Pictures!

Daddy giving Averi a kiss from Mommy when she can't be there...

Pictures with Mommy & Daddy

Kevin with Averi when she was 2 days old...

Teresa holding her little one's hand. It is so hard on (especially) a Mommy's heart, knowing that there is absolutely nothing she can do but hope, pray, and hold a hand...

Dialysis is in place...

This update is a couple of hours old, but I thought I'd go ahead and report it anyway. (Sorry! I was away from the computer)

They have the dialysis set to remove 20mL fluid/hr. When I last heard from Teresa, it was working well, and they even took her off of lasix (the diuretic). The doctor assured them that Averi's kidneys are FINE, and that she would only need this for a couple of days to take the stress off of her kidneys. All of the excess fluid is making it difficult for the lungs to expand. The hope is that once all that puffiness is gone, the lungs will have more room!

What I found interesting, as I was trying to figure out how this contraption worked, is that it is actually (somehow) removing urine from her blood. I was amazed to learn that. I guess it makes sense, since that is the job of the kidneys!

Keep praying!

I will leave you with pictures of her new technology...

This is the new dialysis machine that they basically add on to the ECMO circuit.
And THIS is Averi's "stuff." Believe it or not, all of that equipment is for her! The lightened area in the middle is Averi's bed.

Averi did not have a quiet night...After all the progress she made yesterday, she stopped peeing. She is now on a steady drip of lasix instead of separate doses. Her blood pressure fell again, so she is back on dopamine. The good news is that she is back down to 70% oxygen! She was at 100% yesterday. Keep praying for her to pee and that we get to that "fluid negative" place. Her belly has a lot of fluid in it within the tissues, and they are keeping a close eye on it.

Even being as sedated as she is, Averi still has to keep an eye on everything that's going on!

Picture!

Pictures of the ECMO Pump

You can see here the difference in color between the venous and arterial blood...

Awake!

Ten days old... this is the most awake she's been!

Little princess...

Here's the little sweetie:

Here she is getting the heart ultrasound (echo). The little thing on her head is like a bandaid. She was on the one side so long that there was some skin breakdown.

Tanning beauty

For those who wonder what that thing could possibly be doing for her, it is a phototherapy system, otherwise known as a "bililight." Averi has too much bilirubin in her system, common for 2-8 day olds, and this blue light helps convert the bilirubin into something she can excrete. (poop or pee) Another treatment for jaundice is sunlight exposure, but that obviously isn't an option! She is wearing the eye shields to protect her retinas.

Superstar!

I kept telling these people that she is a super-star so they finally listened and put her in lights.....this is not what i meant but it is a start.... Check out her new shades.... Fashion week here we come!!!! ~Teresa

For those who don't know, those are special lights that help reduce jaundice, something that is really common even with healthy newborns! Averi's blood gases have been better since the transfusion. She is stable. She will be under "the lights" til tomorrow when they check her bilirubin levels again. Her sats & stats are where they want them to be. Kevin and Teresa appreciate your prayers. Keep them coming!

Showing her peepers!

Averi Hope Gaynor

As of 7:52 pm, Averi Hope Gaynor is officially here! 6 lbs 14 oz and 19 inches. So far she is breathing on her own... and nice and pink! Teresa did great. And Kevin is a proud new papa. Here's the little sweetie!