Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Back in the saddle again

Olivia is back on the ventilator. Apparently she was really struggling with her breathing last night, but was able to settle down a little bit around midnight. Then, around 3:00 this morning, they became really concerned with how hard she was working, her numbers, and her color. Once the doctors came in this morning, they decided to go ahead and intubate. She is definitely much more comfortable now. They also put her back on the nitric oxide to help with the pulmonary hypertension and started a couple of antibiotics. Her chest x-ray looked worse this morning and her white count was up as well. This afternoon they are just tinkering with some medications to get her blood pressure stabalized. They also went ahead and put in central line and an arterial line so she can get all the medication she needs, they can get an accurate blood pressure, and they can also monitor her blood levels more closely.
It was a really rough night for Olivia, and for Grandma, who was here having to deal with all of this. I was able to go to Jack's game last night. He did great! Brooklyn and I made cupcakes in ice cream cones for her to take to preschool tomorrow for treats. These were the two reasons I went home. The cupcakes had about 2 minutes left in the oven when I got the call that they were going to intubate. So, Zac came home to get Brooklyn, I packed up and headed back over to Peoria. The timing was perfect as far as me getting everything done that I felt I needed to. I wish I could have been here sooner or found a way to tele-port (is that a word?) myself to Peoria, but Olivia is in the best hands here and I knew everything was being done in her best interest. I made it just in time to see the blood pressures in the 40's (yikes!).
Anyway, like I said, she is so comfortable right now. I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of details that I'll think of later.
Oh - I did remember to take the cupcakes out before I left the house - in case you were wondering about that=)

2 comments:

Sarah and Kieran said...

julie - i have been reading your updates through nicole's blog. i am praying for you, olivia and your entire family. i hope you're holding up ok. stay strong woman!

Heather said...

Yummm....those cupcakes sound good. Such a tease for this preggo lady. ;) BTW - we are always thinking of Olivia....