What a Difference a Day Makes

Alaina had what we thought was a good day yesterday -- her glucose and platelet levels were up and she was awake and alert -- but last night turned out to be hell. We left the hospital confident that she was doing well but when we got home and called to check on her, she'd done a 180. Her glucose levels were frighteningly low and her platelets had dropped again. In the course of one hour, we went from ecstatic over her progress to terrified about this setback. We've used the roller coaster analogy a lot but there's no better way to describe the super highs and extreme lows we've been going through.

Thankfully, today was a great day. When we called to check on Alaina early this morning, she had stabilized again. When we got to the hospital, we saw that the doctors had gotten a PICC line in which was a huge relief (ironic considering how excited we were to have her original one come out last week!). Alaina had 3 IV lines in when we left the night before which were used to give her everything she needed -- nutrition, medicine, blood transfusions, fluids and more. The problem with IV's is that they sometimes need to be moved and she was running out of places for them to go. With the PICC line in, the IV's are less important. Her new PICC line goes from the right side of her head down to her heart via a vein. In order to put it in, the doctors had to shave the right side of her head. They had already shaved the left side of her head to for an IV so she now has a baby mohawk. It's very cute and quite punk rock!

We spoke to the neonatalogist this morning and she's very happy with Alaina's progress. She assured us that the fluctuating platelet and glucose levels are normal considering what she's been through which made us feel much better. She's been breathing so well that the doctor took her off the ventilator and put her back on CPAP. Alaina's surgeon also came to check on her and said she's doing beautifully. His goal now is to fatten her up so they can do the second surgery to reattach the pieces of her small intestine that are left. So while she's still in critical condition, little Alaina is doing remarkably well considering what she went through just 72 hours ago.

And we can't forget about Gabrielle. Grandma spent the morning with her and said that she had a lazy day lounging on her tummy. She had to have her ears cleaned, which she didn't enjoy, but she's eating like a champ and her doctors say she's doing great.

We know the roller coaster ride isn't anywhere near over and there will be probably be plenty more lows along the way, but we'll take this high while we can.