Holding steady

Just a quick update to say that Brigid has been doing so much better since they adjusted her ventilator settings to hold open her trachea. Her blood gas readings have been great- her carbon dioxide has stayed well within normal ranges. She is tolerating her feedings well and is up to 9 mL/hour of breast milk through her NJ tube. This has enabled her to grow steadily and she's now up to about 3 pounds 9 ounces. She is actually visibly bigger than she was in the pictures from the last post. I have gotten to hold her almost every time I've gone in, and she has tolerated it very well. Today, a nurse even wanted to talk to me about some discharge paperwork - not that we're close to discharge, but she was just trying to go over some forms, like information about car seats and SIDS - and it was the first time I felt like we might actually be bringing our baby girl home some day soon.

It feels like she has come so far from where she was when she first arrived at Hershey, though I know we still have a long road ahead of us. Tomorrow, Brigid will be at 32 weeks gestational age, and she is almost 4 weeks old. We are praying that she would continue to remain stable and grow, and that her little trachea would completely heal. One doctor in her team mentioned that she did not think a tracheostomy would be helpful if Brigid does not outgrow her malacia, and suggested that she might need reconstructive surgery on her trachea at some point down the road. We are asking God to heal her so that she does not need this surgery at all.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers for little Brigid. We are so very grateful for all the love and support we have felt from everyone.