Another good day!

Today was a good day. Three good days in a row! No brain bleeds, critically stable vitals, no signs of infection, and Sara came home today! Addie was overjoyed to have her back around. It's great being home again with my girls. But I can't stop thinking about Lily, 20 miles away, fighting for her life.

We told Addie about Lily. The doctors cautioned us against using the word "sick". To toddlers, 'sick' means something much less severe than Lily's battle. So we told Addie that the baby isn't in Sara's tummy any more, and that she's at the hospital because she needs help eating and getting big and strong. Addie seemed to understand that, and didn't seem terribly upset by it, which was good.

The little victories - little miracles - have been adding up one by one:
1. We've celebrated 4 days of life and 72 hours of critically stable vitals! 
2. Lily's blood is retaining oxygen in the high 80s/low 90s, with the ventilator set at 40% oxygen. It was at 30% for most of the day, but at the 9pm visit they had to dial it back up again. 
3. No brain bleeding detected in two scans! And we're almost out of the 4-day high risk window. They're always a possibility, but getting out of the riskiest days is relieving.
4. Blood acidosity is a little high, but it's being controlled by sodium bicarbonate and is in an acceptable range.
5. Doctors identified the PDA as being open- but it's only open moderately, as opposed to a large opening that would be hard to close. The flow of the blood is also from oxygenated to deoxygenated areas, which is less risky than a deoxygenated to oxygenated blood flow.
6. No outward signs of infection, and the blood culture test came back negative!
7. Platelets are stable, and lily hasn't needed another platelet transfusion.

We have a lot to be thankful for. Although the initial shock has passed, I still can't believe our baby was born as premature as preemies get. She is fighting for her life; having made it through the first four days, Sara and I are very hopeful and are remaining positive. The doctors don't sugar coat anything, though. We know lily has a long road ahead of her. The docs tell us "there will be setbacks." So even though she is 72hours critically stable, I know things could change at the drop of a hat.

Lily has to have another blood transfusion tomorrow. The docs have to replenish the blood they've drawn for tests, because Lily can't make it fast enough on her own. It will be her third blood transfusion- it's strange that a medical procedure that sounded so foreign, something dealing with life support or people with bad kidneys, has become a common piece of my vocabulary. I don't count a blood transfusion as a setback- it's more like a refill.

I met a fellow named Ray at the hospital today. His mother, Aida, has liver failure. We agreed to trade prayers. It's terrifying having a loved one sitting on the brink- I feel for the guy. He too, though, was positive and had a great attitude about things. We chatted for about 15 minutes. It's amazing how complete strangers can provide hope for one another in times of strife. 

Sara is holding up. She's in a lot of pain- more pain than I've ever seen her in - but she, too, is a fighter. It's so good to have her home! 

I'm hopeful that these posts will get shorter and shorter over time- after all...

Boring is good.