Day 7 in the NICU

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the lack of updates, but not much has changed over the past few days. Lila still has only two tubes (the one in her nose and her central line). Her OG tube (mouth to stomach) was switched over to an NG tube (nose to stomach) yesterday morning after she pulled the OG all the way out. This made me pretty happy because I wanted that tube out of her mouth so that she can practice sucking on her pacifier. She also seems much more content with the NG tube, rather than the tube in her mouth. She is no longer being given any pain medicine because she is able to calm herself on her own or by being held quickly when she is upset. She is more alert and awake every day. The liquid being drained from her stomach continues to get lighter and lighter every day, and seems to be totally clear at times. The amount of liquid being drained has also been decreasing as the days pass. Both of these are signs that her bowels are beginning to work and that she is headed in the right direction. Earlier today Lila's surgeon stopped by and decided that suction was no longer needed and that her NG tube could be switched over to gravity only. This means that more fluid will go down into her intestines. If this goes well for the next day or so, then the tube will be removed all together - we are hoping this is the case and Lila might be close to tube-free tomorrow. Assuming that she does well and the NG tube is removed and she tolerates that for a day (no throwing up, bringing up bile), we will start oral feeds the next day. 

Dr. Burns (the surgeon) continues to be very pleased with how she is doing. He has been fantastic all through this and stops in to check on Lila frequently. We also learned that once Lila starts oral feeds, she might be able to move down to an inpatient room with less restrictions and more freedom since she isn't "sick enough" for the NICU (according to one of our nurses). This was good to hear that they think Lila is moving in the right direction too. I will update more as soon as we know anything else, or anything changes. Right now we are trying to get Brody to bed - he is afraid of the thunder and keeps screaming that he "doesn't like it." Thanks again to everyone for thinking of us!

Here are some more pictures of Lila - I realized when I was picking them out that I really need to take more. I will post some tomorrow of her without the oxygen or the OG tube so you can see more of her face!

We are trying to keep Brody's schedule as normal as possible and still trying to spend "fun time" with him. We took him to a local park last weekend and he had a ball. He gave Tom some exercise, demanding that Tom "more spin" him on the spinner. 

The weekend before Lila was born we took Brody to Living Treasures Animal Park which was so much fun. Brody got to feed deer, goats, monkeys, pigs, reindeer, llamas, bears and even pet a baby zebra!