Lets Never Do This Again

Early Saturday the 23rd, Mandi & Russ recieved a call from the NICU. Blakelee had several A& Bs and she was fussy around midnight. Not acting like herself at all. They ran labs and performed a spinal tap, they knew something was up probably an infection. Around 8 am when Mandi and Russ got to the NICU they had intubated and put Blakelee on the oscillating ventilator, which she hadn't been on since she was first born, and at that time only for a couple of hours. Her body was in extreme distress. They were having a hard time controlling her heart rate and blood pressure. They immediately put in an arterial line in her hand so they could monitor her blood pressure heart rate accurately. She still had her pic line in her neck so they had already began a wide range of antibiotics. Her soft spot on her head was some swollen, that and other signs pointed to spinal meningitis! Spinal meningitis is a condition that causes swelling and inflamation in the lining of the brain and spinal cord. Hers they later determined was caused by the same strep b infection she had before. Today, April 26th she is still a very sick little girl, but this afternoon she is showing some improvement. Her 02 settings are much lower, she is showing signs of wanting to breath on her own. They have weaned her off her blood pressure medicine and she is tolerating that well. She is moving some even with the sedation they have been giving her for comfort and also to keep her calm and so she will never remember any of this. The doctors told us this morning, she isn't any worse so that was the good news for the day. They have done ultrasounds on all of her organs to see if there is a spot the infection could have seated itself and laid dormant after the first time. She will be on antibiotic treatment for atleast 21 days to make sure they clear her of the infection. They will repeat a spinal tap when she is feeling better to check on that infection. They attempted 2 times yesterday but her little body was dehydrated on the inside and swollen extremely on the outside as you will see if we can get a picture to post. Again we know she will get better from this and look forward to more good days ahead!!!