Saturday, August 28, 2010

Day 102

We have big news! They decided to try Bella on the high flow nasal cannula, which is the next step down from CPAP, AND she has been on for 24 hours now! She LOVES it! It is a much more comfortable way to breathe. She has required only 50 - 60 % oxygen and as I write this her sats are at 98 so she can be weaned again!
There is SO much to share about this exciting time but I am limited so will continue later!!!

Thank you thank you thank you for your continued prayers!!!

Much love to all
Telisha

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Update!

Bella has been off of the vent since 11 am. She is requiring only 63 % oxygen right now (last time she required 88 - 100 %). Her sats are in the 80s-90s. She is doing really well as long as we keep her calm which has been the biggest challenge today.She is responding well to swaddling and big girl activities like keeping her isolette open. She had a great blood gas, even better than when she was on the vent. I said today that I missed being able to hear her cry, she made up for it...BUT being able to actually do something to soothe her is refreshing. I can't fix her lungs or heart but I can put her pacifier back in, hold her and swaddle her tight! Today I feel like a normal mother trying to care for her newborn, that is a feeling I hope to never take for granted again.

It is truly amazing to witness the many folks that take care of her, not only with their skills or their hands but also with their heart. Even the ones that are not there on a day like today send so much love, prayer and positive thoughts. And to have all of you reading this now thinking of her, praying for her and giving us your continuous support is truly a testament to the human spirit. We are blessed to be surrounded by so many people of faith. May we always strive to never take any of this for granted on the good days AND the bad...Tomorrow may be a bad day but we have today to carry us thru so thank you!

Much love to all
Telisha

Much love to you all
Telisha

Update!

Bella has been off of the vent since 11 am. She is requiring only 63 % oxygen right now (last time she required 88 - 100 %). Her sats are in the 80s-90s. She is doing really well as long as we keep her calm which has been the biggest challenge today.She is responding well to swaddling and big girl activities like keeping her isolette open. She had a great blood gas, even better than when she was on the vent. I said today that I missed being able to hear her cry, she made up for it...BUT being able to actually do something to soothe her is refreshing. I can't fix her lungs or heart but I can put her pacifier back in, hold her and swaddle her tight! Today I feel like a normal mother trying to care for her newborn, that is a feeling I hope to never take for granted again.

It is truly amazing to witness the many folks that take care of her, not only with their skills or their hands but also with their heart. Even the ones that are not there on a day like today send so much love, prayer and positive thoughts. And to have all of you reading this now thinking of her, praying for her and giving us your continuous support is truly a testament to the human spirit. We are blessed to be surrounded by so many people of faith. May we always strive to never take any of this for granted on the good days AND the bad...Tomorrow may be a bad day but we have today to carry us thru so thank you!

Much love to all
Telisha

Much love to you all
Telisha

Prayer Request!

They have decided it is time to take Bella off of the ventilator today!!! Please pray for her to remain strong and able as she takes this HUGE step again. Please pray that we remain patient and accepting of God's timetable & that His grace will be sufficient for us.
Thank you all again for the love and prayers. We can feel them daily!!!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Day 98


We all like to jokingly say that Bella has a sick sense of humor and often it is at the expense of my sanity and emotional well being...As I have mentioned previously we both really like our holding times. Once we get settled, all is well in our little world for that 30 minutes to an hour. AND THEN...I look at the monitor and her heart rate has dropped dangerously low, her sats hit 50's or 60's and she turns blue or grey. It has happened multiple times for various reasons- she pulls her breathing tube out, she has a bronchial spasm or like today there is a chunk of secretion blocking her tube. Everyone moves quickly and calmly to get her back into bed and evaluate the situation. I usually run to the lactation room for a quick breakdown or my heart races so hard it might beat out of my chest and it takes hours to bring me back to normal. But today, today I laughed at our little joke and calmly stood by until they got her situated...Maybe a sign that we have been in there so long that this has truly become our new normal, maybe I just know that everything is going to be alright or maybe I have finally lost my mind :) Whatever the reason it was good to laugh instead of cry. I think I will try it more often now...

Bella is still doing well and all treatment seems to be progressing. She is on a rate of 24 (we were at 50 on Friday), oxygen is in 50's - 60's and sats have been in high 80's and 90's. We are hoping that she is on her way to extabation soon, if we don't have a planned one I have a feeling she is going to do it for us anyways. She had another eye exam and Dr Wallace says that nothing has changed since the last one so that is good news as well.

