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Guess who's back (back again)

Eleanor has been growing like a weed! She has officially outgrown preemie clothes and is spending more time awake and social. 

She loves listening to mom and dad talking to her. and reading her books. She calms right down when mom sings her the "Eleanor song," and loves pats on the butt and tummy rubs. She is a poopin' machine and it is astounding she gains weight with how much she poops!

Eleanor had a top notch Easter weekend. She was so spoiled with three Easter baskets and a fancy new Easter dress that she looked oh so adorable in. Mom and Dad got to give her a bath on Saturday (after she pooped and puked all over the place...clean sheet included). She was happy as can be!

And then Monday reared its ugly head. We couldn’t get through to Eleanor’s nurse this morning and after trying several times, we knew something was up. 

The NP called us back around 6 to explain that Eleanor had been waaaay up in her O2 (90%...horribly high) and they did a blood gas and were waiting for a chest X-ray. Mom impressively stayed nice and calm as she was explaining this to Dad. It was confusing how she could be doing so poorly when she was so happy and normal all weekend. 

Mom called off work and headed to the hospital, and on her way, Dr Leonardi called to explain what was going on. Her CO2 was a little high (but not at the level it was earlier) and the chest X-ray showed significant haze in the right lung and slight in the left, a typical sign of pneumonia. (Side note: the breathing tube makes her susceptible to this type of thing. Doctors expressed that it's probably been brewing for a while, but she just now began exhibiting symptoms.)

The team ordered a full workup (blood cultures, urine culture, and tube culture) to get a more specific diagnosis in case there was anything more severe brewing. Per the results of a mucus culture earlier in the week, they started Eleanor on a heavy dose of antibiotics. It will be at least 24 hours until we know precise results of the cultures, but it can be assumed she has serretia (again!) along with pneumonia. 

Eleanor is a little fighter and has showed no signs of the infection affecting her demeanor. Mom spent most of the day snuggling her and had some good chats while she was awake. She did wean her O2 back down to 40%, much improved from her high 90%.

She will kick this in the butt just like she did last time, but it is still so hard to see her new accessory of an IV in her hand. (Editorial note: as Kim likes to say, hot mess, that girl.)



Comments

  1. Oldgirl48April 22, 2019 at 7:25 PM

    How much is she weighing now? We miss you all. Prayers continue n love with positive vibes that way. ❤❤❤

    ReplyDelete
  2. SantaMedicalJuly 4, 2019 at 2:09 AM

    Normal blood oxygen levels in humans are considered 95–100 percent. If the level is below 90 percent, it is considered low resulting in hypoxemia. Blood oxygen levels below 80 percent may compromise organ function, such as the brain and heart, and should be promptly addressed. check your Pulse Oximeter

    ReplyDelete

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