The Fairy and the Mermaid

The girls had an exhausting day. Cora had an IV placed in her head, a PICC line in her leg, an eye exam (which is extremely uncomfortable), was placed on a new antibiotic, and had an x-ray. All of this was before 11:30 this morning. The IV in her head is in case she needs more medicine or a blood transfusion. The head is actually the best place for an IV for preemies. Cora will not mess with it on her head. When the IV expires, it will not be replaced. We told her it made her look like a magical unicorn. She was not impressed by our observation. The PICC line is for her antibiotic, medicine, and fluids. PICC lines last longer and have a lower chance of infection. She should only have the PICC line for four to seven days. The eye exam will not be described. Saying it is uncomfortable is an understatement. All the nurses talk about how it makes them squeamish and weak in the knees. We have been asked to leave for their past two eye exams. Cora has what is called Stage 1 ROP (Retinopathy of prematurity). This means she has blood vessels on the back of her retina or just an abnormal development of the retina. It is typical for preemies to have this when they are born as early as our girls were. It should heal itself. She will have an eye exam every two weeks to monitor the growth of the vessels. 8 ml of milk was feed tonight as well. She spit two times with the first feeding and none with the last. Her doctor feels the spits were a product of too many procedures, not an underlying problem. Cora maintained her weight at 3 lbs. 7 oz. The nurse feels her weight yesterday was calculated incorrectly. The antibiotic she was switched to is specifically for the bacteria found in her urine. She will continue to receive it several times a day for the next few days. Her doctor assures us Cora is on the mend and doing well considering the past few days. With a day like this Cora was pretty exhausted (and so are her parents). She spent the day sleeping and healing.

Hazel was still during her eye exam but she did not like it. Her displeasure was expressed with a of couple bradys. Her eyes were described as immature. She does not have signs of blood vessel growth but has an incomplete development of the retinal blood supply. This is expected for her size and age. Eye exams every two weeks will be given to monitor her progress. She gained about 15 grams, which equals about 1/2 an ounce. This still leaves her overall weight at 2 lbs. 14 oz. Other than her eye exam, Hazel had a quiet day. She spent most of it sleeping and recovering from her morning ordeal.