Baby Hope Makes Progress

TEXAS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, March 24, 2008 - Baby Hope Neault has made incredible progress since our last update a couple of weeks ago. Today Hope weighed in at 2lbs. 8ozs, which is 1100 grams, and is 14 inches long. Hope is 6 weeks 6 day old at 3:05pm today. She would have been 32 weeks and 1 day if not being born premature.

They are feeding Hope 20ml of food today, and that was changed from 18ml to 20ml. She continues to tolerate the feeds, and they are fortifying the breast milk with added calories to make her gain even more weight just like before. She is very close to eating what she needs to be eating for her size.

Hope has started to lift her head, and her arms and legs are moving around like crazy. She was laid on her side yesterday and rolled to her back on her own. She is getting stronger every day.

Hope continues to breathe with a respirator, but the doctors are going to try to start backing the ventilator off tomorrow. If she does well than they will let her continue with the 20ml of food. If she has a hard time they will back off the food, and up the fortifier to keep her calories up. They would back off the amount to lower the fluid intake she is getting. The fluid in her lungs can get worse when she begins to breathe more on her own. If that happens they will want to back off the amount of water she is getting, and keep trying to back off the ventilator. Hope has done well with everything the doctors have asked her to do.

Hope’s parents are hopeful that she will overcome this and be breathing on her own very soon.

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