Oh Baby

Briana has been doing quite well for the most part. She's gained weight and is now 3.3 lbs, quite a big girl! She has started her feedings again with breast milk. Since they've started her feedings they have also increased the dosage which means she's tolerating them well. The nurses have also allowed me to swab her mouth with the breast milk. Briana started to suckle the swab and had the funniest look of her face! She's quite a character..

Briana also hasn't had any spells since she's been on the ventilator. She's maintained her temp. and she's been pooping! I really never thought I'd be so concerned about poop before but life is full of surprises. Also, Briana has been less fussy and more observant. She's constantly looking around and is now beginning to notice her tube and doesn't like it.

The doctors did talk to me about Briana's PDA. The hole in her heart hasn't been closing in spite of the medication they've given her. She now has a moderate size hole in her heart and they don't think that the hole will close with more medication. The next step would be surgery. The doctors believed Briana would do better, off the ventilator, once the surgery was complete. It's a non-invasive surgery, they go through the arm pit and will use two stitches to close the hole. As of right now more blood is going to her lungs and the blood should be going to her organs. The procedure should take about an 1:30 minutes and they say the recovery time is about 48 hours. The doctor is confident enough about the surgery that he told me if Briana did not have an infection he would send her into surgery today but since it's not an emergency we could wait till next week. This makes me feel quite confident about everything and I believe Paul feels the same way.

Both Paul and I ask for your prayers for Briana while she is going through this ordeal, thank you so much.