MRI Results

Just got the call from Dr. Lynn with the MRI results.

Well.... the long and short is that it was pretty much inconclusive.
The MRI showed the residual blood within the ventricles. This was expected and normal considering her situation. The residual blood will take quite a while to dissipate. So, nothing really new there.
The MRI also identified the "cystic areas" in her brain. If you recall some of the early posts, the cystic areas were simply dead brain cells that never really go away. The developing brain is amazingly versatile and usually just grows around it with no lasting effect. They did monitor those areas via frequent head ultrasounds and ultimately this MRI. They wanted to make sure those areas did not grow larger as that would have indicated a problem. In her case, they have not gotten any larger.
The only real new information was that the MRI showed that Jenna's brain hasn't grown quite as much as they'd like to see in a preemie. But.... to offset that info, the other way they measure brain grown is by head size, & Jenna has always been well within the normal range and is very similar to Blake which did not have any Ventricular Hemorrhaging.
The other positive signs have been her behavior. Thus far, she has behaved normally, muscular grown and coordination are normal, feeding & suckling responses are normal, and her general movement have been normal as well.
Sooooo all in all, we are pretty much where we were before the MRI. It's just one of those things that will play out over the next couple years. We'll ensure that she gets Occupational & Speech therapy to help with her early development.

Now that I understood that they were more or less doing the MRI to ensure there was not damage that they could not see through the ultrasound, I asked about the side effects to the sedative she had to get in order to stay still for the procedure.
Dr. Lynn said they were increased Apnea, and reduced feeding. Jenna didn't experience either of those.... But my real motivation for asking was for Blake. He didn't have a ventricular hemorrhage, and his growth & behaviour has been completely normal. So, given that we wouldn't really get any new or beneficial information, I told her that we didn't want Blake to undergo an MRI. If we aren't going to learn anything important, then there is no reason to subject him to the procedure or risk hampering his progress with feeding and breathing. Right now he's working on catching up to Jenna with his feeding so he can go home with her. I don't want to risk that if at all possible. Dr. Lynn agreed that there probably wouldn't be any benefit for Blake.

Soooooo... Lil bit better news.
Jenna rang in at 6lb 12oz! She's ready for the 7lb mark.
Blake hit 7lb 2oz.
They are gettin big, thats fo sho!

Take care everyone...
-J