That was the underlying message from morning rounds. Alli had a relatively good night, which we were hoping would translate to a good day. There was some discussion about transitioning her off of the current ventilator to an oscillating ventilator, but only if necessary. We got the call late morning that they did make this transition. The oscillating ventilator is gentler on the lungs, but requires her to be continuously paralyzed. It is also not great for improving overall oxygen saturation in the blood, which is what we are starting to see now. Her heart rate and blood pressure are good, but her oxygen saturation levels are low. So, now they are debating putting her back on the original ventilator. To be perfectly honest, the details behind how the ventilators work and the oxygenation process are somewhat confusing and hard to explain. The moral of the story is that both methods can be effective in some ways and ineffective in others, which makes this a frustrating process when trying to achieve stability. It appears as though her UTI is clearing up. Given that, they now feel comfortable giving her IV steroids to help reduce inflammation in her lungs, which may also be contributing to her low oxygen levels.
I have my last OB appointment tomorrow. Hopefully it is as uneventful as our previous appointments. I asked Jason today if he thought we should try to move the delivery date. As you might imagine, it is unnerving to think about leaving Alli in this condition, not knowing when I will be able to get back in to see her.
We also have Samantha's parent teacher conference tomorrow. It is our first opportunity to meet with Miss Chandra and we are looking forward to hearing her back fill some of the details of Samantha's time at school. We hear a lot from Samantha about cylinder blocks, the pink tower, and the brown stair, but I suspect she is up to other things and I can't wait to hear all about it.
We will update more tomorrow.
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