A whole lot of air

We've been on a roller coaster ride the past few days. While Naomi's circulatory system seems to be pumping away fine, Namoi's digestive system seems to be on hold. It all started with a lot of air in her small bowel.

As Ana mentioned earlier, Namoi had a barium enema followed by barium through her nasal gastric tube. After all of the commotion, Ana put in a super kangaroo care for her little girl. By Friday night, enough barium had traveled and the doctor didn't see any apparent problems in her small bowel. At that point, they decided to try to reintroduce feedings, so Naomi was started on 4 mL of milk.

When we arrived Saturday, we were relieved to hear that. Naomi was feeding again and that her small bowel looked normal. While we waited for the doctor to stop by, we visited with some friends who stopped by from out of town. So far Naomi seemed to be doing well, she still had some left over milk in her belly at the next feeding and she still had a fair amount of air in there as well. Early birds tend to swallow some air, and since they are usually on some sort of air supply, the problem is exacerbated.

The doctor wanted to continue feeding more milk to her, but he was worried about all of the air. Finally after some indecision, he decided to remove her nasal cannula. Mom and Dad were nervous, but Naomi was a breathing machine and seemed to do well. Our fears about spells were somewhat minimized after talking with the nurse and discovering they have ways to deliver oxygen to our little girl if necessary. So after I tried to work some kangaroo magic, we tucked her in for the night.

During the time I held her, her saturation was usually at 100-percent. We were pretty happy. Now if she could start digesting well, we'd be back on our way to the ICC.

Saturday night, Ana called in to check to see how Naomi was doing. I never did ask, but I suspect the call was more concerned with her saturation without the cannula, than her digestion. I was out picking up one-half of the grandparents from the train station. When I returned and saw Ana's face, I knew something was wrong.

After some quick tearful good-byes to my parents, Ana explained to me what the nurse had told her. Naomi had 12 mL of air in her belly at her next feeding and she had 2 mL of milk left. It wasn't enough to hold her milk at the next feeding, but it was similar to the first signs of problems the previous time around. Needless to say, it was another night of fitful sleep.

This morning we are packing up quick to head in to visit with the doctor. We suspect he will round earlier today than normal. The nurse told us this morning that Naomi's feedings are on hold. She didn't digest most of her milk at midnight and at 3 AM. She has missed a feeding once in a while, but I'm not sure she has missed two in a row. They took two X-rays last night, but we haven't heard any news concerning the results.

One good sign did arrive this morning. Naomi had a dad-brag-worthy stool in the morning that contained some of the barium from Friday. I now feel that I can change a baby bumble bee's diaper in a hive without getting stun after all this practice with wires, gizmos, and sanitary snugglies, so I'm fully encouraging her to bring in on.