Dr. called with good news!

Dr. Ontalan called with the results of Jenna's head ultrasound.
The ultrasound showed that both ventricles look a bit smaller than the previous ultrasound. That indicates that there are no blood clots disrupting the natural flow of fluids through the ventricle's and into her spine. Great news & very encouraging! We have to keep in mind that things in the NICU change by the minute, so they will continue to do regular ultrasounds to ensure that there is no obstruction to the the normal flow.

Jenna's has also been doing very good on the new CPAP machine. They do pretty much the same thing, however there are very small differences and some kids take to one or the other. Her O2 is now in the mid to low 40's vs the 50's she was at last night.
The O2 % is relative to the specific machine. Example being that when they are on a respirator or vent, they are getting all their air from the vent and not breathing on their own. So if the machine is set to 45% O2, then that's exactly what the lungs get. The CPAP doesn't really do any breathing for her, but provides a gentle positive pressure of air that has whatever % of O2 that it's set for. Sooooo.... If the CPAP machine is set to 45% O2, her lungs are really only getting about 30% O2. The CPAP is also much easier on her lungs than a ventilator.

Blake was having a little bit more residual from his feeds and was having a little more apnea lately. This may have been due to his stomach not fully digesting the food. So, they decided to move the feeding tube a little lower in the stomach to help with digestion. With this change, they have moved him from 4cc's of milk every 3hrs, to 2 cc's every hour. Quite a bit of an increase in food, but he seems to have handled it quite well and is resting much more peacefully.

So far we've had some great news today and we are very proud at how hard Jenna & Blake are working to get big and strong.