Isabella Danielle, born at 24 weeks and 1 day, 1lb 11oz, 12.5in

Zachary Michael, born at 36 weeks, 5lb 13oz, 18.5in

Alexander Charles, FULL TERM, 7lb 1oz, 20in

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Baby Bella Day 36

Glorious day, praise the Lord, our savior and healer!! Every night we pray for the Lord to fill our beautiful angel with his love and healing spirit and I think last night she got an extra dose!! She was doing very well last night after I held her and they continued to wean her ventilator settings. Then this morning she was doing so well that they decided to extubate her. Wow!! I was a little shocked that they would try so much so fast. Janet, the RT, told us last night that her goal was by today or tomorrow, but honestly I didn't know if she would be ready!!








It truly is amazing, she does not look like the frail little angel she was before, she is starting to look like a chunky little baby!! I often get very excited, but it is hard not to with everything that is going on!! They have prepared us that she may need to go back on the ventilator, but it is so exciting to see her making leaps like this!! So when they extubated her they tried to put her on the CPAP machine and she was struggling a little. To help out, they lowered her fentanyl by half (it is the pain medication that she has been on since the 1st surgery, but it also acts as a respiratory depressant) and they put her on a bi-phasic CPAP machine. This machine helps her out a little bit more by giving her lungs a little extra pressure every 5 seconds to help her absorb more oxygen. Here is a link to a webMD CPAP site to help explain it better.
Here are some more pictures, we will have more updates later. Thank you for all of the prayers and support!!



7 comments:

Ellie said...

Yipee! Go big girl, Bella. I know you are both absolutely ecstatic! CPAP is so awesome for her. Getting off the ventilator is HUGE.

Wow...almost 3 lbs. SOOOO big :) And what a wonderful experience last night for Daddy. I was thrilled when Shawn held Emilie for the first time; though probably not as much as he was!

CAnderson said...

Awesome News!!! Daddy you look great holding your baby girl. She looks so much bigger now. It's amazing that a 3lb Bella can look chunky! Go Bella!
Love and Prayers,
Cynthia

Candice said...

Wow that is fantastic! Lots of babies need to go back on the vent, but some of them don't. Rhys surprised everyone on CPAP and cannula by never looking back. So amazing, that is great for her little lungs. And 3 pounds, impressive! She is doing so well, we are very happy for you guys!

Unknown said...

Wonderful to hear Bella is doing so well. And to see your faces when you hold her. Daddy looked joyous. And that she weighs 3lbs. It's also wonderful that you have so many wonderful resources. Like St. Paul's Church down the street. I went to Mass this evening. It's always beautiful and rewarding. My love and prayers to you and Bella. Marilyn

Unknown said...

Outstanding!!!!

Jill (& Bob) said...

Congrats on such great progress!! I am following your blog via a friend of a friend (I believe). We recently adopted a precious baby girl who started out in preemie clothes. I'd love to pass them along to Bella. Let me know if we can do that!

jilljbrant@yahoo.com

Lauren B. Hill said...

Machel--

You have been in my prayers for 36 days now. I have enjoyed reading about Bella's continued and tremendous progress. My day is not complete until I know how Bella is doing! Reading this blog every day has truly shown me what an Awesome God we have!