Moving On Up

Hey folks,

Madeleine is still at Children's (and will be for a long time) but she has been moved from the main NICU to the NICU's "Green Room." The green room is essentially the spill over area that is in use when the NICU needs extra room. Babies that are transferred to the Green Room are considered stable so this is very good news for Madeleiene. I'm busy at work so I won't bore you with all of the details, but the short story is as follows:

1) Madeleine received a blood transfusion on Wednesday and that has really helped her stabilize her breathing. Her color is improved and the doctors are hopeful that this will continue.
2) Madeleine is still not eating but the doctors, at this point, aren't concerned. The reason for holding feeds is that she hasn't cleared all of the contrast fluid inserted earlier this week. The surgeons were concerned that there was a blockage at the end of the stoma, so they dilated the stoma on Wednesday. This procedure helped as Madeleine has had some output in the bag but the doctors feel that her intestines aren't doing too much work right now-- they call this an ileus, or a temporary paralysis of the intestines. That description sounds bad, but the doctors aren't concerned as this is common following intestinal surgery. If it goes on too long (a week or two longer), they can consider prescribing medicine. However, at this point, they think a few more days of rest can't hurt Madeleine and are hopeful that once she begins feeding again, this won't be an issue.

That's all on the health front. We're cautiously optimistic that Madeleine is on a long, slow recovery road. She obviously has two major surgeries in front of her-- the intestinal reattachment and the heart surgery-- but right now, the focus is on keeping her stable, starting her feeding, and watching her grow.

One more quick note (don't worry, I'll be hounding you for the next few weeks): Kirsten and I have started a Team as part of the March of Dimes March for Babies on April 27. Our team site is http://marchforbabies.org/madeleineeva. We've set a goal of $300 for our team to contribute. In lieu of clothing, food, etc, we ask that you consider making a donation. (We're not ungrateful by your support. On the contrary we're extremely humbled by all your support and hoping to share it with others.) You're also welcome to walk with us-- the site has all the details.