When I arrived at the NICU yesterday morning, I learned that they had to increase the settings on Veronica’s ventilator. Apparently she was so tired that she wasn’t doing any breathing on her own – she was letting the ventilator do it all for her. She was also desatting a lot and to a much lower degree. And her carbon dioxide levels were higher. I was a little discouraged by this and feared that it might set her back in terms of their plans to extubate, which we were told they would try to do today.
But when Andrew and I visited last night, the doctor informed us that they still planned to extubate Veronica today. Her blood gases looked good and she was considered stable. I wasn’t convinced that the doctor was confident she was ready to be off the ventilator but I was glad they were ready to give her another chance. On the hand, I had mixed emotions – being off the ventilator means more work for Veronica. I know it’s better for her in the long run, but it’s challenging to expect your nearly 2 lb baby to work so hard to breath.
I called this morning and learned that she was extubated at 6:00am. Hooray for Veronica!! I’ll be heading in to see her in a few hours. I can’t wait to get there.
Here is a photo from yesterday. I love seeing her with her eyes open - but sometimes she looks so tired.
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