Infection

Dalley opened her eyes to say "Hello!"

I read a quote today that says, "The walls of NICU's have heard more prayers than churches."

I can't say for sure, but I believe that to be an accurate statement. I would even bet the most faithful atheist has sent a few up in their moments of desperation and fear.

Today was a pretty good day initially. Dalley had a rough night last night and couldn't keep the oxygen levels in her blood up without a lot of assistance from the ventilator. They had to go up quite a bit on the oxygen settings last night. However, after several hours, she was able to maintain the oxygen on her own a little bit better so the ventilator settings were able to come down. They thought it was just a fluke thing since her numbers were back to normal by 2 AM.

The same thing happened again today. About 2 PM her oxygen saturation started to go down again and the ventilator had to pick up the slack. Everyone kept telling our nurse that it probably wasn't a big deal since the same thing happened last night, but our nurse (God bless her) just didn't feel it was right. She ordered a "septic work-up" to see if there was something bigger going on.

She was right.

Dalley has come down with her first infection. Being a 25 week old baby with a VERY immature immune system, it is nearly impossible for her to fight these infections on her own. They can be very serious.

They immediately started another IV in her head/scalp and started her on antibiotics and an anti-fungal medication.

We were walking out of the NICU doors to grab some dinner when the Neonatologist pulled us aside to tell us the news. Our hearts sank and swelled with worry. Our appetites went out the window. We had so many questions. Could this infection be deadly? Is the infection treatable? Can the infection cause permanent damage? Are infections expected? Are they common? Am I going to lose my mind in here?.... to name a few.

Right now it's just a waiting game. They took some blood cultures from 2 separate locations to try to identify what kind of infection it is. In the meantime, she has been started on some "Big Hitter" antibiotics (as Adam referred to them) that should get a lot of the expected and common infections. When the cultures come back in a few days and if the infection is identifiable, the antibiotic and treatment plan may change according to what the infection is.

Because of her size and age, infection is one of the most common threats. This is why they watch for them so closely. I am so grateful for our nurse (Lisa) today that just FELT something was off. It could have easily been dismissed. I guess that's what being a NICU nurse for 25 years will get you. They are hoping that the infection was caught soon enough and will be taken care of by the antibiotics. They did warn us that she may be on the medication for 7, potentially 14 days. We don't care. Whatever it takes to make her healthy.

The NICU walls heard a few more desperate prayers from these worried parents today.

 Dalley holding Dad's hand.

Dalley holding Mom's hand.