AND she is wearing her first little outfit. She is finally big enough for clothes! We gave her a tub bath last night, dressed her and switched her to a new bed. She is also being swaddled with a blanket now and seems to love it. She is weighing in at 3 pounds and 6 ounces, which seems huge to us already.

We continue to pray and praise God for having a front row seat in witnessing one of his many great miracles.

Much love to you all
Telisha

"I am picking up the pieces, putting them where they go but where do they go Lord where do they go?"












This is a lyric to a song that I am listening to today as I clean my house. Here are rooms of my house before the boys left for the beach. In the past few days I have opened up cabinets, closets and looked at these various rooms overwhelmed and in shock that this is what our life has come to. See these rooms, these closets, these cabinets they symbolize our life for the past 4 years.

This could be lengthy as I get you up to speed on where we have been and how it came to this....

-The first year of dating I started a new business, Chris left a job and started his own business as well. We worked out of a one bedroom condo. We struggled with finances but we had a vision of where we were going....
-A year into our relationship we were blessed with the news that Dylan was on the way. He was a HUGE surprise and wasn't included in our big vision for the future at that time. So we quickly and not so prayerfully came up with a new plan. Chris would go out on the road for 6 weeks to do production for a tour to get the money to buy a house. I would get a full time job and keep my business going part time in the evenings and on the weekends. A month before Dylan came we bought a house and moved in quickly and hastily.
-The following year with Dylan was amazing. He changed us. He WAS part of the plan, a bigger, better plan than we could have ever come up with on our own. I continued working out of the house. Chris stayed home with Dylan for 3 months after I went back to work. He worked from the house and somehow managed throughout this to keep his business moving forward. I grew a bit resentful that he was getting to raise our child AND grow his business. I left my full time job and went back to work on my business full time.
-Marriage? Well this was the big question from many folks for a while. When were we going to get married. When we learned of Dylan we discussed it, we both wanted to do it for the right reasons and never question why we did it....After a year of raising Dylan we knew that we wanted to continue growing our family, we knew that our life together is secured and that we had found a life partner.
-The wedding planning came at a time when both of our businesses were thankfully growing and doing well. We were insanely busy with work and Dylan. We took every single client opportunity we came across. One or both of us worked most holidays - Easter, my first Mother's Day, Father's Day, 4th of July, New Year's Eve....Somehow luckily we still managed to eat dinner as a family, put Dylan to bed most nights and have occasional family days so we really thought we were on track, it would slow down soon. Looking back now I see how out of control our life had become when I think about the fact that we sold our honeymoon week to Wal-Mart...They bought out our honeymoon so that Chris could produce an event where he would be out of town for 2 weeks. He left the day after our wedding. No honeymoon or post-marital bliss, it was back to work for both of us. We did manage to reluctantly and not so willingly squeeze in 6 weeks of pre-marital counseling. I credit this partly to where we are today in our spiritual journey as a married couple although I didn't appreciate it at the time. I can recall every word today that our pastor said and now it all makes sense.
-We started right away trying to get pregnant again. It took 7 months, looking back now I laugh at the thought of us worrying why we weren't getting pregnant. We know the facts of life and it isn't going to happen when we only say hello in the morning and good night in the evening...A vacation during Christmas brought Bella.
-Time for a new plan. How would we make this work? How would we find the time and money to get it all done. After a few arguments about how I would not be a stay at home mom, I would not give up my career, we would make it work. We merged our businesses together and decided to grow them as one. We moved into a shared office space and started working to expand. I worked 6 days a week, sometimes 15 hour days on Saturdays. The pregnancy was going great and I would keep working at this rate until August, then I would take a long maternity leave to prepare.
-Well you know the rest of the story.....here we are today. OUR big plan not really working out as we had envisioned. I am a stay at home and hospital mom. I couldn't think of anything else I would rather be right now. In true form Chris is able to manage both his clients and mine, keeping both moving forward. Have I mentioned that my husband is pretty incredible? AND we have learned the power of prayer, we continue to learn about constant communication with God and we are finding answers in the silence. We are learning that we have to put Him first, above all else and everything else falls into place. It truly does....

So while the boys are at the beach, I am picking up the pieces, putting them where they go and asking the Lord along the way, "where do they go Lord, where do they go?" I won't get them all into place today or tomorrow but prayerfully our life and our house will come together at God speed...

