Day 84 in the NICU- November 21, 2012

Avery had a good day today. She ended up taking 7ml of formula from a bottle which is the most she has taken so far. We got to meet the craniofacial doctor, Dr Doumit, today. He looked at Avery and said that her cleft palate doesn't seem too bad and that it should be able to be corrected with just one surgery. They will do the surgery when she is 12-18 months old. He said on a scale of 1-10 she is about a 2 so we are happy with that.

The bad news is that he doesn't think her cleft palate is what is causing her breathing issues. Dr Littner, the neonatalogist, said it could be caused by a few different things.
 1. prematurity. She might eventually grow out of it. He said some babies take up to 44 weeks to have their lungs fully develop.
2. an obstruction or problem with throat, trachea, windpipe, etc.
3. a brain issue

In order to rule out a brain issue, the first thing they are talking about doing is a sleep study. They can monitor her brain activity while she is sleeping.  They said they have done them in the past in the NICU but most of the time they are done at Main Campus downtown. We are hoping she doesn't have to go downtown for it.

Check out my new ankle bracelet.

 

I left this note for Mommy and Daddy. The nurses took so many pictures of me. I can't wait for Mommy and Daddy to see what I do when they aren't at the hospital.