After an uneventful weekend of rest and relaxation for Miss Piper, she has successfully done her part in regulating her numbers a bit more on her own. Last week we spoke about our surgeon wanting Piper on as least amounts of assistance possible before surgery. I'll try to explain his reasoning for ya below.
The numbers we're watching? Here's some medical speak for ya:
- The percentage of pure oxygen pumping through the vent - after birth, Piper needed 100% O2 to regulate her little body...now she is only needing 30% to maintain stabilization. Point one for little Miss as she prepares for surgery.
- The amount of Dopamine given through IV - after birth, Piper needed max assistance regulating her blood pressure with this drug. Now, she has had her Dopamine pump TURNED OFF for 3 days, needing no Dopamine assistance! Point two for Piper!
- The amplitude of her Oscillating Ventilator - Piper's ventilator vibrates her lungs with little quick puffs of air to keep them inflated in a safer setting than a traditional ventilator. The lower the amplitude of this machine, the better. She has allowed weaning down of this amplitude as well before surgery!
- Her ability to expel CO2 - Piper must be able to expel the CO2 gas her body creates, and this is what she has had the most delay in helping her nursing staff out. Last week, her ability to accomplish this was trending in the right direction - leading the surgeon to postpone surgery for a few days to allow her even more success in the area. She has since improved her CO2 exchange, which is why we are ready to proceed with her surgery!
After talking with surgeon, Dr. Iqbal, this afternoon, he believes Piper has done her best to prepare her body for a stable surgery. Having all of her numbers in check will be a HUGE plus during recovery. Knowing that any surgical procedure knocks babies for a loop, we have to prepare for Piper to backtrack a bit and need more help with all the numbers listed above after her procedure. This is why they want her weaned down with everything....so we can wean UP when necessary! Make sense? Hope so! Let's all pray that with the assistance of her awesome team, and her new little tum tum, that she will has as little drama as possible after her surgery.
SO - THE DATE IS SET! THURSDAY, AUG. 21st at 12:30pm - Piper's hernia repair surgery! Please keep her in your prayers. Pray for Dr. Iqbal, for Piper's hernia to be small and easy to repair, for Piper's numbers to remain as stable as possible during and after surgery, and for Piper to have an easy time re-regulating her numbers after surgery. Please also pray that her numbers keep her away from needing the assistance of the heart/lung bypass machine (ECMO) in the days after surgery.
Last week, we had fun wearing our "Lucky Chucks" for surgery day, and we would love for YOU to join us! Feel free to sport your favorite Chuck Taylor sneakers this Thursday and #PowerupforPiper!
As always, we are so humbled and appreciative of all your prayers and support! We feel the love...and YOU are loved!
I wanted to let y'all know that you were in my prayers! I saw the hashtag on Instagram through a friend and clicked over and it brought me to your blog eventually. I feel like God led me here for a reason. My son is 8 months old and we have been through a similar trial to you. He was born with gastroschisis where everything intestinal was on the outside of his body. He had 2 surgeries and was on pain meds and ventilators and I believe only through the grace of God did he survive. These little babies are such miracles on their own and then throw in a defect or problem and they really become a blessing from God. I understand the importance of faith and prayer during these trying times with our miracle babies! Continued prayers for y'all and I will be keeping up with Piper on the blog!
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