afternoon update

Brooke had another great night. We started the evening concerned about her elevated heart rate. By this morning it had come down around 8-9 points. Right now, it's holding steady in the low 170s. Much better than in the upper 180s. Yay God! :) The cardiologist wanted to go ahead and have the echo done this morning just to take a closer look at Brooke's heart since they hadn't done that yet post-op. We should receive the results of those later this afternoon during rounds.

 

Also, they are starting to wean Brooke off of the ventilator in hopes that can extubate (remove the breathing tube) tomorrow. She is currently handling the weans very well, breathing close to 3/4 on her own at this point. She also started feeds this morning. Nine days old, and she is finally getting food (other than the vitamins and fats she was getting through IV). Her diet now includes breast milk through her NG tube. Yay! The amount is minimal right now as they have to be sure her tummy tolerates it well, but this is an exciting step forward!

 

Brooke had about an hour-long alert period this morning. She responded really well to our voice and touch, looking at us bright-eyed when we talked. So fun! So great to see her eyes open and not so sleepy and out of it. The only downside is that since the paralytic has worn off, it is evident when she is agitated and/or crying. She doesn't have an audible cry as she's on the ventilator, but she makes the same  very sad/upset face and gets red just like she does when you can hear her cry. SO hard to watch that and only be able to hold the top of her head or her little hand to console her. :(

 

I will hopefully have another update this evening. Moving forward I plan to try and get two updates per day on here, once after each set of rounds (mid-morning and early evening).

 

Keep praying, you guys! We SO appreciate it. God continues to lift us up, and His hand is SO evident in Brooke's recovery. :) :)