Big Girl

Madison is continuing to grow bigger and stronger. She is 2lbs. 11oz. and she is 37.25 cm long. For her feedings, she is getting 7.2 cc's continuously every hour. They adjust the amount she is getting fed everyday according to her weight.

Pictures

I added some more pictures to Snapfish from this weekend.

Sunday

Madison is 2lbs. 8oz. For her breathing, she just have the little tube those goes to her nose and around the back of her head. She is being fed continuously 6.5cc's every hour. She also got her PICC line, which was her main IV with extra fluids and nutrients, taken out yesterday. She is doing great!

Update

Since I wrote the last post a few hours ago, I have another update to add. Madison pulled out her respirator (breathing tube) tonight. She is fine. They put her back on the CPAP and will keep her on that as long as she can do well with her breathing. I guess she decided she wanted her breathing tube out.

Over 2 lbs!

Madison's weight is up to 2lbs. 5oz. She was also started back on breast milk yesterday after being taken off of it for her surgery.

The bleeding in her brain is also continuing to decrease so that is another good thing to hear.

The doctors said they will probably try to take her off her respirator in the next few days and put her back on her face mask she was on before her surgery.

Madison also got upgraded to the next size in diapers.

I also posted some more pictures on Snapfish from last weekend.

Success!

Madison's surgery went perfectly. She made it through and is back in her room hooked up to everything and resting. He incision was only about an inch on her left side.

Heart Surgery

Madison will be going into heart surgery early tomorrow morning. It is a fairly major surgery but not uncommon for babies her age. The surgery is short and will only take about 20 minutes, the complicated part is moving her to and from the operating room. The surgery is to close the PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus) in her heart, which is a duct that is usually open before birth but is supposed to close after. The PDA causes blood that is supposed to flow to her body to flow to her lungs instead. It has been causing a few problems with her breathing and the amount of oxygen she is getting. Madison's PDA did not close when she was born so they gave her two rounds of medicine to close it but that did not work. Having the surgery will help her breathing and will also help her gain weight faster, which are both very important for her at this point. The doctors said her health will most likely decline after her surgery, but this is normal. She will have to be put back on her ventilator and her lungs will not be working as well.

Sponge Bath

Madison is 1lb. 15oz. today. She also had her first sponge bath, and Kara said she liked it. They also discovered Madison has wavy hair.

The doctors also found some bleeding in her brain recently, but it has started to resolve, which means there is less blood each time they have checked it.

THANK YOU!

Thank you everyone for your continued support, thoughts, and prayers! Everyone is very thankful and appreciative of all the help and support of Kara, Jeremy, and Madison.

Special Time

Now that Madison has gotten her breathing tube out, Jeremy and Kara have gotten to spend a lot more time holding her. I think they are both happy about that.

Picture

Here is a picture of Madison without all her equipment.

Breathing Tube be Gone!

Today the doctors' took out Madison's breathing tube! She is now using a CPAP which is a mask that covers her nose. It has continuous pressure so her lungs don't completely empty out. So she is breathing on her own, but with a little bit of help. The doctor's said it is common for a baby Madison's size to have to go back onto the respirator, so I guess we will just have to wait and see how she does.

She was also up to 1lb. 12oz.

Last night, Madison was put back on breast milk. The doctors had stopped it while she had some medicine for her heart, but now she is back on track.

Kara also got to spend about an hour today holding Madison. This was the second time Kara got to hold her.