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Day 96

We have much to be thankful for this Sunday...Bella has been on 50% oxygen and lowered rates for a good part of the day today. She is responding to all forms of treatment. She has been diagnosed with moderate Pulmonary Hypertension which is still being treated with nitric oxide and there is a new string of bacteria in her breathing tube that is being treated with antibiotics. Most importantly she is responding to the steroids for lung improvement. We are uncertain which one of these exactly caused her to go downhill but treatment for all of it seems to be working now and we are moving forward. The timing for the care conference could not have been better, true to his word our Dr followed thru in a proactive fashion and we are so truly thankful for this. At the request of one of our incredible Primary Nurses he increased our holding schedule to 4 times a week and we have been able to snuggle for the past few days. It has been good for the heart and soul.
The boys are thankful for the sand between their toes, 2 hour naps and a boys trip to the beach without Mom's excessive planning. I am thankful that for a week I don't have to choose between children all day long, closet organization w/ no more wire hangers and for the reminder today at church that I am a child of God. Again we thank you for the continued prayers, we have a long road ahead of us but we are hopeful because when we are weak, He is strong....

Much love to you all
Telisha

Friday, August 20, 2010

Day 94

Well much has happened here in Bella's world since my last post.
I'll start with the fact that I had a small break down..., decided that I was tired of watching and waiting. I wanted someone to do something...unfortunately it was about 2:00 am and sending my husband to talk to a Dr at that time was not very productive. So our wonderful, incredible, amazing Primary nurses took control of my insanity and set up a care plan conference with the Dr. We were able to listen and ask many questions about where we are today. He gave us a gameplan which was dependent on some tests being done. However God decided we needed to expediate the plan and right after our meeting Bella took a turn for the worse. Her sats dropping into 60's for an hour and nothing could bring her up. So we have done the following:

-Bella started another course of steroids. Her lungs are not getting better on their own. She needs help and we really need to get her off of this vent.

-Although clinically she doesnt seem sick besides higher oxygen needs they have started some antibiotics. I have wanted this for days, for some reason I can't shake the thought of infection.They have done another blood culture to see if they can find anything.

- Her blood gases are getting worse again so she is up on her vent settings. Hopefully the steroids will help w this.

-And the one we have been waiting for is the Echo for the Pulminary Hypertension. The Dr already started her on nitric oxide which is the best treatment for the condition. The Echo was just done and the cardiologists confirmed that there are some signs but it is not at a dangerous level yet and we should just continue with the nitric oxide treatment. I will get more info from the Dr soon on this and what those results really mean.

She is stable, alert and beautiful...there are some scary challenges ahead but we are holding tight to our faith. More to come...

Much love to you all
Telisha

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Peace found at the playground....

So I just posted that I was praying for peace...The Lord works in wonderful ways. It came in the form of recalling a conversation at the playground today.

Dylan was at the indoor playground where he met a lively group of new friends. I overheard them chatting overhead where one introduced him to his sister. Dylan proudly stated that he has a baby sister as well and her name is Arabella. The kids looked down and said "where is she?" Without skipping a beat he nonchalantly answers "she is at the hospital"...A little boy asks " why, why is she at the hospital?" Again Dylan ever so calmly and confidently responds," her is getting big and strong so she can play..."

Tonight I am going to go with Dylan's diagnosis: " her is getting big and strong so she can play."

Thank you O Lord for letting me see my situation thru the eyes of a child. Thank you for the peace from this conversation that both Bella and Dylan are okay....Amen

Day 92

I wish I had good news on Miss Bella's 3 month birthday but unfortunately she is having some bad days...She has been at 95-100% oxygen for the past 24 hours straight with sats in the low 80's. She has required really high oxygen for the past week as well. They tell me clinically she looks fine but this is a new one for us so I am not fully convinced....She is showing no signs of infection but hoping (and asking every chance I get) that they will do more blood work tomorrow to rule it out (again). Just heard the term Pulminary Hypertension this evening, noone has officially mentioned this could be the case but after reading up on it and the symptoms I will be asking about it tomorrow as well. It could also be as simple as she is still recovering from the surgery or that she is growing faster than her lungs can keep up with at the moment. We just don't know now.

So I am reaching out to Him in faith, to give me peace, patience and acceptance of His will. I am reminded of Psalm 37:7, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him."

