Our little fighter

Grace has had couple of really good days! Since last Saturday she has had to have a lot of handling, which hasn't been great for her, so some rest was needed!

Since last week Saturday Grace has undergone 3 lumbar punctures (LP), blood withdrawals, blood transfusion, had 3 infections discovered, and multiple IV lines put in.

And now a bit more details about each thing she has had. The LP was done in order to drain fluid that is building in her brain due to a bleed she sustain right after birth. Unfortunately the last LP did not drain anything, which means that the clots that were present from her bleed before birth have clogged the ventricles. This means that fluid will start to build in her head, until she has gained enough weight for her to undergo a surgery at sick kids where they will put a shunt in. The doctor who will do the surgery has said he won't do it till she is about 1000 grams as it's to high risk at her size. She is currently 629grams. We are praying that now that she has started full fortified feeds that she will gain quickly!

Grace is also always having blood taken to measure her levels and make sure her hemoglobin is at a good level. Unfortunately this means that she is having her precious blood taken from her tiny body which means she sometimes needs a blood transfusion. It's a necessary negative effect of caring for her needs.

On Tuesday the nurse on duty also noticed her being slighty off (more Bratties/desats, elevated heartbeat, and needing more oxygen) and saw some yellow phlegm during her suction of mucus. So they sent that away, as well as some urine to see if a culture would grow, and also some more blood away for testing. They all came back positive on Thursday, which was disappointing, but we are so thankful they caught it early! So she will now be on antibiotics till next week Wednesday for a chest infection, blood infection (bacteria was found, possibly caused by one of the many needle pokes she has received), and e-coli in her urine (so a UTI). Because IV's are tricky on such a small baby they will be putting another Pick-line in today that will stay in until she is done her treatment.

So as you can see a busy few days for our girl. But since all this she has settled down nicely, been sleeping a lot, keeping her full feeds down, pooping regularly, and decreasing her oxygen use. These are all really positive things, that are indicators that her organs are functioning as they should.

The next hurdle is that her stomach and kidneys hold up to all the antibiotics as they can be hard on such a little body. Please pray that she continues to do well and that we see small improvements.

Please also pray that the fluid in her brain would miraculous disappear or build very slowly so she has time to gain weight. While all these things are hard to see and they definitely test my patience and trust in the Lords plan and timing I know that He is caring for Grace and that we just need to take it one day at a time, trusting that he continues to work behind the scenes!