Picky Little Girl

Tuesay, September 20, 2011 10:30 pm

For the most part, today was a good day for our Morgan. We are keeping our feet on the ground, but we are quietly beaming with excitement!

Inversely to yesterday, Morgan's white blood cell count went down and her platelet levels went up. This is an improvement and, so far, there is no sign of any infection. More results will continue to trickle in, but overall, we are optimistic.

Morgan's feedings continue to improve and, tomorrow, we will attempt to feed her more frequently. By increasing the frequency of the feedings, she will also receive an increase in milk. There were no indiciations of Morgan's body refusing her nutrients, today, and we pray that this will continue. All of this is on the coattails of Morgan gaining another ounce in weight, bringing her up to 1 lb, 10 oz., as of this afternoon.

We did learn today that her heart needs to develop and patch some things up. The chambers and valves are all working properly, but there is one vessel that patches itself in full-term babies that Morgan's body is not patching due to her young gestational age. To spare the actual details (which sound much scarier than they are), if her little body does not develop her heart on its own, we will be able to send her to UAB for a procedure that is common and can help her blood and oxygen flow more completely and beneficially through her heart and lungs.

Now, the really exciting news... Morgan sustained breathing without the ventilator for about four hours tonight! The doctor moved her from the high-frequency ventilator direclty to the C-PAP, totally skipping the traditional ventilator. Her dad gave her full credit and is now $20 lighter in the wallet. She managed to stay on the C-PAP until she fought so hard that she wore herself out. She is currently back on the high-frequency ventilator, but the progress is noticeable and exciting.

When we went to see her tonight, we relished seeing her little mouth without any obstruction. Prior to our arrival, she had been sucking on her pacifier, but as we tried to place it back in her mouth, she quickly jerked her left arm and pushed it right back out. She doesn't waste much time telling us her likes and dislikes...even at such a young age and in such a fragile state.

All of that said, our specific prayer points continue to be; 1) that her lungs continue to progress, 2) that she continues to accept her feedings and grow stonger each day and 3) that there continues to be no sign of any infection. Our newest prayer points are for the development of her heart and, also, her brain. Please, also, continue to pray for the doctors, nurses and all of those taking such wonderful care of our baby girl.

Finally, keeping up with her daily mischief, one of Morgan's sweet nurses told us, today, that, "She's a picky little girl." She knows what she wants and when she wants it. Try being her father on her sixteenth birthday at the car dealership! He already knows she can have whatever she wants...but she doesn't!

As always, Elizabeth and I appreciate your thoughts and prayers more than we could ever portray to all of you. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Seth and Elizabeth McCoin