Dear Family,
Today felt like one of those 3 steps forward, 2 steps back kind of days. As we visited Lucie-Lyn tonight we had some sweet moments, however there were some nerve wracking moments as well. Lucie's vitals have not been as steady as they usually are, she had a lot more "Bradys" (where both her heart rate and breathing drop at the same time, for my non doctors and nurses) and they have been raising her oxygen percentage to try and help her breathe easier on the nasal prongs. This worries us as they mentioned also not wanting to give Lucille a lot of oxygen since it can cause the brain to swell. At this point, her head circumference continues to remain the same, which is still a great sign. Additionally, because of the changes in her vitals, they ordered an echo and found that her duct in her heart opened again, which we knew could happen, but it was devastating to hear.
With all of this being said, we did not think either of us would get to hold Lucie tonight, but were grateful when the said Andrea could hold her for a little while, wrapped in blankets. So, one VERY sweet moment, as always, was not only that Drea could hold Lucie, but that Abuela got to see her baby girl, holding HER baby girl... kinda like those little Russian doll things.
Please continue to pray for Lucie-Lyn's brain development as we will be getting the weekly head sonogram results back tomorrow. Also, the doctors are going to do some blood work, to see if they need to take any further steps with Lucie's heart duct. We are hopeful that since they have been increasing her feeding and that she has been tolerating them, that they may be able to hold off and wait for her to grow and for the duct to close again on its own. To give you an idea, they started her feedings at 0.5ml an hour, which is the amount she got sick on when they had to stop her feedings... Since her duct closed the first time, they have been able to steadily increase her feedings on a daily basis and now she is at 3.5ml an hour, and continuing to tolerate it, which is fantastic.
Also, please continue to pray for Drea to heal quickly and that we would stay strong in the Lord throughout this process and continue to rely on His strength as it is so very exhausting on us emotionally, mentally and even physically at times. We love you all and are so grateful for your prayers and support.
Love,
Rob, Drea, Lucille, and Bess