11.29.10

Pretty good morning update today!
The blood transfusion went great and her red blood cell count looked fantastic this morning, so that really seemed to do the trick. Because of the transfusion, her oxygen level has become more stable, which is to be expected now that her blood is back to normal. It wasn't ever bad, but her little monitor kept going off, because she couldn't maintain a consistant flow, it would drop below the standard number by one or two points then raise back up, then drop, etc.....
She is doing great with feedings and is up to 4 cc's. She will be going up to 5 today, so let's hope she can handle it, this is where we got to the last time before the infection kicked in and we had to stop for a few days.
Only bummer was that they had to take the PICC line out late last night. The PICC line is like a better option for a long-term IV. It's less likely to clot than a regular IV, that's why it lasts longer. She had it put in her left leg a couple days after she was born. Last night, it started leaking, so to avoid any infection, they took it out. Thankfully (odd that I'm saying this, since I was so stressed out about the transfusion), they had another IV put in for the transfusion, they are just using that until they decide when and where to put the new PICC line. She has really great veins (unlike her mother), so they got the first one in on the first try, so the nurse said they shouldn't have any problems getting another one put in. They will probably put it in one of her arms.
As for the swollen knee issue from yesterday - The nurse practitioner said that she thought Harper looked a little puffy all over yesterday, not just in her knee, probably because of all the fluids they had been giving her and the extra sodium. So, they gave her a little diuretic basically, so she could pee off some of the excess fluid. Her knee was a little extra swollen because she sleeps on her tummy with her legs all bent up and her knees are where the fluid pools up, she just must have been tipped more to her left side the night before. But, the swelling has gone down and she looks great today! The same nurse has had her for the last 3 days, so she would know. I love when we get repeat nurses, so comforting when they know her so well.
Very pleased with the morning report - but, as we have learned, the day is still young, more challenges may await us and we will face them. She's a little fighter and she faces each problem head on.....her mother on the other hand.....well, hey, I made a big leap today - usually, I have Matt call in for the updates because I didn't think I could handle it if they told me something bad, but today I called in! So, yay for me! Good thing it was a good report, otherwise, Matt would be doomed to call in for the remainder of her stay. :)

Another day older, another day closer to coming home.