July 6th, 2007

I started my morning as usual. Waking up at 6am to pump and then calling NICU to see how Megan is doing. The nurse said that she was doing well and was resting comfortably.

I ordered my breakfast and waited for my support team to arrive.

We then went down to visit Megan. The nurse said that they were going to start her on breast milk! She was just going to get enough to coat her stomach - 2 cc every 6 hours. They would feed it to her through her IV and later extract the contents of her stomach to see if there was any residual. She explained that they were starting Megan on lipids for her to start gaining weight. She was also on a nutritional supplement with electrolytes, vitamins and minerals.

The nurse explained a few terms to me that we may hear over the next few weeks. A D Stat is when her oxygen level dips below the desired 85-100. If that happens, the nurse would give her some oxygen assistance. Although, they would first give her a chance to recover on her own. A Brady is when her heartbeat goes below 70. Then, the nurse explained that they would just give her a tap on the chest to restart her heartbeat. They would become more aggresive if necessary.

The nurse did let me know that she had a slight D Stat earlier in the day, but was able to recover on her own.

Later that morning, I went down to NICU with Bob. As we were walking in, I could hear her machine beeping. I peeked in the window and saw two nurses at her bed. Fear immediately struck me. All I could do is look through the window in the door and pray that she was okay. One nurse was doing something with her tubes, while the other was "bagging her" or manual pumping oxygen. It was extremely difficult to stand there and not be able to do anything.

Once she stabalized, they let us come in to see her. She was doing okay, but was still a little stressed out. Her oxygen levels were still low. It was the first time since her birth that I was truly afraid that she wouldn't make it.

The remainder of the day passed without incident. We had some visitors and more flowers arrive. The flowers and balloons reminded me that I had actually become a mom. I cherished every one and hoped that someday I could show Megan the pictures of all the flowers and balloons that she received.

She had another echo done and they were happy with the results. Her valve was starting to close, but they still gave her the second dose of medication. Her numbers were great for the rest of the day and she rested peacefully.