Baby J's Journey Day 3

Taken while changing bedding/blankets

Today I drove back up to the hospital.  It is 135 miles away from my house, which means I will not be doing any day trips by myself.
Baby J hasn't changed much since yesterday.   Good news though- this evening she weighed in at a whopping 2 lb 3 oz!!!!  Earlier today I was told that she weighed 2 lb 2.6oz last night but they thought a lot of that gain was fluids - they had to give her platelets last night to see if they could stop the bleeding in her lungs.    So Baby J actually does weigh over 2 lbs.  YEA!!
Her oxygen percent she was given today stayed mostly in the 40's and sometimes they were able to lower it as low as 36.   When I left it was back to the 50's but they also had messed with her a lot.   This is down from 78 yesterday morning.   Today I also changed her diaper once.   I got there kind of late in the day.

Setbacks though include bad gas blood tests this evening and afternoon which resulted in upping the ventilator's work and lessening Baby J's.  And her blood sugar really jumped at one point.   Baby J is currently in an incubator or isolate that is almost always covered in a blanket.    This helps keep it more like she is still in a womb and to block out bright lights and some sound.  They also are able to keep humidity high to keep her skin soft.

 

Baby J was a little less active today...which might have been a sign of what the tests showed.  The blood gases were a little better this evening but still not good.   But she still moved a lot later and untucked herself.

Tonight when I left they were turning her on her tummy for awhile.  

Today was my introduction to Ronald McDonald house.  You have to have a referral to stay here and have a background check.  However so far mega impressed.  It's a beautiful 1910 house and has several rooms with private bathrooms.   Here is mine for now.

Each room has 2 twin beds.   There is a fully stocked (and I mean actually stocked with food) that has 2 stoves, a dining room with several tables, a playroom in the basement, a laundry facility....and more.   There is space in one fridge and cabinets that we can have our own food just for us, but they keep the kitchen and cabinets stocked with food that we can have at anytime.  They also have people come in and make meals at different times- tonight someone came and grilled and I grabbed two of the hamburgers and ate them from the fridge before retiring.  All of this is $25 a night for the family to stay.    It really is a home away from a home.  It's amazing and later down the road when I have millions and have paid off all of this, moving, bills, etc.   Or at least when I can afford to give money, I think I've now found the charity I want to support.   If a family can't afford the $25 they are not required to pay that much.  I hope that I can find a way to pay that during the long amount of time I will be here.    I will check out this week, but then return on a very long basis at the end of next week.  I never ever thought I would be a person who needed or used a Ronald McDonald house---but I am so very happy this is an option.  It's much less stuffy than a hotel and way easier on my budget

(Feel free to give to my you caring sight on the sidebar to help out with paying some of these bills)

And tonight I got a text to schedule a viewing of my house!!!  Everyone think really hard and pray that someone buys it cause Wichita would be much easier to drive up here from than Newton.   Actually keep your prayers on Baby J...she really needs them.   Thank you everyone for your kind words and support.    I hope over the next few days things will really start to improve.   Today she is 1 week and 3 days.  She has surpassed her birth weight and is over 2 lbs so I know that at least in some areas we are moving forward.