Well, today provided us with a slight scare but in the end, I have about as much information on Gwendolyn's malady as I did yesterday.
At one stage, the CO2 level in Gwen's blood was off the charts. In fact, even though she looked quite normal and coherent, the pediatrician told me that if Heather or I had the same percentage of carbon dioxide in our bloodstream, we’d be unresponsive and in need of a respirator to survive. Luckily, a follow up blood draw came back with lower stats or Gwen would have been quickly whisked away back to the ICU to be put on a CPAP. That is a scuba-mask style apparatus that literally forces air into your lungs and back out. For those snorers out there (not that the author of this piece knows anything at all about snoring... yeah, right!), that’s the machine that you’d get hooked up to as a way of ensuring that you didn’t have apnea during sleep. Anyway, we dodged a bullet there. Hopefully her levels continue to decrease so we don’t have to add that into the fold of ailments.
As for the cause of her hospital stay, that’s still up in the air. The first culture test came back negative and we haven’t heard back on the second culture run. The conventional wisdom still is that she’s got three small ailments (a common throat abnormality in infants, reflux and a TBD respiratory virus) that have combined together along with the possibility that she's temporary got lower neurological development - as result of her hydrocephalus - to cause the breathing issues. But honestly, that’s just the most likely scenario and has yet to be confirmed in any shape or form. I'll honestly feel better about the whole thing when we reach the stage that we do know what's going on for sure.
To her credit, Gwendolyn’s been a trooper. She had to survive a ton of pokes, prods and doctor consultations today. Still, she’s no worse for the wear save for the lack of an actually proven diagnosis. Right now, she’s enjoying a clean diaper, full belly, binky and tight swaddle… not to mention a curious green illuminated frog on the mobile the nurse installed in her crib today. Gwen keeps staring at that frog like it's the most interesting thing in the world... and to her it probably is I guess.
At one stage, the CO2 level in Gwen's blood was off the charts. In fact, even though she looked quite normal and coherent, the pediatrician told me that if Heather or I had the same percentage of carbon dioxide in our bloodstream, we’d be unresponsive and in need of a respirator to survive. Luckily, a follow up blood draw came back with lower stats or Gwen would have been quickly whisked away back to the ICU to be put on a CPAP. That is a scuba-mask style apparatus that literally forces air into your lungs and back out. For those snorers out there (not that the author of this piece knows anything at all about snoring... yeah, right!), that’s the machine that you’d get hooked up to as a way of ensuring that you didn’t have apnea during sleep. Anyway, we dodged a bullet there. Hopefully her levels continue to decrease so we don’t have to add that into the fold of ailments.
As for the cause of her hospital stay, that’s still up in the air. The first culture test came back negative and we haven’t heard back on the second culture run. The conventional wisdom still is that she’s got three small ailments (a common throat abnormality in infants, reflux and a TBD respiratory virus) that have combined together along with the possibility that she's temporary got lower neurological development - as result of her hydrocephalus - to cause the breathing issues. But honestly, that’s just the most likely scenario and has yet to be confirmed in any shape or form. I'll honestly feel better about the whole thing when we reach the stage that we do know what's going on for sure.
To her credit, Gwendolyn’s been a trooper. She had to survive a ton of pokes, prods and doctor consultations today. Still, she’s no worse for the wear save for the lack of an actually proven diagnosis. Right now, she’s enjoying a clean diaper, full belly, binky and tight swaddle… not to mention a curious green illuminated frog on the mobile the nurse installed in her crib today. Gwen keeps staring at that frog like it's the most interesting thing in the world... and to her it probably is I guess.
Well, hopefully we have a night free of breathing stoppages or any other drama! Once we have had a 24-hour time window without those, the respiratory issues or the need for oxygen, we'll be able to blow this popsicle stand!
Good night…
Good night…
Chuck and Heather:
ReplyDeleteThank you for the update. Our prayers continue to be with you and your family.
Love and God Bless,
Uncle Tony and Aunt Renee
Heather and Chuck, I wish I could do something other than holding your family so close in prayer right now. But you can believe that we are praying all the time, every day for Gwen's journey to perfect health. Love you all so much and just wish there was some way to help you get your baby girl home faster, healthy and happy. Prayers and lots of love...
ReplyDeleteRance, Steph, Coop and Sam