Alexandra

Late post for week 12!!!
Sorry for not posting last night. I received a more than a few inquires today...

Clinical Updates

Alexandra began getting her 2-month vaccinations a few days ago. Unlike kids outside the ICU, the kids in the ICU get 1 shot/day. There is no real science to spreading out the shots, but they have noticed that the NICU babies tend to suffer minor set backs when they get 5 or 6 shots all at once. It makes sense; why stress the immune system like that in a critically ill patient?

The vaccines are a mixed bag for Alexandra. On one hand, she obviously gets upset. But it also afforded me my first chance to do something simple: I was able to pick her up just to comfort her. And to my great relief, it worked! After laying in bed and crying her way through things the last 12+ weeks, I was scared she was "conditioned".

She has been a bit hot and irritable over the last few days. Don't tell her I said this, but sometimes she just sweats like a little pig. We're not sure, but we think it's the vaccines. Apparently I was the same as she when I was pooping in my pants. She has also gotten a fair bit more plump Or should we say she has acquired more insulation? How ever you want to say it, she's got a lot more fat... which of course retains heat. Also, she has a ski hat on again for the sake of her CPAP torture device. The air in the CPAP machine has to be heated to 98.6 degrees, too... so it's not easy to figure out why she's so hot.

Speaking of CPAP, we turned the pressure down by 1 today (to 6 cmH2O). This means she has to work just a little harder to keep her lungs open. Tonight Suhey and I both thought she might be breathing noticeably harder, so we're on pins and needles hoping she's okay. They'll keep an eye on her for us and go back up to 7 if they have to. Alexandra's track record suggests it will take a few days to know... so the Wednesday update should say something about it.

Blog Function Updates

I added a translate function. At the top of the blog (top left corner), you have a drop down menu for other languages. For those more comfortable in Spanish, it should help. For those who just want to see what the blog looks like in Korean, Russian, or some other language, have fun. By the way, there is no translation to Southern. Sorry y'all (you know who you are).
I will be adding a box for email addresses once I test it. If you see that box, it means you can enter your email address, and then the blog will automatically email you updates. This is really meant for you folks not on Facebook (yeah, there are people not on FB).