Little Bella has captured the hearts of our family and everyone that meets her. We want to share her story with all.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Another Update

Bella isn’t having a great night.

Without boring you with venous and arterial blood gas numbers, I will tell you that her numbers are all off.  She is doing worse instead of better.  They have fiddled with her ventilator settings.  She was paralyzed at 9:30 PM.  This has improved her O2 sats to 93 to 94 (a ten point increase from before being paralyzed).

She is receiving IV Lasix in good healthy does.  They did get the arterial line.

If she continues to do badly (RN friends – our last blood gas was CO2 of 59 and O2 of 45 arterial blood gas), the next step is the oscillator.

Bella, Bella, Bella.

To understand more about breathing support, here is a list from the internet (http://www.sjmercyhealth.org/body.cfm?id=527):

Nasal CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure)
Nasal CPAP is often the initial type of breathing support that we use. It involves the use of nasal prongs or a mask that fits over the nose and gives the baby help by providing extra pressure when he/she takes a breath. Nasal CPAP is used for infants with mild or moderate breathing problems and those with pauses in their breathing (apnea).

Conventional ventilators
Conventional ventilators are used when infants fail to improve with nasal CPAP or when they are in significant respiratory distress. This type of respiratory support requires that an infant have a tube (endotracheal tube) placed in their windpipe. The tube is then connected to the ventilator. Conventional ventilators provide pressure directly to the lungs and can either assist a baby with their own breaths or provide breaths to babies that are not breathing on their own.

High Frequency Oscillator
When a conventional ventilator fails to provide an adequate amount of breathing support or when we become concerned that the conventional ventilator may be causing additional harm to the lungs we may change to a special type of ventilator called a high frequency oscillator. This type of ventilator also requires that a tube be placed in the infant’s windpipe. The oscillator ventilator provides constant pressure to the baby’s lungs that keeps them inflated with air. It then vibrates very rapidly which can often be seen by watching the infant’s chest wiggle.

8 comments:

Scarehaircare said...

Sarah directed me to your blog. Sending up my prayers to our Heavenly Father for your sweet little girl, and prayers for you for continued strength.

God bless.

Heather said...

Sending prayers your way for sweet,sweet Bella.

Mom and Grandma said...

Always in our prayers--Bella and your amazing family. Your blogs are wonderful. I read them often.
Kathy P.

Cammie Heflin said...

Bless her heart, I'm so sorry she's having a rough time, praying for your sweet girl!

Kristen said...

I made my way to your blog from Sarah's.

Bless all your hearts. I am praying for Bella.

Unknown said...

Life seems so unfair at times. Our thoughts & prayers are with you always. Nancy

Anonymous said...

We are praying for Arabella and your family. God Bless.

Unknown said...

Hi there- I came to your blog from Sarah's and read up as much as I could about Bella and your journey. Oh she is gorgeous...such a sweet angel. I hope and pray you guys are finding peace through all fo this and that Bella will get to go home with you guys and live a happy, full life. Prayers always!