Day 3 - Gina's recovery, Eliza status unchanged

Monday, March 1 - Day 3 in the Eliza health saga showed improvements - albeit quite small ones. Her bili continued to drop toward normalcy and the neo team turned down some of the lights. She was a bit upset that her red-carpet status was downgraded to "B" level and that she lost her Randy "Macho Man" Savage rays. But it's the small triumphs that help us cope with it all anyway. There's so much medical stuff to blog about but I can't find the NRG to do that right now so all I will say is that she's fighting. She's fighting hard and so are we. It's amazing how we can find such silly things to laugh about during it all.

For example, they have these whiteboards in the hospital room where Gina was staying. It has all these spaces to help with communications, etc, so you can list your support person, drugs, goals, etc. I wrote "B.M. (bowel movement)" on Gina's board and this older nurse became so upset because she thought another nurse had written it on the 'public board.' It really appalled her, and she made quite the fuss-even though I felt that BM was an important goal for anyone in the hospital. :)

Eliza's second day

Under the super star bili lights, Eliza is heavily sedated in order to help control any seizure activity. Between the neurologists and the neonatologists, the primary goal was to subdue the brain from being too pissed about the trauma. The secondary goal was to keep monitoring her blood from increased acid levels, which is another side effect of low oxygen concentration. In this photo, she's also on a vent to help her breath because the heavy doses of medication are causing to here to be quite relaxed. Her last seizure happens around 5 p.m. this day and her kidney output takes a positive turn. It was a good day. Tough for Gina and me who are coming to grips with the reality of a long stay in the NICU and the shock begins to wears off...

Eliza's first day

Sorry, got tired of the facebook status so we decided to create a blog instead.

On Friday, Feb. 26, 2010, our third baby daughter was born. Eliza Madeline Gort came in at 7 lbs. 9 oz., our largest baby yet! It was a rather routine c-section.

However, later that night an unexpected turn of events occurred with Eliza's health. Her bilirubin levels climbed exceedingly high, to a point where major brain function can be impaired if they continue to elevate.

She needed to be treated with an exchange transfusion - a typically routine procedure that replaces her blood w/o  toxins and helps her rid high bili levels quicker.

Prior to the transfusion, however, an air embolism in the catheter caused her major trauma, and Eliza had to be resuscitated for approximately 40 mins.

Typically such an event causes many 'after-shocks' such as seizures that can result in further brain damage. Saturday morning and day was hit or miss as far as stability but she eventually made minor steps in the right direction.