Kaitlyn’s First Halloween

10/31/05
Kaitlyn’s First Halloween

The good news is that Kaitlyn has slowly and steadily improved over the weekend. She’s back now to 30% oxygen, but her vent settings are still much stronger than they were before she went off the vent last week, but the doctors are encouraged. They’ve tried everything, and think the problem might Cortisone. They have given it to her again (which isn’t a good thing), but she has steadily improved since then. The Doc explained that unfortunately, when a preemie is given cortisone (although it helps their lungs) it can also suppress their natural ability to produce Cortisone – so it’s a double edged sword. She also was having low blood pressure, so she was also given Dopamine.

Today was the first day she was active and feisty again. Over the weekend she was fairly sedated and really just slept. Today, even after a dose of morphine, she was very agitated and feisty, but the good news is that she didn’t destat lower than 80% with her episodes (unlike her scare over the weekend when she was destating to 30% and wouldn’t go up unless she was manually “bagged.”)

Today we put a little orange Halloween knit hat on her head (she didn’t like it much), but she sure looked cute. She seemed to be happier when Brian and I tried to “contain” her kicks and punches – wow, she’s really strong. We saw some yawns and a lot of efforts to try to cry (impossible to do with a vent down your throat), but she finally brought some joy to her worried parents, as she really is adorable in her feistiness.

I can’t believe it’s almost November. I remember when I was lying in bed week after week and praying that I could stay pregnant until November. Now instead it’s been almost a month since the birth of our twins.