Reagan Jean Hulsebus: 8/15 (a little late :)

Good morning! Mom finally got the camera battery recharged so we have new pictures today! :)

day of life 14

8/15 - day of life 14
Today I weighed 465 grams or 1 pound .05 oz

Today was a little rocky. This morning my oxygen needs were really high (80+) the doctors gave me surfactant, but that just made me mad :) I was a little up and down throughout the morning and Dr. McElroy said one of three things has happened... either my PDA (duct in my heart) has opened up, I have a mild infection, or I've had a bleed in my brain. So he ordered tests for all three options, and started me on antibiotics to begin treating me for the possible infection... and Mommy & Daddy prayed that it was NOT a bleed in my brain as anything else is treatable.

Then Mom played bully :) the echocardiogram was first, Mom stood over Roger's (the tech) shoulder the whole time and asked about 500 questions, when he was finished, he said "I can't say officially, but I don't see any sign of PDA". WOO HOO!!! The brain scan was next... that tech was a tougher cookie for Mom to crack but after a battery of questions he finally gave in and said "I don't see any bleeds and to be honest, I don't see the spot they were concerned about last week either... but I'm just a nobody tech, I'm not a doctor, what do I know"

Dr. McElroy came in a few hours later and told Mom that unofficially, he had looked over the tests and both looked good to him... THANK GOD!! So... likely I have a low grade infection, I was started on antibiotics all day so they should start to take effect within 48 hours.

But my night was a little rough as well. My oxygen needs got really high again and they gave me more surfactant. Then they started me back on the Nitric to try and help me out. My glucoses have been high as well so they have upped my insulin levels. Somewhere between 2AM and 5AM I decided to get happy... my oxygen level is back down to 52 (awesome!) and my glucose levels have been steadily coming down, and I am overall becoming much more stable :)

In other news... I opened both eyes today and let Mommy see how pretty I am! When Roger was doing my echocardiogram this afternoon he put cold ultrasound jelly on my little chest, and both of my eyes shot open! Mom thinks I was trying to ask "what in the world do you think you're doing there?" Enjoy some pictures from my most recent photoshoot :)