Day 43

Brynn weighed in at 3 lb 9 oz last night. I can't believe we're about to start counting down until the 4 lb mark! She is doing really well and we keep holding our breath afraid that things are too good to be true right now. Having said that, I am a little concerned that she might be getting some sort of cold. Her left eye has been "gooey" for days but it was almost sealed shut this afternoon with a lot of yellowish discharge. I also thought she sounded a bit congested when breathing out of her nose. Let's just hope this is all a case of severe parental paranoia, but any sign of infection is so worrisome to us right now.

The NICU was actually a really rough place to be today. We have become "NICU friends" with a couple who gave birth to identical twins with twin-to-twin transfusion at 29 weeks. One of the twin boys (Caleb) is in an isolette next to Brynn's while the other twin (Luke) is in an isolation room. Calbe has been progressing similarly to Brynn although he is still 2 weeks behind her. Luke, however, has struggled with being on a respirator and having a serious brain bleed. Evidently, last night, Luke's condition worsened and he was gone this morning for more tests. When he arrived back, I was sitting with Brynn and his parents at our isolettes. After about 10 minutes the nurses for Luke started yelling for a doctor because Luke had become "extubated" meaning he was no longer breathing on the respirator. I sat for about 5 minutes watching nurses and the doctor work to resuscitate little Luke in front of his parents. I couldn't take it anymore at that point and felt like his parents surely needed privacy so I left the unit. I later came back to find out that they were able to stabilize him but he suffered from several seizures during the process. I can't seem to get the images out of my mind all day and I keep thinking that it could so easily have been Brynn in that situation. I am totally humbled by the grace of God in our lives right now, while I am praying with all my heart for Luke and his family.