August 4th, 2007

Happy one month birthday Megan and Happy 27th Birthday Mommy! :)

Megan had a good night. Her feedings have been going well and she was at 24% oxygen this morning. They also increased her dose of caffeine yesterday because she has gotten bigger. She basically grew out of the previous dosage.

The doctor called this morning. Dr. Omar, her regular doctor, is on vacation for 3 weeks and Dr. Farag is filling in for him. They are both fantastic neonatalogists from Egypt and have been great to Megan!

He went over the changes with me from yesterday. He spoke with the nurses today and they feel that Megan is still only taking very shallow breaths. In order to wean her off the ventilator, they are going to start her on a hopefully brief treatment of steriods. The steriods will help to reduce inflammation in her lungs and speed up the process of getting rid of the ventilator. The Dr. said we should see some results from today's treatment in about 36-48 hours.

There are risks involved with steriods. It will typically cause an increase in her blood sugar and blood pressure. It will also dampen her immune system which puts her at higher risk for infection (the part I really don't like!!). Obviously, the doctors and nurses will be monitoring her very closely to watch for these risks. We really had to weigh the benefits and the risks of steroids and feel it's the best thing for her right now. They will keep the doses small and the treatment brief to lessen the risks.

He did say that she was doing well. They just like to see babies come off the vent after about a month and she just needs an extra boost. They want to at least get her on a CPAP within a few days to lesser her risk for lung damage from the vent.

After all this, it is amazing to me that full term babies come out able to breath!