measured 10.5 inches when she was born. This is the part that is interesting; Since the placenta was imature, her organs developed as a 32 weeker, but her body growth developed way behind. They say she is a true 32 weeker though, so I am guessing the instincts will kick in soon. She is already sucking and has taken a pacifier. Well, that is the tip of it because even the smallest paci it is way too big for her mouth. I think the lungs and digestive track were our biggest concerns with her developement, but with the steroids that they administered, they developed more than enough.
HI Guys
It is great to see Kayliegh power through each day, she really is a little trooper!
The idea of taking photos of everything is great for us but also something you will want to share with ehr later on. I am a scrapbooking addict and when I was in hospital and they were think my Kaylee was going to be born early the lady who runs the works shops I go to brought in an album of another lady how had had a prem ababy and she had taken pics of everything from the tiny prem nappies to the tubes they fed him through. What a fantastic memory keeper for you and a great way to show her through all the odds she beat from day one. I look forward to reading how well she is doing every single day, your whole family need medals!
Ahhh! The machines!! LOL Yes I remember them all too well. :) They are great peices of technology.
It's wonderful that little miss Kayleigh is doing so well. She's such a little trooper!
Rachel
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