Maddyn's health...

Maddyn's health has continued to get worse. In short, the medicine for the Acid Reflux/GERD was only helping part of the problem. Her projectile vomiting and gas seemed to get much better. Unfortunately, the wheezing and choking continued to get worse over the weekend -to the point of us not being sure if she was breathing while she was choking.

The choking spells last about 30-40 seconds, and she turns a dark red/purpley color. So the doctor decided to change her GERD medicine again and see if a different medicine might be more effective in tackling the choking issuel. However, b/c her choking episodes are so long- she also wanted to get Maddyn put on an Apnea Monitor. This monitor would check to see if Maddyn was breathing during the episodes. As we have found out- it's also going to determine if Maddyn has Central Apnea. For those who are not aware, Apnea is when you stop breathing. Sleep Apnea is the most common form- in which one stops breathing during their sleep. Central Apnea can occur during sleep or while awake. The monitor detects if she stops breathing, and sets off a very loud alarm to startle her (and us). It should push her to breathe. If she does not, we administer CPR.

This monitor is a nuisance and a blessing. It's a blessing that it tells us if she stops breathing, so we can act. But, it alarms for every little thing, and it scares the living crap out of you. Dave and I are getting absolutely no sleep- as it goes off every time we doze off. We have to rush to Maddyn and make sure she's breathing, fix the leads (that is how the monitor is attached to her) or reset the machine. The machine tests both her breathing and her heart-rate.

We thought the monitor would only need to be on for 24 hours. However, since she has been on the monitor, Maddyn has had some episodes where she has stopped breathing, so it could be possible that she might have Apnea. We just don't know. The monitor has been on since Tuesday. They came tonight to download the first set of data from the machine. It will be sent to the neonatologist and we will learn more in the next few days. We also have our 1 month appt with our pediatrician tomorrow (Friday) so we should learn more then.

The good news is that the new medicine appears to be working MUCH better. Her choking episodes (the whole reason for the Apnea monitor in the first place) have been fewer and that's great. With the monitor, we have also learned that when she is choking, her breathing continues. So that too, was some good news. So now, we just wait and see what the doctors say.

It's been one of the scariest and longest weeks of our life. Very little sleep and just lots of worry. I ask that you keep Maddyn in your prayers if you don't mind. We could use the extra thoughts.

To end on a pleasant note, here are a few "teaser" photos from our Newborn pictures we had taken. We should have all of them next week. I'll post a link to those when they are in! I'll also be uploading another set of photos to the Shutterfly album this weekend.