How We Are Doing

People often inquire about how Andrew and I are holding up through all of this. All things considered, I would say we are doing as well as we can be. It is by no means easy, but we really have no choice but to deal with it and do the best we can. We certainly are blessed by the love, prayers and support of so many people, both near and afar. It really does help and provides great comfort.  The outpouring of support has been overwhelming to say the least.  We are so thankful for the meals, gift cards, groceries, housecleaning (thanks, Dad!) child care, transportation assistance, phone calls, Facebook messages, emails, thoughts and most importantly, the prayers.
 
Our five children at home are doing amazingly well, despite the very difficult circumstances with which we are dealing . I'm not sure they really understand the seriousness of Veronica's early arrival. Clearly the little ones don't.  Josephine, 20 months, doesn't even know she is a big sister.  And Sebastian, nearly 4-years-old, gets upset at times that we are constantly going back and forth to see "Baby Beronica" at the hospital.  The good thing is that they do ask to see her, particularly Liesl, age 9.  We have taken the four older ones to see Veronica on two separate occasions.  They are only allowed to stay briefly but I do love that they are able to visit with her.  We hope to keep the visits up weekly if possible. 

As of today, Veronica remains on the ventilator but she is stable and the settings are still low.  I’m not sure when they will extubate her.  It’s a tough call and I’m glad I’m not the one who has to make the decision.  She is certainly more comfortable on the ventilator and taking her off has its own risks.  But the longer she remains on the ventilator, the higher the risk of permanent lung damage.  So they will continue to watch her oxygen levels, check her blood gases (every 8 hours) and make a decision from there.

The good news is that she is tolerating her feedings very well and she is now taking 4 ccs of breast milk every 3 hours, except when she has a transfusion, which is still just about every day.  Also, the results of her brain ultrasound from Monday were normal – meaning no hemorrhages.  Any bleeding in the brain (which is common in micro preemies) would have occurred by now so this something we can stop worrying about.  There are still other things to worry about of course, but anytime we can check something off the list of potential problems, we are certainly glad to do so.

Thanks for following the blog and for continuing to keep us in your prayers.