Sweet pea has been on C-Pap for right at 30 hours and SHE IS HOLDING HER OWN!!! She has had a few episodes where she gets upset and her oxygen and heart rate levels drop, but she has managed to climb back up (with the nurse's help, of course.) What does that all mean? The short answer--Ashton has been taking breaths on her own for over a day now. She still needs the pressure support of the c-pap and is on about 24% oxygen. (Just for reference, room air that we all breath is 21% oxygen.) During rounds this morning, Dr. Kahn (who we LOVE and I will blog about more later) said she has lasted longer and done better on the c-pap than he ever expected her to. Our little fighter continues to defy the odds and we KNOW who is in control of how she is doing on the C-Pap and every step of this journey. There is no way we could take on this journey with Ashton without knowing that fact. I appreciate everyone who is sending encouragement and love our way. Your reminders of how much we are loved and how many people are praying with us for our sweet girl is overwhelming!
If everything goes well tonight, tomorrow will be Ashton's last day of TPN (nutrition through the IV) and she will be eating 100% milk. The only medication she will be on will be her heart medicine which she takes orally. This is a HUGE deal because it means her picc line will be coming out tomorrow and she will only have the tube for feeding/oral medication and her C-Pap head gear--NO OTHER TUBES or LINES! That seems crazy given the fact that 17 days ago she had eight pumps at her bedside and enough tubing to rap around her little body twenty times.
I got to hold her again for a few hours this morning and heard her cry. She has a very soft, little cry because she had the breathing tube for 16 days. If she is anything like her brother, this will change. Speaking of big brother--Brady is doing awesome back home with Daddy. He played a great soccer game Saturday and has been enjoying all the attention from friends back home. I think he loves his little sister mostly because he is getting to play with friends almost everyday!
It is shift change so I need to go without proofreading this post, so ignore the typos. Prayers that Ashton stays strong and continues to amaze and do well on the C-Pap are so very appreciated.
Much love!
Brandi
OMG this is awesome news!!! I smiled the entire way through your blog. I work in Sleep Medicine/Respiratory Care so I know first hand how AMAZING your little warrior is doing! Continuing to pray for your sweet little girl!
ReplyDeleteYay! Prayers ongoing from Lubbock.
ReplyDeleteBrandi, my hubby is serving on jury duty and that is how we found out about your sweet Ashton. We have not experienced the NICU, but last Memorial Day our youngest daughter (then 20 months) had an accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury and a stroke. She spent nearly a month in the hospital in Lubbock and then was transfered to an inpatient rehab center in Dallas where she spent another month. She has had 5 surgeries thus far (3 brain/skull, 1 g-tube for feeding, 1 bronchoscopy) and will be having another surgery on her skull next week. There was a time where we were not sure if she would live, and once we were more sure that she would live, we did not know what her mental or physical capabilites would be. I did not go home the entire time. My husband, along with our older daughters (3 and 7 at the time) went back and forth between Lubbock and Odessa, and were in Dallas almost the entire time. I have never spent much time away from my husband. A week here or there, but my girls, I have spent two nights away from the older ones. It was hard for me to be away from them and there were certainly times that I felt guilty and torn between where I felt I was most needed. I tried to look at things as a short term hardship for a longterm gain. What we did was to give our youngest (Kenley) the best possible outcome which would benefit our entire family in the long run.
ReplyDeleteWe have had some setbacks along the way, and we don't know what the future holds. But we know that know matter what, God knows what is happening in our family. We have not had more than we can handle and I think that we are able to handle so much more than what we realize.
I had several songs and scriptures that I clung to while Kenley was in the hospital, one of them was "I'll Praise You In This Storm". Another one is "Bring The Rain" by MercyMe as well as "You Never Let Go" by Matt Redman. My heart goes out to you, my thoughts and prayers have been with you these last few days.
Praises to GOD for Ashton's progress Prayers for her breathing to get better, her heart to heal, and for her to grow. Prayers for her mommy and daddy
ReplyDeleteOHhh all my prayers are with you.don't wory everything will be fine !
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