On the up side I got to hold Miss Bella yesterday for the first time since she had her surgery. It was amazing and SO needed. She loved it and confirms my belief even more that she knows when we are there: she knows our voice, our smell and our touch...I treasure that knowledge. I have heard various comments about the amount of time that I spend at the hospital but they are never from anyone that has gone thru a pregnancy and labor then gone home without a baby. Nor have they seen the monitors when she is right there on my chest, skin to skin. So I will hold fast to my belief that she needs me right there as often and as much as I can physically be there to encourage her, comfort her and believe in her. Our life truly depends on it....

Our celebration of the 3's continue, as we give praise and thanks for both of these beautiful children we have been so greatly blessed with.

Much love to you all
Telisha

Monday, August 16, 2010

Day 90 (this is the right number FINALLY)

So I got completely side tracked on how many days we have been here... I checked her charts today to confirm. It is 90 days so back on blogging track..

Bella is getting another blood transfusion today. Luckily Nurse Lindsay was able to get her IV in on the first try. A true blessing for Bella! We are waiting on blood to arrive now. Note to self donate MUCH blood to blood bank to replace what we have taken...Once the transfusion starts she will be NPO (without food) during and 12 hours following. We are hoping the transfusion assists with helping her to oxygenate and her heart rate to come down a bit. She is still on 85 % oxygen and her sats are all over the place. One minute she is at 90 then the next moment she drops into the 60's... One of our favorite Dr's is on this week so it will be exciting to see what game plan he has for her. They were able to also drop her rate on the vent to 37 today, had a great blood gas as well.

Again we are celebrating the week of the 3's!!! Dylan turns 3 years, Bella turns 3 months AND weighs 3 pounds...

Much love to all
Telisha

The week of the 3's

On Friday Dylan turns 3 years old! It has been one of the most amazing gifts ever given to parent this child who is so incredibly bright, compassionate and alive. He can light up a room in a minute and says some of the funniest things I have ever heard in all my years. We have always done a big party for adults and children alike at our home. This year we have decided last minute to change it up a bit. He will be going to the beach with Dad for 4 days and having a boys week. We will do a small party before they leave at his favorite place Chuck E Cheese where we will indulge in his Star Wars obsession with (by request) a Darth Vader cake and gallactic decor. We lovingly joke that we are going to the dark side for this one....

On Wednesday Bella turns 3 months old. You have all journeyed this one with us and as you know it is truly a miracle that we are seeing this day. Complete and total divine intervention...This child has taught me more in 3 months than I have learned in my 30 plus years. She is sweet yet fiesty, tiny but with a HUGE spirit and to look into those huge beautiful eyes daily is to experience the wonderment and purity of an all-powerful, all-knowing God each time. To make this milestone even sweeter we also rejoice in the fact that she is officially 3 pounds!!

Wednesday also marks 3 months that we have been in NICU. 3 months of no days off, no escaping our reality and no getting away from it all. 3 months of splitting time between this energetic, alive 3 year old and this precious miracle that was given a 5% chance of life. 3 months of having our life turned completely upside down and inside out. 3 months of some days thriving and some days merely surviving. Yet somehow I can sit here today and tell you these are the most beautiful, most meaningful, most joyful 3 months of our entire life....We have learned in these 3 months to be a patient Christian, to live according to God's plan and timetable. We have learned the power of constant communication with Him. We have seen the kindness of strangers and continuous support of our loved ones. We have learned to not only talk to the Lord but most importantly to quiet ourselves and our lives so that we may also listen.

It is the week of the 3's, our spirit is renewed and our faith even stronger as we head into this week of celebration. This week of living each and every day in God's good grace. I couldn't mean it anymore when I say we are truly blessed...Thank you to each of you for the many different ways you have helped to bring us here today.

Much love to you all
Telisha

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Day 81

What a week this one has been....
Gran passed on Wednesday. As she requested we celebrated her life instead of mourned her death yesterday. It was a beautiful day filled with many folks and it was a true testament to the massive number of people whoms life she impacted...

Miss Bella is doing things her way again and on her own time. She is not weaning as quickly as we had hoped for so far. She had to remain on almost 100 % oxygen yesterday for a good portion of the day. Finally after a HUGE diaper they were able to wean her down to 85 % and today she is on 75% oxygen. The Dr admitted today that he had been worried about an infection but so far her blood work and blood culture is showing no indication. They reminded me that with her chronic lungs we are just going to see good days and bad days...We are hopeful today is a good day. I FINALLY got to visit her again after being out for the week with sickness. I can't tell you the relief I felt from seeing her sweet face...she is weighing in at 2 pounds 15 ounces!!! She was very alert and I like to think really happy to see her mommy...

