Hi Everyone. I can't believe she is still here, but she is. After a lot of complaining, a pulmonologist was finally in to see Leah today. Tehe doctor isn't sure exactly what's going on, but Leah is reacting in a way that is consistent with asthma so that is how she will approach the treatment for now. First, her prednisone dose will be given at the same time everyday, and she will receive albuterol treatments every six hours (instead of randomly) and this will be topped off by scheduled chest physical therapy (thumping on her chest with a cupped hand to loosen the mucus in her chest). Next, she is adding a reflux medication to her treatment since reflux can cause coughing and aspiration of stomach contents. That would lead to the same appearance as asthma, but due to a different cause and therefore treated differently. Finally she is going to do some more testing to make sure she doesn't have a secondary bacterial infection and to try to identify the virus more precisely. And, best of all, she completely backed up Jon's insistence today that Leah not be moved to a shared room since we don't know what she is suffering from and therefore whether she is a risk to anyone else nor do we want her subjected to anything additional.
While this means she will likely be here another night at least, we feel much better now that there is an actual plan in place for her treatment. It was most unsettling that no one seemed to know what to try next and so we were running around in circles while Leah was starting to do worse again. At least now she will be treated according to a plan with end points in place so we can evaluate whether it's working or not (I know, I'm such a scientist!). So keep your fingers crossed that this works quickly and she gets better soon! We are getting quite tired of this place!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Update on Leah
Hi Everyone. So Leah is unfortunately still in the hospital. They are now thinking that while this may in fact be bronchiolitis caused by an adenovirus (type of cold), the continuing low oxygen levels may be due to an underlying asthmatic condition. She has started on steroids this morning to see if it helps. They have also switched her to a nasal cannula instead of the oxygen tent. The cannula has brought her blood oxygen levels up to 97% but she realllllly hates it! Jon has it taped to her face and still had to swaddle her last night to keep her from yanking it out. Ahh, my girls and tubes! Jon got the feeling that they were not planning on letting her leave today though so we are stuck another day.
I have got to get back to work though so it's all hands on deck tomorrow. I'll be going to relieve Jon shortly, then will spend the night. Jon will get up early and when he's ready to leave my mom will come up to stay with Micah and Harry. He will come and relieve me at the hospital and I will head home to pick up my mom. By that time Deena should be here to take over Micah-watching and Pepa will take Harry to school as usual. Let's home she is released during the day tomorrow so we don't have to figure anything else out!!
The worst part is that Leah has shared her cold with both Jon and I (Micah and Harry seem to have had a less severe form). That means we both are stuffy, have sore throats and yucky eyes (this wonderful virus has eye goop as its signature). And that means that we are trying not to visit Golda too often since it would be horrible if she got this too. Leah is just on an oxygen cannula. I would hate to think of what it would mean for Golda! So far so good though. She is still symptom free. But I miss her very much! The worst part has been checking on the "babies" at night and seeing two empty cribs. It's bad enough that we usually see one empty crib, this two empty beds is really too much.
Okay, enough complaining! Leah will be back home before we know it. This relative break with only having one baby to take care of (I can't believe how easy that really is in comparison!) will be over and our lives will be back to their normal level of chaos! I can't wait.
I have got to get back to work though so it's all hands on deck tomorrow. I'll be going to relieve Jon shortly, then will spend the night. Jon will get up early and when he's ready to leave my mom will come up to stay with Micah and Harry. He will come and relieve me at the hospital and I will head home to pick up my mom. By that time Deena should be here to take over Micah-watching and Pepa will take Harry to school as usual. Let's home she is released during the day tomorrow so we don't have to figure anything else out!!
