March 1 Update

Weight: 1847 g (4 lbs 1 oz)

We didn’t make it up to the hospital tonight, but we got updates from Matthew’s nurse and nurse practitioner over the phone.

More info on the Darbe shot…It is given to increase red blood cells and help prevent blood transfusions on premature babies. Babies with low red blood cell counts have low energy, difficulty breathing and oxygenating, among other challenges. The Darbe shot helps with those things and just the all around health of the baby.

Matthew didn’t have a low red blood cell count per se, but it wasn’t high either. They have a standard range at which point they typically give Darbe, and Matthew was in that range. He’s also really small, so that made it even more important for him.

Matthew has also continued to have desats (drops in oxygen levels). They ordered a respiratory panel to check for viruses, but that came back negative, which is great.
So now they are putting him back on the larger flow nose cannula (2 liters /minute as opposed to .5 liters/minute with the smaller cannula) to give his lungs more time to grow and mature. Hopefully that will help, and Matthew can continue resting and growing a little more comfortably. 🥰