The Charmer at the Hospital

Quick update this morning before I head to work: Madeleine had another good day at the hospital and she's becoming quite the charmer. As she continues to feel good, she's beginning to realize that she's the star of the show and whenever a new person enters the room, she flashes her new smile where she sticks out her tongue and smiles showing off dimples on both sides. It only lasts for a second so we have yet to catch the smile on camera but yesterday, there was a group of student nurses that were dispersed across the cardiac floor and all of them came by to practice with the "little baby that likes getting her vitals taken." Kirsten and I could have our hands full when we get home and Madeleine realizes that she's the star but only of a three person house.

As you can probably tell, things are going quite well. We're in the hospital right now primarily because we really can't explain the pulmonary hypertension and the doctors want to keep a close eye on Madeleine while conducting various tests. Yesterday, the focus was on Madeleine's GI tract and everything they looked at seemed normal. Today, there will be another echocardiagram to ensure that the pulmonary hypertension remains under control and tonight, Madeleine will participate in a sleep study where they will monitor her esophagus and air passage way at night to determine if she has any blocked apnea issues. Depending on the results, the sleep study could help us determine a path moving forward regarding feeding her by mouth.

Currently, Madeleine is getting nothing by mouth (they call it NPO in the hospital) and all of her medicines and nutrition go into her "J" tube. For the time being, we're comfortable with maintaining this course of action as it is clear that Madeleine is putting on weight and isn't suffering from reflux. Obviously, down the road we hope to be able to feed her by mouth but until she grows a significant amount, there's ample evidence indicating that her reflux presents a potential problem with aspirations. Since it is likely that the hypertension identified last week was related to aspirations and/or pneumonia, it is extremely important that we avoid any further aspirations and/or trauma to the lungs.

In any case, I just wanted to provide a quick update to let you know that things are going exceedingly well here. Once we get through the echo today and sleep test tonight, we're hoping to get a better idea of what the next steps are and possibly when Madeleine could be discharged. Thanks again for everyone's support.