Jane Update: Day 13

As of Friday, little Jane had surpassed her birth weight and was nearing the 3lb mark: 2lbs, 15 oz. She's eating more and more every day, though she doesn't really look bigger.

Jane also moved rooms yesterday. Her nurse, Hannah, told us that they try and balance the various NICU rooms to enable the nurses to not have all the struggling babies together. It was quite an upgrade; Jane now has a window spot.

Jane's neighbors did not change; the two other little girls that were closest to her moved with her to the new room. One of them was born the day before Jane (also 10 weeks early), the other was born a few weeks before her. She is the 'trouble maker.' I met her parents last night during my visit. Due to a very low heart rate, their doctor did an emergency c-section at 26 weeks. Their daughter was born at 1 lb, 11 oz. Even though she's now 30 weeks like Jane and the other girl, she's still a lot smaller and still on oxygen. She requires a lot more attention from the nurses than the other two girls. As troubling as the past two weeks have been, it made me very grateful for Jane's relatively smooth transition.

The one little thing that affects Jane (and almost all preemies her age) is apnea. Because their brains have not matured yet (and they aren't even supposed to be breathing full time), sometimes the brain 'forgets' to tell the baby to breath. This causes a sudden drop in the heart rate. Some babies (including Jane most of the time), snap out of it on their own. Others (Jane sometimes) need a little stimulation (like rubbing of the back) to get the neurons firing again.

The first time I remember this happening I was holding her; Kathleen was not in the room, and there were no nurses close by. I'm pretty sure my heart rate dropped farther than Jane's. But as quickly as it dropped, all of her vitals (which are displayed on a screen for you to see) returned to normal.

Last night it happened while I was there, and I handled it like a pro. I wasn't holding her yet, so I reached into the isolette and rubbed her back. She started breathing normally again and didn't even wake up during all of the commotion. My heart rate only went up (or down) a little.