Day 4 - CPAP and cuddles

Jessica had another good night and her oxygen levels were still stable in the morning which was good. She had another echo and chest X-ray which showed that the situation with her lungs was not worsening and so the team decided that her breathing tube could be removed and they would try putting her on CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) which would help give her oxygen but she would be breathing by herself. We were warned that the breathing tube would need to be replaced if Jessica seemed to be struggling with CPAP though.

Jessica was given a special hat to hold the tubing for the CPAP in place and then the plasters and tubing from the ventilator were finally removed. Thankfully she seemed to cope well with the change and now that the breathing tube is removed is able to cry and communicate with us that way. It is lovely to be able to see a little more of her beautiful face although the hat hides all her lovely dark hair.

As Jessica was doing so well on the CPAP, by early evening, she was able to come out of her cot for a while and we could finally give her a cuddle which was just amazing!

Later that evening, she had some more visitors – meeting Uncle Adrian and Auntie Julie for the first time and Mummy and Daddy’s friend Katy.

Jessica has been a little jaundiced over the last few days but her bilirubin levels have been remaining fairly steady; however, by the night time, they had started to rise a little and so she needed to start on phototherapy which meant that she spent most of the night on a little sun-bed with some space googles on to try and help reduce the jaundice.

At the moment, it is looking like she will be going for the Norwood procedure on Monday which we are quite anxious about as this is a risky op so please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.