Monday February 8, 2016

Since the last blog post there has been some great improvements with Seraya! The LORD continues to hear and answer our prayers! What a blessing!

Since Seraya was born, she has been intubated on a high frequency oscillator to assist her lungs and help her to breathe. She was on high pressures with this machine to help keep her underdeveloped lungs open and keep them from collapsing.

The doctors were not seeing enough of an improvement in Serayas lungs and so they decided it was time to intervene. They started her on doses of hydrocortisone steroids to speed up and help the development of her lungs. They assured us that we would see these results in 2 days and they were right. Seraya was given her first dose of steroids on Thursday when she was on a map (which is pressure) of 12 on the oscillator. On Friday morning she seemed to be doing well and so they weaned her map to 11. She continued to do well and did not require any extra oxygen which they thought might happen. So by Friday afternoon they weaned her map again to a pressure of 10:) Again she surprised us and did really well, so we could clearly see the steroids were helping. So, by Saturday morning, they wanted to switch  to cpap, which would mean extubating her! We were very excited to hear this, but also a little nervous for the procedure. Cpap is when two little prongs are inserted into her nose and she receives her pressure and oxygen that way. When she was on the oscillator she had a breathing tube going through her nose all the way down into her lungs. Right now she is doing well on the cpap and is currently on a pressure of 13 and in about 30-35% oxygen. We are relieved that she has finally moved into cpap as it is a lot less damaging to her lungs.

Also I know that in the last blog post I mentioned about the problems with her bilirubin levels. For the last two weeks they had remained the same and hadn't improved at all. So late last week they decided to start Seraya on a medication called ursodile. The doctors were not sure but thought maybe she had a blockage in her liver. The Med was supposed to help break down the blockage and help her to excrete the bile that had built up. They weren't sure if this would work. This morning I received some great news. The conjugated part of her liver has finally started to come down. Last week the number was over 200 and today it had come down considerably to 137:) We were extremely pleased to hear this! We will see over time if her liver continues to heal and begin to function properly.

Also her platelet count has been a concern for a couple weeks now, as they had continued to drop. But, today I received the good news that her platelet count had went up. Last week her count was around 50 and today it was 60 which is great, as they have never went up on their own before, without the doctor giving her a platelet transfusion. This number is still low however, as it is supposed to be around 150. Again with time we will see if this issue is beginning to resolve. Praise be to God for his goodness!

Seraya had received another echo last week and they discovered that her heart pda has re-opened and is about a moderate size right now. However it does not seem to be having any negative effects on her as of yet, and for that we are thankful!

 She received her first eye exam last week Monday but unfortunately it was unsuccessful, as they were not able to see anything. They said her eyes were too hazy at this point to see her blood vessels. She will continue to receive eye exams on a weekly basis. 

Seraya continues to tolerate her full feeds at this time. She is currently receiving 20 mls every 2 hours. She is gaining nicely and is weighing about 3 lbs 4 oz at the moment. 

Brian and I are very thankful and pleased at the progress Seraya has made within the last two weeks! Thanks be to God for his steadfast love and goodness in our lives. We continue to covet all the prayers that go up for our little family. We know we could not continue on this journey alone!!

Psalm 92: 4,5
"For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands. How great are your works, O LORD, how profound your thoughts!"