Day 5
Doctors continue to wean Afton off the breathing support, however this is something you don’t want to rush. They tell us it’s common for newborns on respitory systems to develop lazy tendancies when it comes to breathing. We need to teach Afton to breathe on her own again, but aren’t sure how long this process will take her.
Like most newborns, she slept most of the day, but she had periods of alertness. Her eyes would open and she would respond to touch. She was tightly swaddled to keep her from pulling out the breathing tube, as her physical movements increase. Throughout the day, she was not on any medication for pain or sedation, so she slept and awoke on her own schedule.
She has swelling in her leg from the dialysis entry point in her femoral artery. The color has reduced from purple & red tones to normal skin colors. Today they did an ultrasound on the leg and found a large clot blocking the passage of blood. At this point, this isn’t a cause for great concern, because it’s not blocking the blood to the leg, rather the return of blood back to the heart. Her lower leg still has a pulse, and she can wiggle her feet and toes. The nurses/doctors have told us that the body will naturally reroute blood so it gets back to the heart. With this said, they are taking measures tonight to try and reduce the clot and open the passage, therefore helping to reduce the swelling.
Throughout the day she was fed formula (through a feeding tube). It was a special formula prescribed by the metabolic specialist, that allows Afton to process the proteins within.
While we feel encouraged about some of these progresses, the full impact of the high amonia is still unclear. We want to thank everyone for all your thoughts and prayers, please keep them coming.
