NICU - Day 10

Date: December 2nd

She hit the double digits!

Madelyn had a very big day today! Right after I got to the hospital, she had x-rays taken. Then she had an echocardiogram (ECG) done because the nurses had heard a loud murmur. Apparently the louder the murmur, the smaller the hole. During the ECG, Maddie was trying to move around, so the other person that came with the woman doing the ECG had to hold her still. They found that she had a patent foramen ovale (PFO) which is a type of atrial septal defect (ASD) and also she had a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). The PFO should close on its own and they will start medications tomorrow to try to close the PDA. The medication for the PDA is three doses given 12 hours apart. During that time, she will not be getting her normal feedings of milk (which were changed back to 9 mLs every three hours) and will instead be getting all her nutrition through her iv. The nurse said that sometimes the medication works and sometimes it doesn't. If the medication doesn't work, they will then do a procedure where they go in under her armpit and close the PDA. The nurse made it sound like they will only do that after they have tried the medication 2-3 times and it fails. I'm just really glad that they caught these so early. 

This made me think of a ballet position.

The nurse today described Maddie as "abnormal" but clarified that she meant "better than normal". She was the same nurse that witnessed Maddie sucking on her plug yesterday and Maddie showed us how advanced she is by doing it again today. This time I got it on video!

During Maddie's 2 pm feeding today, I got to hold her! I was super excited. Due to her having to be flat and midline until Friday, she had to lay on a pillow on my lap but that was just fine with me. It was nice to be able to hold her so close. I can't wait until we are able to start kangaroo care (when she lays on mine or Dan's bare chest). 

First time on Mommy's lap.

I almost cried, I was so excited to hold her!

Maddie is not quite back to her birth weight. Yesterday's weight showed an increase of 100 grams over the day before and that would have put her over her birth weight, but today's weight was back down 100 grams, so I have to think that there was a problem with the scale yesterday. 

Our first selfie together.
(I'm sure we will have many more in the future!)