5 Pokes

Today was full of needles and interrupted naps for Hope.  It was one of those days that is difficult to watch as her mom.  She was given her injection of blood thinners this morning, then had blood work taken from her scalp in the late morning.  That blood work came back showing a severely low platelet count.  This is not good, it can mean a lot of different things, all of them bad.  To be sure, they then drew blood from Hope's hand.  That blood work was sent just before I left for the day and the results will be shared in morning rounds most likely.  Within an hour of the blood work, Hope was given her 5th dose of the RSV shot and will finish her night with another blood thinner dose, a 5 poke day.

Hope was taken down for an ultrasound of her liver and her spleen to see if the platelets could be getting trapped there.  We are praying and hoping that this is simply an incorrect lab result and that her platelets are not that low.  I'm not sure I could handle finding out that Hope has some other major issue or that our dreams of returning home soon are not going to happen.  Please pray that the doctors would be able to find the cause and that it wouldn't be something horrible, or that it would be an incorrect lab result.

Hope is now at 5 mls an hour and will be moved up to 6 mls in the night.  She continues to tolerate the breast milk well and her poops are not frequent enough to be of concern.  She's a regular girl, but not too regular and that's perfect!  Tomorrow the breast milk will go in with its full fat content.  I'm nervous, but hoping it goes well and that the Chylothorax is a thing of the past.  Please pray that her lungs do not accumulate fluid and that she is able to tolerate the regular breast milk and move off the liquid nutrients.

Hope remains on isolation, but we are hoping that this will be removed in the next couple of days as the virus passes through her body and she gets better.  We don't get to leave the room much whether we're on isolation or not, so it doesn't really matter to us.

Hope is doing so well with her physiotherapy.  She's sitting up with very little assistance now and can play with her toys while doing so.  You can tell by her face that she's so proud of herself when she's sitting up.  She is now able to reach for her toys and is much more interactive.  I'm so excited to have her at home one day with Sadie.  She is going to love watching her sister run around the house.  I pray this happens in the next few weeks, but am trying to remain a little bit guarded.  Unfortunately it's not working and I have my hopes up that this is the end of our hospital stay.