Q: When will Lucy come home?!?!
A: We don't know.
Lucy had a few milestones she had to hit in order to be able to come home with us. She still has not yet mastered taking every feeding from a bottle. Today she did 3 in a row. Her 8PM feeding was from her tube, and the nurse was attempting the next 3 by bottle after that. That makes 6 out of 8 by mouth today--if she does OK tonight. She has to be able to do this for a certain amount of days before she can come home ( I think maybe 5 ?) .
She also has to go 6 days with no spells. They did have to count a spell on the 21st, which would put her at least at the 27th before coming home. Her oxygen was staying very low while I was with her, and they had to end up doing blow by oxygen to get her stats back up later on.
Her red blood count is also borderline too low right now. They are testing it again in the morning, I'm assuming to see if she needs a blood transfusion. She is my blood type, so now I wish I had gone and given blood in case she needed some. So weird thinking someone elses blood will go in her. but I know it's all safe, and many preemies have to have them. At the time we talked about me going to donate in case she needed it, I had low platelette counts and had so much blood taken myself, I never wanted to talk about drawing blood again. We just hadn't thought of it since then. If her count is ok tomorrow, I might go ahead and donate for her.
I'm not sure what other milestone she has to hit. Actually, we got tired of asking about that a while ago. It's always been that ''every baby is different and just when she is ready, then she will be able to go but it's still a while down the road.But she is doing great for how little she still is. "
I'm sure some of this is wrong, but I'm remembering what I can. =) I'm trying not to get discouraged. Tomorrow is 6 weeks since I had sweet Lucy, and it is also my 6 week check-up.
I'm taking a 30 minute nap before I have to wake back up at midnight, then if I can fall right back asleep, I'll have about 5 more to sleep before I need to get up again. Keep baby Lucy in your prayers. Pray for us not to get discouraged when it seems to keep draggin on, pray for anxiety when we do get to bring her home and she isn't hooked up to monitors, being evaluated every 3 hours and multiple nurses and doctors nearby, pray for germs to stay AWAY when she does come home, and mostly pray for several families/families of friends we know who are dealing with the death of a baby.We know/know of 3 right now who are dealing with this issue, so it is in our faces. It is something we have thought about daily. We know God will help provide comfort and peace and the ablility to move forward for these families, but we know the road is tough and long, and they can use all the prayers they can get.
I hate that people ask you all the time "when will she come home". It just means that they've never had a "real" NICU experience to hit them or someone close to them. Some people just don't get it. AND, people can be insensitive and not realize it.
ReplyDeleteOne day at a time is all I think about. If Lucy is doing great today, then that's a blessing, and don't worry about the future. Just remember to take baby steps and enjoy every tiny piece of "good news" you hear about precious Lucy!