The worst part is that Leah has shared her cold with both Jon and I (Micah and Harry seem to have had a less severe form). That means we both are stuffy, have sore throats and yucky eyes (this wonderful virus has eye goop as its signature). And that means that we are trying not to visit Golda too often since it would be horrible if she got this too. Leah is just on an oxygen cannula. I would hate to think of what it would mean for Golda! So far so good though. She is still symptom free. But I miss her very much! The worst part has been checking on the "babies" at night and seeing two empty cribs. It's bad enough that we usually see one empty crib, this two empty beds is really too much.
Okay, enough complaining! Leah will be back home before we know it. This relative break with only having one baby to take care of (I can't believe how easy that really is in comparison!) will be over and our lives will be back to their normal level of chaos! I can't wait.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Update - Mostly Leah
Hi All,
As some of you have heard our little Leah has been hospitalized since Monday night. She had a cold that really came out over the weekend and spent most of Sunday whining. I stopped on my way home Monday night to get Pedialyte and Tylenol. When I got home I fed her then was sitting and rocking her in the babies' room. I realized how fast she was breathing and how hard she was breathing. I petted the top of her head and realized that her "soft spot" was indented (a sign of dehydration), then I looked at her neck and saw it "pulling" in when she breathed - a sign of respiratory distress. I called to Jon and we put Golda's pulse oximeter on her to see what her blood oxygen level was. It started at 89% and went down to 79%! That was when I grabbed the phone and called the pediatrician. She called back and sent us to the ER.
They gave her two albuterol treatments, took chest x-rays then gave her racemic norephinephrine. That was the only thing that got her oxygen levels up. They decided to admit her and give her some oxygen "blow-by" (a tube blowing oxygen is put near her face so it can blow by her nose since little ones tend not to tolerate the nasal cannula). Her oxygen levels have been falling too low when she is asleep and outside the oxygen tent (89%-90%) and are at the lower limit of what they will consider acceptable (93-94%) when she is awake and outside the tent. We were hoping that she could come home today, but her levels didn't improve enough so they wanted to watch her for another day. Hopefully tomorrow will be our lucky day.
Given all this with Leah we figured we should get Micah's cold looked at so Jon took him to the pediatrician on Tuesday. In light of Leah's outcome they decided to be proactive and put Micah on Albuterol nebulizer treatment at home. He was somewhat wheezy but nowhere near as bad as Leah was. The treatments have done the trick and he seems to be doing better now. Mind you, his appetite hasn't been affected at all!
Golda was home last weekend so they have been watching her very closely. So far so good - no wheezing for her, just some snottiness and a bit of coughing. They say that she is doing okay. It stinks though because we don't want to bring her home this weekend and further expose her. Grr. Oh and she is now 11 pounds 14 ounces.
Okay, that's it here. I have to go switch off with Jon at the hospital. I will let you know how Leah is doing tomorrow.
As some of you have heard our little Leah has been hospitalized since Monday night. She had a cold that really came out over the weekend and spent most of Sunday whining. I stopped on my way home Monday night to get Pedialyte and Tylenol. When I got home I fed her then was sitting and rocking her in the babies' room. I realized how fast she was breathing and how hard she was breathing. I petted the top of her head and realized that her "soft spot" was indented (a sign of dehydration), then I looked at her neck and saw it "pulling" in when she breathed - a sign of respiratory distress. I called to Jon and we put Golda's pulse oximeter on her to see what her blood oxygen level was. It started at 89% and went down to 79%! That was when I grabbed the phone and called the pediatrician. She called back and sent us to the ER.
They gave her two albuterol treatments, took chest x-rays then gave her racemic norephinephrine. That was the only thing that got her oxygen levels up. They decided to admit her and give her some oxygen "blow-by" (a tube blowing oxygen is put near her face so it can blow by her nose since little ones tend not to tolerate the nasal cannula). Her oxygen levels have been falling too low when she is asleep and outside the oxygen tent (89%-90%) and are at the lower limit of what they will consider acceptable (93-94%) when she is awake and outside the tent. We were hoping that she could come home today, but her levels didn't improve enough so they wanted to watch her for another day. Hopefully tomorrow will be our lucky day.
