Stop Playing Games with My Heart

Amelia had two bradycardias yesterday where she had to be bagged to bring her heart rate and oxygen saturation percentage into range. It was pretty scary and I am not sure how much more my heart can take of this. Her oxygen requirement kept going up yesterday. We were supposed to wean if she had followed the program, but she has not.

She has gained another incredible amount in one day. She is now 5lbs. 12 oz. A one day gain of nearly 7 oz. Surely this must be fluid retnetion, which may explain why it is becoming more difficult to breath? This is just a guess because I do not know for sure. They have been tapering off her lasix because one of the side effects is calcifications in the kidneys. But because they are tapering off the lasix, she may not be peeing off the extra fluid. As I have said these are all guesses. The kidney ultrasound results did come back and they think they see some very small crystals that the body will be able to get rid of on their own.

Still no reflux results. Her ROP exam went well and the doctor thinks it is beginning to regress. There will be no laser surgery in her immediate future.

UPDATE: I talked to Jacqui this morning. We talked about Amelia's BMs at length. This poor child is going to be mortified to learn how many people know about her waste products. Anyhow, another effect of the lasix is that it is making her stool harder (because all extra fluid is being urinated instead of mixed with her solid waste), which is making it harder for her to push out, which may be causing some of her bradycardias. I also asked if enriching her feeds with formula was making it harder and she said yes that could be as well. She will talk to the doctors today about all these things to see if they are concerned or are going to formulate a plan. Jacqui also said the tapering of the lasix is a trade off. Yes, she is retaining more fluid, but if it isn't making her lungs retain fluid, they are OK with that.