The Lord is teaching us much and despite the exhaustion of it all we are truly thankful for the wisdom and blessings...

Much love to you all
Telisha

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Day 77- (sorry we got off on our numbers)

Bella has been recovering from her surgery quite nicely. She is back on full feeds, the chest tube has been removed and she is back in her isolette. She pulled out her breathing tube again by herself on Saturday night. They decided to give her a try without it and put her on CPAP again. We all knew it was a bit too soon but she did make it 24 hours before going back on the vent. The Dr seems to think the surgery is showing some signs of helping with her lungs. Her blood gases have all been really good. We are so thankful and blessed for all of this. The plan now is to keep weaning her down on the ventilator and hopefully a planned extabation is in our near future. She weighs 2 pounds and 12 ounces now!

Chris, Dylan and I have all come down with a horrible cold. Thankfully God kept me well enough to get them somewhat better yesterday and now I have taken their place on the couch. Unfortunately we can't visit Bella for a few days until we are symptom free and without fever for 48 hours. I miss her terribly already and am craving to see her sweet face but I know she is in good hands. I am going to allow myself to rest and make a quick recovery.

Chris' grandmother was taken off of a breathing machine on Sunday. The family gathered to say their goodbyes and tell Gran stories. I have never seen someone so truly excited to go to heaven, she just loves Jesus so much and is ready to join him. He so far seems to have other plans and she is still here with us...she has lived an amazing life but we would be ecstatic if there were still some more years left but only time will tell. Thank you for the prayers...

It has been quite a load to carry. I would be lying if I told you we weren't worn and weary from it all. But sending up prayers that the Lord renews our spirit, keeps us gracious and thankful for these times that we have been able to turn to Him, and witness His daily miracles and the beauty of His love.

Much love to all
Telisha

Friday, August 6, 2010

2nd Update Post Op

I wanted to give a quick update while I had a break during shift change. Bella Boo seems to be recovering nicely. She has had consistently great blood gases so her rates and pressures are all being brought down a little each time, they were really high from the surgery. She has been between 60-70 % oxygen all day. She is starting to barely come to and when she awakens a bit more they will start her on morphine. Her blood sugar is pretty high so they are going to monitor it tonight, they may change up IV fluids or give her some insulin if it doesn't come down soon.

Chris has teased me saying that I would love nothing more than to move into this hospital with Bella until she comes home. Well tonight I get my wish, we have a room on her floor tonight so that we can visit and be close by should any changes occur.

We are just living in God's good grace and Bella is amazing...will keep you posted! Thank you again for the support and continued prayers.

Post Operation

Thank you dear Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you...We just spoke with the surgeon and Bella's procedure is finished. He said she is stable and remained stable throughout. I am without words to express our gratitude...we are so truly blessed. We are waiting to see her now. We will tell her again of all of your love...
Now we will pray thru her recovery and that the Lord continues to fill her with light, life and love...

Much love to all
Telisha

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Updated info

The surgery has been set for 9 am tomorrow morning. We are still hoepful that this is for the best. We will post as soon as we get an update post-op.

Please keep Chris' grandmother in your prayers as well. She is 93 and having complications from gallbladder surgery. They have called in the family and there is a chance she may not make it thru the night. We are on our way to see her now.

May the Holy Spirit comfort us and our family during this time. May we continue to trust in God's will and hold fast to our faith.

Much love to all
Telisha

Day 82

We found out this morning that the Dr feels the PDA is of moderate size. They are trying to schedule surgery for tomorrow around 1 pm. We are still awaiting confirmation from the surgeon and staff. We are told the actual surgery only takes 20 minutes but the preparations take an hour. Recovery time could be anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks. We should expect to see some additional needs from the vent while she recovers. The surgery is very standard on preemies, they do it all of the time but not on my daughter...

I could come completely unglued, completely unraveled at the thought of my sweet baby having surgery at 2 months old, before she should even be out of my womb. BUT the Lord is telling me to trust, trust His power, trust her relentless spirit, trust the medical staff and trust that our faith will carry us thru. So I am going to choose to listen...we feel at peace that this will be what she needs to help continue to grow and overcome. We will keep you posted, please continue to keep us in your prayers.
Much love to all
Telisha

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Day 81

I think somewhere along the way we have messed up how many days it has actually been :) I am just going to keep in order of the blog so as not to confuse (myself).