Given all this with Leah we figured we should get Micah's cold looked at so Jon took him to the pediatrician on Tuesday. In light of Leah's outcome they decided to be proactive and put Micah on Albuterol nebulizer treatment at home. He was somewhat wheezy but nowhere near as bad as Leah was. The treatments have done the trick and he seems to be doing better now. Mind you, his appetite hasn't been affected at all!
Golda was home last weekend so they have been watching her very closely. So far so good - no wheezing for her, just some snottiness and a bit of coughing. They say that she is doing okay. It stinks though because we don't want to bring her home this weekend and further expose her. Grr. Oh and she is now 11 pounds 14 ounces.
Okay, that's it here. I have to go switch off with Jon at the hospital. I will let you know how Leah is doing tomorrow.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Quick Update - with Photos!!!
Hi Everyone! I am going to be heading off to bed in a few minutes, but I thought I would post a link to some new photos!
http://picasaweb.google.com/WindyNYC/AssortedPhotosJanuaryThroughApril2009#
There are a bunch of other albums at that site as well, but I can't remember right now which ones I've posted links to already, so feel free to browse!
Golda is doing well - she is now 11 pounds 6 ounces. She gets 120 ml of formula with extra fat every four hours at the rate of 125 ml per hour, and is increasing pretty often. She is incredibly alert and smart. Her babbling is really picking up too. And she sounds so ridiculously cute!
Micah is over 20 pounds already! He is just a ball of pudgy baby these days. He's got an eye tooth that broke the skin in one little spot, but nothing else yet. He is working on it like crazy though. He loves to stand, laugh and to "fly" around.
Leah is about 15 pounds now and loves to smile. She takes little cat naps all day, but once you finally get her down for the night she is a great sleeper. And she is the first of our triplets to learn to roll! She did it the other day then repeated her show at Passover, rolling from her tummy onto her back. A couple of days later she flipped from back to belly and back again (not rolling over and over, but over and back). She gets very proud of herself! Micah just watches her with a look that says, why are you bothering?
Harrison is doing well too. He is such a good big brother, but sometimes doesn't realize how much stronger he is than the babies. He gets in their faces often also. But no matter how annoying we think he is being, they love him. All three follow him around the room with their eyes smiling and wiggling whenever he looks in their direction! And Micah laughs almost uncontrollably when Harry tries to entertain him.
Okay, gotta go hit the sack. Work tomorrow! Enjoy the photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/WindyNYC/AssortedPhotosJanuaryThroughApril2009#
There are a bunch of other albums at that site as well, but I can't remember right now which ones I've posted links to already, so feel free to browse!
Golda is doing well - she is now 11 pounds 6 ounces. She gets 120 ml of formula with extra fat every four hours at the rate of 125 ml per hour, and is increasing pretty often. She is incredibly alert and smart. Her babbling is really picking up too. And she sounds so ridiculously cute!
Micah is over 20 pounds already! He is just a ball of pudgy baby these days. He's got an eye tooth that broke the skin in one little spot, but nothing else yet. He is working on it like crazy though. He loves to stand, laugh and to "fly" around.
Leah is about 15 pounds now and loves to smile. She takes little cat naps all day, but once you finally get her down for the night she is a great sleeper. And she is the first of our triplets to learn to roll! She did it the other day then repeated her show at Passover, rolling from her tummy onto her back. A couple of days later she flipped from back to belly and back again (not rolling over and over, but over and back). She gets very proud of herself! Micah just watches her with a look that says, why are you bothering?
Harrison is doing well too. He is such a good big brother, but sometimes doesn't realize how much stronger he is than the babies. He gets in their faces often also. But no matter how annoying we think he is being, they love him. All three follow him around the room with their eyes smiling and wiggling whenever he looks in their direction! And Micah laughs almost uncontrollably when Harry tries to entertain him.
Okay, gotta go hit the sack. Work tomorrow! Enjoy the photos.
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