NICU Diary Day 26

Wednesday, November 01, 2000

Today was another relatively quiet day (we like those a lot!). My nurse let Mommy hold me in her lap for two hours. Mommy massaged my head and told me stories while I slept in my new ortho board.

My food intake stayed at 27 cc today but the doctors increased the calories with more good stuff to help me grow. I am doing really well at keeping all of my feedings down.

My ventilator settings changed a little, but I haven’t started getting weaned off of it yet because my trach is leaking too much. An ENT resident came by this afternoon and put in a bigger diameter trach. The 3.0 mm diameter works better for the leaking, but its too long. So, the ENT doctors have to order another custom trach for me! They put some duoderm underneath the bigger trach to lift it up a little. I am going to keep wearing this one until my second custom trach comes in next week. The new trach will keep the respiratory therapists from going crazy. My ventilator is constantly beeping because of the leaking. Actually, I just like them to pay a lot of attention to me!

Mommy and Daddy’s friend, Rhonda Blickenstaff, came to visit me today. She brought me a rattle, waterproof mattress pad, sheet saver, and some travel toiletries. Mommy and Daddy used to work with Rhonda. She thought I was really cute and was very impressed at how much Mommy and Daddy knew about taking care of my medical needs. She thought they were doing really well for two people who used to pass out when having their blood drawn!