PIE update

The jet appears to have helped improved the PIE issue that developed on Thursday night. As I was driving into work, one of the care provider's from Farrah's care team called me to give us an update and say how pleased he was with the difference in the x-ray between Thursday night and Friday morning. When I arrived at the hospital after work today, one of the doctor's showed me the x-ray comparisons, and there is certainly a difference for the better.

Farrah's antibiotics were stopped on Friday after a 21 day course. Today, they took new blood cultures to keep a close eye on Farrah's PICC line and try to stay on top of any possible new infection. Thankfully, the cultures are still negative at this point. Farrah's still tolerating her feeds with the fortifier and pooped again this evening while I was changing her already poopy diaper. This is a good sign since she was approaching more than 24 hours without a poop.

Farrah's doctor brought up the topic of steroids to us today. We had thought that this topic might come up soon. For babies in Farrah's situation, it can be very helpful for them to receive small doses of steroids to give their lungs an extra boost and hopefully get them off the vent for good. According to Farrah's NP, there is a narrow window when they like to give the steroids, and Farrah just hit that window. Farrah's care team views her recent PIE diagnosis as a sign that there is still a lot of inflammation in her lungs that will prohibit her from getting off the vent on her own. Even with great blood gases, her lungs are still struggling. The longer we wait, the more likely we are to run into other setbacks with her lungs. We decided that we will move forward with the steroids soon. Please pray fervently with us that the steroids will provide the extra push that Farrah needs to get off the vent. She has been SO close before, but after 36 weeks gestation, she is considered to have chronic lung disease and they hesitate to keep her on a vent if there is a way to help get her off the vent. They worry about scarring of her lungs and dependency on the vent. Please join us in praying that the steroids will help Farrah get off the vent once and for all.

When we feel discouraged, we try to remember to look back on how far our little gal has come in nearly two months. Farrah is a fighter with a very strong will, and we love her so much and are so proud of how far she has come in her first (almost) two months of life. Farrah's two month birthday is coming up this Thursday, September 6th.

In the two photos below from Friday night, you can see that Farrah still likes being swaddled. Between her pacifier and me stroking her hair, she drifted off to sleep after fighting it for more than 30 minutes.