The Fairy and the Mermaid

Cora's weekly, cranial ultrasound was done yesterday and it showed increased fluid build-up in her brain. When we say fluid, we mean spinal fluid, which is created in portions of the brain called ventricles before then draining out into the exterior of the brain cavity and also down into the spinal column. What is occurring is that Cora had some bleeding in her brain from delivery (commonplace for preemies, we're told) and the blood clots that formed are hampering the fluid from exiting the brain. So it continues to make more but has no place to go due to the clot remnants keeping it locked in, per se. You get the picture. That said, following yesterday's scan, the clots had dwindled down to a much smaller size and almost been re-absorbed into the body, however the fluid had increased slightly as well. This is important because brain damage can occur if the fluid balloons inside the brain too much. For now, they still don't see it as a crucial problem. The worst case scenario is that she may need to be moved to Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem for a shunt to be placed in her head to drain some. The best case is that it will stabilize by next week's ultrasound. The doctor advised that the most likely scenario is that the clots will go away but the extra fluid will stay built up in the brain some until her brain size and head grow and catch up.

In other Cora news, she is now at 11 cc's of breast milk and is still tolerating it well. She is up to 2 lbs, 4 oz from her birth weight of 2 lbs, 3 oz. We can only expect that weight to climb faster and faster now that she is getting fed mother's milk. Likewise for Hazel, who is up to 2 lbs, 2 oz from her birth weight of 1 lbs, 15 oz. Her growth may seem slower than Cora's, and it is to a degree, however she is taking a diuretic (or as some people call them, a 'water pill') and that causes some weight decrease. So all in all, she is gaining weight pretty good too considering all things.

Hazel is still taking that diuretic to help dry up her lungs some and alleviate some of the moisture inside, and thus make her breathing easier on her. She is still wearing the nasal cannula but her settings are dropping all the time to desired levels. Her feeding is all the way up to 15 cc's, which means soon that she will go off the intravenous feeding lines altogether and rely solely on milk (and mixed in, added nutrients) for sustenance. She flexed on the nurses and pulled out her tubes again last night. That one sure will be happy when she has those tubes gone. Hazel smiles often and her mama remarked yesterday how it reminded her of Hazel's, Uncle Josh who was always very generous with a smile growing up.