NICU

For those of you who are not up to date on what is going on with Lizzy let me start by saying there is no cause for alarm. Also, please forgive us if you are just finding out by reading this post. We have done our best to call and e-mail to let everyone know what is going on and now we will start posting on it so that we can give updates on the blog.

I noticed yesterday after Joshua left to take the sprouts home that Lizzy was taking short rapid breaths while she was sleeping. I called the nurse to come and check her just to make sure there was nothing wrong. She listened to her lungs and said that Lizzy should go to the nursery to be checked by the doctor because she was not suppose to be breathing so fast. 20 minutes later I was walking down the hall to NICU with my head spinning with all the what if's...

The NICU doctor ordered an X-ray to be done and it showed what he expected, fluid in the lungs. He said that this can be caused by the baby taking in too much fluid during delivery which is not an uncommon problem. The second reason for the fluid could be an infection in the lungs. They both look the same on an x-ray. So he wanted to do blood work, cultures, I.V. and put her on oxygen and antibiotics. They start the antibiotics before getting the test results back because it takes 48 hrs for an infection to be confirmed. They end up losing too much time if that is what is going on with the baby. The doctor thinks it is fluid from the delivery but we will not know for sure until tomorrow. Lizzy will have to stay in the hospital at the very least until Sunday and maybe longer. She has not been able to eat until today via feeding tube because of her breathing. She could not coordinate eating, swallowing, and breathing at the same time. We hope she will be able to start a bottle/nursing again tomorrow once her breathing slows down.

There are so many things for us to be grateful for. #1 is that Lizzy does not have a life threatening problem. #2 She is 3 times the size as most of the babies in the NICU. #3 We could have left the hospital not knowing about her breathing problem. #4 At home we would not have had a fleet of specialized doctors and nurses at our fingertips to diagnose the problem and care for her. It is God's kindness to us that we found the problem before we came home. The doctor said her symptoms would have gotten much worse had more time gone by before discovering the fluid in her lungs. #5 I had a wonderful time bonding with her Wednesday night and Thursday morning. #6 Sydney and Noah got to come see her before she went to NICU. And the list goes on and on of graces to us in this trial.

Thank you for your prayers, phone calls and e-mails. We will do our best over the next couple of days to get back with all of you. Please continue to pray for God to make right whatever is wrong and for comfort for us as it was hard to come home today without our little girl.
Grateful for God's kindness to us - The Jordan Family