Extubation
So I'm sick. Bummer. I can't go into the NICU to see the babies until I'm better. Major bummer (even if totally understandable). The silver lining is that all of the babies are going to get antibodies for whatever I have through my milk. How cool is that?!
I had canceled my trip to the hospital this morning to try to get rest and recover as quickly as possible. I called to check in on the babies and all was well, so I took a nap. Then the NICU called and the fellow told me that they had changed the plan and wanted to extubate Charlotte in an hour or two. Will and I packed up and drove to the hospital with my parents, praying and texting family and friends to do the same as we drove. We arrived and waited for about 40 minutes in the lobby while the doctors did the procedure. After what seemed like an eternity, the fellow walked through the doors with her thumbs up! Praise the Lord! Charlotte has joined her brother and sister, breathing on her own with the help of CPAP. We pray that she would continue to breathe well on her own with minimal help. They gave her some caffeine to help her remember to breathe. Seriously. Not-so-NEAT via IV :)
Charlotte started medicine for her PDA yesterday. She tolerated it okay but not perfectly, so they decided to reduce the dose and spread out the treatment over a longer period of time. They're just waiting for her sodium levels to go back to normal.
The echos yesterday confirmed that both Audrey and Thomas also have large PDAs. They will begin treatment as well, initially at the higher dose level. They don't eat while they're on the medicine, so the higher dose / shorter duration is best if they can tolerate it. We will see. It will be many days still before Charlotte is going to be able to receive any milk, but we are so grateful for progress towards that. Oh, and they're all getting blood transfusions today; they've all had them before and will all have them again since they have blood drawn for labs and are unable to produce more at this stage.
That's all for now. Praise God for yet another good day for these precious little ones!