Emma: The Wild Woman

First it was "the Diva." Now, it's "the Wild Woman." This is what Emma's nurses are affectionately calling her. As I said yesterday, since she's been feeling better, Emma has been much more active. She managed to pull her NG tube out today and her ET tube became quite loose again from all of her wriggling around (despite retaping it twice more), so the docs decided it was time to remove the tube entirely (the chest xray showed that the tube was no longer placed correctly and they didn't want to put her through the proceduce to insert another one). Rather than putting her directly onto CPAP, the docs decided to "test" Emma on a nasal canula. To everyone's surprise, she was able to breathe on her own for 2 hours before getting tired!!


It's not the most flattering picture (it's hard to take photos through the plastic sides of the incubator), and her nose is still a bit puffy, but at least it shows Emma's face without tape on it...

She's back on CPAP now but, if she remains stable, the team will start gradually weaning her off by putting her on the nasal prongs for an hour a couple of times each day. Unlike the CPAP, which forces a stream of air into her nose, the canula only provides a regular flow of oxygen-enriched air. This requires Emma to be motivated to inhale on her own. Breathing is therefore harder work, and Emma will likely get tired pretty quickly. She was paler than usual after being on the canula this afternoon, so the docs will monitor this carefully. They've also ordered another xray of her abdomen tomorrow (today's xray was better than the previous ones have been) to monitor her recovery from NEC. If she continues to improve, they will likely restart her feeds on the weekend.