Back on the vent

The adventure continues in our tale of the tiny caped crusader. Today, she battled hard but got knocked down. Just when we thought she was doing so well, this superwoman had to be placed back on the ventilator 😔

The Vent is an ugly and familiar foe.

Belle had a lot of spells overnight and into today. Eventually her heart rate dipped too low and she wasn't able to get it back up by herself - and that's when the staff had to intervene. As soon as an episode like that occurs, it's too risky to push Belle any further. 

She needed to be 'intubated', which is a process in itself. It usually requires sedatives, which gets Arabella to relax so that the respiratory therapists can easily reach her trachea (hopefully in one shot, as not to damage her airway). 

It's unclear why Belle was struggling more today. She might have simply gotten too tired from breathing on her own. It's also possible that she has an infection lingering. We're not really sure yet, but the staff are checking her out. That means more frequent tests, pokes, blood cultures, x-rays, and of course, they have to hold her feeds for a while. 

This morning you could sense that something wasn't right with Bella. Her heart rate was dipping too frequently. 

Here's a picture of her this morning:

So now we're wondering what's going on? 

It could be her immature nervous system. It might be due to prolonged pauses in her breathing. There's all kinds of possibilities. We're getting mixed information right now, but that should clear up in the next day or two. 

The most important thing is that Arabella is stable.

This little hero will rise again.