Belle Update: Mar 7

Last night we received a wake-up phone call from the NICU at 1:30am. 

Arabella had been having a lot of spells and she struggled to bring her heart rate back up. It was getting too frequent. She was getting too weak. 

They called to tell us that she was taken off CPAP (the pressure mask) and they placed her on mechanical ventilation (also known as 'intubation'). They placed tubes through her nostrils, all the way down to her trachea (or wind pipe). 

I know it sounds rough, but there is a silver lining. At least this will give her a break. A chance to recover for the next 24-48 hours. 

Her lungs are in good shape, but doctors were worried about her going into cardiac arrest. This PDA is likely giving her most of these issues. 

More echos will be done on her heart today. She finished her doses of ibubrofen on Sunday but since it didn't seem to help they'll likely give her indomethacin for the next round of treatment. The side effects from these meds is what concerns us the most.

The last round gave us such a scare.

Arabella also received yet another blood transfusion last night to help bring up her hemoglobin levels.

We're in the thick of it now, it seems. 

What was supposed to be a fight in the NICU is turning into a full-on war. And we are like soldiers on the front lines, fighting along side our tiny warrior princess. Our little Joan of Arc. 

Amidst everything going on I believe we are still so very fortunate and blessed to be in this position. The doctors and nurses have been catching everything early. Nothing is overlooked. 

This little girl is surrounded by so much love, so much grace. There is really nothing to fear anymore. 

This is how Belle looked yesterday (above). The nurse had placed a chin-strap on her in order to prevent her from breathing out of her mouth. 

And this was her this morning after the intubation. She was resting more, and her breathing was relaxed. 

You can finally see her head without the hat!