Breakthroughs

Yesterday was a big day for Colin and Veronica, in their very different ways: Veronica is on the verge of moving into a crib and Colin felt enough like himself to interact with John.

They have been weaning Veronica off the heated isolette for several days now, wrapping her in blankets and lowering the temperature of her bed. As she has gained weight, she has done very well at keeping her body temperature stable — with the blankets — to the point that she is now ready to move into a crib (which in the NICU means an open bed like they put most newborns in, rather than a covered isolette). This is a very big step for her, and an important skill to master before she can come home.

Veronica’s nurse yesterday told me they also may be able to take her off the oxygen soon, since she is essentially breathing on her own already. While we’re in no rush to get her off the oxygen, it will be much easier to hold her when she is no longer attached to so many tubes and wires.

She is continuing to have the bradys — where her heart rate drops — from time to time. The doctor tried putting her on continuous feeds last night for an hour to see if the slower pace of feeding this way cut down on the episodes — testing the theory about the reflux. John was there during this period, and she still had two drops, but she seems to have more episodes while we’re holding her than when she’s in her bed. We wonder if it has to do with her position when she is in our arms.

After several rough days, Colin seems to have (at least for the moment) turned a corner. He still seems very sensitive to touch and gets worked up at diaper change time. But last night while John was visiting him, Colin spent half an hour interacting with John — eyes open and watching what John was doing, reaching for his finger, showing off his good grip. As John said when he got home, it was great to see the real Colin again for a while.