I think I'm running out of titles....

First, let me offer my disclaimer that I am tired and I hope this makes sense. If not, leave me a comment with any questions that may be needed for clarification.... :-) Well, it's been a few days since I posted and what a few days it has been! Mia is sick. I talked with Mia's nurse Saturday at 1pm and she said she thought that Mia was coming down with something because she just wasn't right. (Mia has the same group of nurses pretty much all the time so they get to know her very well!) They did a blood culture because at first they thought she was getting a bacterial infection. So, they started her on 3 different types of antibiotics and stopped her feedings (which she had not been tolerating very well since Friday.). We checked back in with them at 6pm and then again before we went to bed that night and she was pretty stable. But, the doctor called at 2:30am Sunday morning to tell us that Mia had vomited blood and that she had blood in her OG tube (the tube that goes down to her stomach). They suctioned her out, took an x-ray and decided to intubate her (so she now has a breathing tube in her mouth and the ventialtor is breathing for her). They said she was pretty stable at that point and would call if anything else happened. Scott and I debated what to do and decided to let Annie (and my mom) sleep and call in a few hours. We called at 7am and the doctor told us that after looking at her x-ray and her labs and all that she has Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC). It means she has an infection in her intestines that can cause the intestinal tissue to die. He also said that she had had some lab work done at 2am and had still not stopped bleeding from the heel stick. They had given her plasma (the clotting agent in blood) at 4am and were about to give her another round of plasma because she still was oozing from her heel stick. He told us that he was extremely concerned about Mia and that Scott and I needed to come down. We all got ready, took Annie to my mom's and Scott and I headed down. Needless to say, it was a very stressful drive.... They decided to start Mia on pain medication, put in a larger OG tube (to suction any fluid and allow air to escape), and watch her (her clotting factors were finally normal, also). She did well (considering) but didn't quite settle down and her heartrate would not come down below the 180's. She seemed to be uncomfortable and the doctor said they would increase her pain medication as needed. Monday morning she was OK, but her platelets were low so she had another blood transfusion. Unfortunately, her PDA (the hole in her heart) reopened due to the stress of her being so sick (the doctors had mentioned this possibility to us last week). They are not overly concerned at this point because they cannot treat it with medication or surgery right now. They will revisit treatment after Mia is over her NEC. She did not tolerate her cares (when they change her diaper, take her temp, etc...) AT ALL. She would have severe spells and would need to have her oxygen raised to get her back on track. But, she didn't get any worse....Today, she continues to stabilize and her heart rate is finally back into the 150's-160's, where it should be. This morning, she still was not tolerating her cares, or anything else they tried to do, but tonight, she is much better. The nurse said she was able to do her cares this evening without any extra oxygen. So, she's OK....the doctor's said that as long as she continues on this road, and eventually starts to improve, she should be fine. Our prayer is that her infection does not cause a perforation in her intestines. This would require surgery to repair the perforation and clean the digestive material that would spill into her abdomen. However, the surgeon and Mia's doctors have said that, at this point, they would not feel comfortable taking Mia to surgery because she is still so unstabile--she would probably not survive the surgery. But, everyday that passes is one day closer to her getting better without any perforation. The hope is that the antibiotics were started soon enough to kill any infection before it had a chance to take hold. Please continue to pray for Mia. She is so strong and I know that God made her that way because He knew what she would have to do. He's holding her in His hands and I thank Him for that. And I continue to thank Him for giving us everyone who has continued to pray and support us.....