Bella was 10 weeks old yesterday at 7 pm!!!
For her birthday she decided to have a party while on my chest and pull out her breathing tube....she turned a shade of blue that I care never to see again and her heart rate dropped enormously. By the way she is not quite ready to breathe without any assistance. Luckily Nurse Susan and RT Dinah came to her rescue. I on the other hand made it to the lactation room to melt down in private. I really think that room could be more useful if they would go ahead and pad the walls in there. So if any Centennial folks are reading this please take note that we have requested the lactation room also have padded walls... :)

Bella had her Echo today and we are still waiting to hear a final verdict from the Dr. The PDA is very small so they could choose to wait before operating or they may be agressive and get it out of the way. We will know more in the morning.

She started her feeds yesterday and is working up to 14 cc tonight. She has been tolerating very nicely so far.
As I look at her tonight she rests peacefully and hopefully soon so will we....God bless, more details to come in the morning.

Much love to you all
Telisha

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Day 79

We spoke with the Dr this morning regarding several questions we had, just wanted to share with you where we are today.

They did a round of medicine to treat the PDA in her heart yesterday and will do 2 more today. The Dr doesn't expect them to work because they tend to only work in younger babies. However he did say that Bella continues to prove him wrong every time so he would not be surprised if she does the same here :) However unfortunately if they do not work then she will have to have surgery this week. It is a very common procedure for preemies so we aren't going to freak out, just yet... The Dr said we would discuss further after he was sure the medicines weren't going to work.

He feels adamently that Bella does not or did not have NEC. Nothing is showing in her blood work or clinically to prove infection. The xray that has been referred to could have been gastitis or from constipation. She will discontinue antibiotics today and resume her feeds. As a Mother (obviously no medical expert) I would prefer a more conservative approach and would like full treatment for it just incase but everyone is telling me that I am freaking out for no reason. I hope that they are right. They explained that we have to be careful with antibiotics so that she does not build an immunity for future needs and that not eatting for a full week will be detremental to her recovery. I am going to turn this one over to the Big Man and have faith he is giving the guidance that everyone needs.

She had another eye exam today and everything is showing normal for her age thus far. We asked about another head ultrasound. He says that since all of hers have showed no brain bleeds thus far they will do one more before discharge just to make sure but he does not expect there to be any changes. These are both HUGE blessings for Bella and her future.

She is doing very well on the ventilator, remaining in the 50's-60's on oxygen, 30 rate and sats in 80's and 90's. She could be close to going back on CPAP but she will need to remain on the ventilator if she has the PDA surgery so no talk of excabation right now.

That is all for now...Prayers for the medicines to work today and close that PDA for good would be most appreciated. We thank you all again for your continued support, would not be this far without the prayers we are certain!

Much love to all
Telisha

"So that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."
I Corinthians 2:5

Monday, August 2, 2010

The new and improved Baby Bella....





Day 78

We had an eventful weekend with Miss Bella. That whole roller coaster thing we keep mentioning...

As we mentioned in the last post she went back on the ventilator. She really adapted back to it and has been doing very well in that respect. However on Saturday night her heart rate went up to 223 and blood pressure dropped way low. They ordered blood work to check for infection and also to see if she needed another transfusion. It turned out she needed a transfusion pretty badly, which she has received 2 now. This could be part of the reason she went back on the ventilator as well.

In addition to the transfusion the radiologists felt like he saw cause for concern on an abdominal xray. He asked that she start treatment for NEC. For the preemie mom's reading this you will know that it is every preemie parents nightmare. The infection can spread rapidly and has a very high morbidity rate. However 2 NICU doctors have told us they do not think it is that but did start treatment as recommended. The xrays have improved and if it was that then we are hopeful they caught it in time. She has been on antibiotics and has not been able to eat since Saturday night. They may start her back on feeds tomorrow after further watch and assessment. Thank you Lord!!!

They also found a small PDA on her EKG. They assure us that it is very tiny but will try to treat medicinally. The medicine may not be effective because of her age and if that is the case they will just watch it and see. No mention of surgery for this yet and are told that since it is so small they may not have to do anything at all for it.

Aside from all of this Bella is kicking butt on the ventilator, she is weighing in a 2.8 pounds, she is a lovely pink and resting peacefully. They dropped the rates on her ventilator again and have heard speculation that she may be ready to try the CPAP again in 24-48 hours...

Waiting, watching and praying...
Much love to all
Telisha

P.S. Molly it was SO great to meet you in person and see those beautiful boys!!!

"But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. "
Exodus 9:16