The Medical Report

Michelle got to hold Alica for the first time today. They bundled her (Alicia) up in blankets, cords, tubes, ventilator and all, and put her in her mother's arms. It was a great thing just to see.

Alicia continues to do as well as we could reasonably hope. For my parents and any other detail-oriented types who want a full rundown of her ongoing medical issues, I thought I'd take a crack at it. But this is the only place you're allowed to get this information. Please don't ask us to discuss it. We're doing okay with processing all this stuff, and it's wonderful to have so many, many people carrying us through it, but it's not easy to go over these details face to face with everyone. It's hard enough to experience our own emotions without having to help our friends process theirs too.

So, the full medical rundown:

Alicia had an ultrasound on her brain yesterday morning. This is to check for bleeding in the brain, which is an important thing to watch for in preemies. It's the biggest cause of long-term disabilities. The results were normal, which means no bleeding. She will have follow up ultrasounds down the road, but the first one is big. We're thrilled about that.

Her blood pressure is a little low, which is very normal. She's on Dopamine.

She had her first blood transfusion today. She will probably need many. I have an appointment at Memorial Blood Center on Monday to give blood, because our types our compatible. Starting late next week, she will be getting her daddy's blood. No, I don't know what Memorial Blood Center is in memorial of.

Respiratorily, she's doing quite well for a baby of her age. She is still on a ventilator, but breathing room air. No, respiratorily is not a word.

She had a little of mother's milk through a tube into her stomach yesterday. All indications are that she handled it just fine, but she won't be getting more milk for a while because of this next paragraph.

All babies in the womb have a bypass in their heart called the ductus ateriosus which skips the lungs, since fetuses don't breathe. When the baby is born this vessel closes, but in babies of Alicia's age this often doesn't happen. She was given a dose of indomethacin right off the bat to help the ductus close, but it hasn't worked. The options at this point are to increase the dose, or close the ductus surgically. The doctor wants to try the former, since hers isn't too big and since she's doing well enough in all other areas. But if surgery is required, we are to be assured that it is a routine and very safe procedure. (Keep in mind that the author here is the son of a surgeon. In his mind, surgery happens every day with no problems at all.)

Um, surgery does happen every day with no problems at all.

And that's about it. Like I said at the outset, she's doing about as well as we could ask, and all these problems are par for the course and very treatable. It's hard to see her stuck full of tubes (she has more now than she did yesterday in the pictures), but we try to remember that each one is helping her get better. The nurses have been wonderful and the facility as good as they come. And we know how many people are praying, so we can't worry all that much.