One hundred days old!

Someone's getting long in the tooth. Okay, no teeth, but she's actually getting longer herself. 100 days old, and every one of those days has been in the NICU. She has a LONG way to go, but it also means we're 100 days closer to getting her home safe and sound.

This is the first time she finally gets to sleep on her belly in over a month! The girl loves sleeping on her tummy. 

This is the first time she finally gets to sleep on her belly in over a month! The girl loves sleeping on her tummy. 

image.jpg
One of her nurses drew this on her whiteboard earlier in the week. =) 

One of her nurses drew this on her whiteboard earlier in the week. =) 

As I have mentioned before, Lana is currently ventilated using a High Frequency Jet Ventilator (HFJV). This is different from a conventional ventilator because it keeps a constant pressure of air in the lungs so that it stays inflated and keeps from collapsing (this is my simplified explanation). It’s actually more gentle on the lungs as well. In contrast, the conventional ventilator mimics the way we normally breathe, and supports spontaneous breaths. Meaning that if the machine thinks you’re trying to inhale, then it will push in more air for you. In Lana’s case, we are hoping that she can get on this ventilator soon because it offers one more advantage that the HFJV doesn’t, that it can deliver medications directly to her lungs, and thus treating the area locally if needed. This would be ideal if they have to treat a pneumonia, which she is at high risk for since she has a tube going directly to her lungs.

With that being said, her medical team tried to transition her to the conventional vent on Friday to see how she would handle it. Unfortunately, Lana wasn’t quite ready as her oxygen saturations started to drop while on this vent. They will see how she does again at a later time, but I have faith that she will continue to improve.

Thanks for all the positive thoughts and prayers. It means a lot to our family. Please continue to pray that her lungs continue to get stronger and that the hole in heart gets smaller. Even though Lana hasn't had the pleasure of meeting all of her wonderful family and friends, we hope that you all can meet her through her stories and photographs.