There is a hole in the heart of a baby called a patent ductus arteriousis (PDA), that is supposed to close when a baby is born but sometimes it doesn't, so this would be something they would also be watching. They would be doing an echocardiogram, which takes a video of the heart pumping, to see if Emma's was closed; if they found it open, she may need surgery to fix it. We later met Debra, one of the neonatal nurse practioners. She would be on duty for the next 24 hours and would let us know everything that was going on with Emma. Anne gave Eric a book from the NICU before she left for the night. It was a book about preemie babies (Emma is considered a micro-preemie), she says it has really good information in it. He stayed up until about 2:00am reading through the book and what we would need to be prepared for in the coming weeks. The picture posted today is a picture of Eric's wedding band around Emma's wrist, we hope that this gives you all an idea of how small our baby truly is.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Day 2
To my surprise this morning I received a phone call from my sister Ann who was on her way from North Dakota and for even more of a surprise, my sister Michelle had just departed Kentucky and was on her way too. Dr. Parilla came into our room a little after that to give us an update of Emma. She told us that Emma's first night was ok and that the next few days were called the "honeymoon phase." This meant that these days should go very smooth, but than she could take a turn for the worst. Dr. Parilla explained the possibility of Emma having brain bleeds and they gave her a medication to try to prevent it. We would not know anything until they did an ultrasound of her head, which would be sometime in the next 7 days. They would also be giving her antibiotics to try to prevent any infections. Another big concern that the doctor has is that Emma has not peed in 24 hours, so they were going to start a drug called Dopmine to help get her kidneys going. We were informed that her red blood cells and platelets were also low and her sodium was high so they would be watching these levels over the next few days. She would be getting infusions of platelets and red blood today and would most likely need more over the next few days. I was able to get up and walk today so Dr. Parilla walked Eric and I down to the NICU where we were greated by Anne, one of the nurses who was in the operating room when Emma was born. She explained to us what was going on clinically and showed us all of the gadgets in Emma's room. They had her under humidity and heat due to the imaturity of her skin and the fact that she could not regulate her temperature. She pointed out the IV that was in her belly button and that they could draw blook from this so that Emma wouldn't need to be stuck all of the time for labs. She explained about her blood pressure and heart rate and although they were both ok she could still have some cardiac issues. 
There is a hole in the heart of a baby called a patent ductus arteriousis (PDA), that is supposed to close when a baby is born but sometimes it doesn't, so this would be something they would also be watching. They would be doing an echocardiogram, which takes a video of the heart pumping, to see if Emma's was closed; if they found it open, she may need surgery to fix it. We later met Debra, one of the neonatal nurse practioners. She would be on duty for the next 24 hours and would let us know everything that was going on with Emma. Anne gave Eric a book from the NICU before she left for the night. It was a book about preemie babies (Emma is considered a micro-preemie), she says it has really good information in it. He stayed up until about 2:00am reading through the book and what we would need to be prepared for in the coming weeks. The picture posted today is a picture of Eric's wedding band around Emma's wrist, we hope that this gives you all an idea of how small our baby truly is.
There is a hole in the heart of a baby called a patent ductus arteriousis (PDA), that is supposed to close when a baby is born but sometimes it doesn't, so this would be something they would also be watching. They would be doing an echocardiogram, which takes a video of the heart pumping, to see if Emma's was closed; if they found it open, she may need surgery to fix it. We later met Debra, one of the neonatal nurse practioners. She would be on duty for the next 24 hours and would let us know everything that was going on with Emma. Anne gave Eric a book from the NICU before she left for the night. It was a book about preemie babies (Emma is considered a micro-preemie), she says it has really good information in it. He stayed up until about 2:00am reading through the book and what we would need to be prepared for in the coming weeks. The picture posted today is a picture of Eric's wedding band around Emma's wrist, we hope that this gives you all an idea of how small our baby truly is.
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