Khloe Day 11 (getting a little bettter)

Well yesterday June 14, 2011 (day 11) was a little better than the day before. They are still giving Khloe antibiotics for her infection and things seem to looking good. She is a little swollen, but the doctors and nurses say it's not anything to worry about. I was told yesterday morning that Khloe's eyes are both completely unfused so if I'm lucky maybe I'll get to see my baby girl's eyes before too long. Around 3:00 AM yesterday morning Khloe had anotther "AB" and this time it was a 4, which is the worst they get and they decided to intubate her once again and ever since she's been doing much better. She still looks very  wore out and tired and in a little pain, but I have a lot of faith in these doctors and nurses and I know Khloe can pull through anything especially since she has Poulson and Lemon blood, because that means she's double stubborn and just about every nurse she's had, has told us she's very fisty. Last night she had to have her second blood transfusion and the nurse told Shelbie that it was probably a good thing because she'll have fresh blood to fight her infection. I do wish I could say that this would be the last time she'll need a blood transfusion, but it definately won't be. Shelbie and I decided to have Khloe participate in a couple studies here at the U of U Hospital. The first is a study where they're trying to determine if there is a genetic factor that puts babies at a higher risk of developing chronic lung disease. They take a one time blood sample and hopefully she won't have that genetic factor, but we will never know because the results are confidential. The second is called the iNO study. It also has something to do with chronic lung disease as well as eye development. They are giving Khloe a gas, for 24 days, called nitric oxide, which they have given to older babies, but now they are trying to determine if it helps the lungs develop quicker in premature babies so they can get off the ventilators quicker and they believe it will help the eyes develop better so they won't have problems. We were a little hesitant at first but we thought about it a lot and talked to nurses and doctors and they told us that if it was in any way harmful to babies they would not give them the gas at all. The only risk is that her methemoglobin levels in her blood might increase, but they monitor this very closely and if it starts to increase too much they will take her off the gas completely. Also in 91 babies from U of U to Utah Valley only 1 baby has had increased methemoglobin, but they were already elevated when the baby was born. There is a 50/50 chance that Khloe will only get a placebo though because it is a double blind study. The main reason we chose to participate in the iNO study is because we want to do anything that will give our daughter a chance at being healthier and coming home sooner as long as it's not a danger to her in any way and they officially started her on the iNO gas on Monday so cross your fingers that it will work. That should get everyone up to speed so check back tonight for my next post. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers we can definately feel the comfort they bring.