Today was Grandparents Day with Ira Jo! It was my dads birthday and all he wanted for his birthday was to hold Ira. How sweet is that!?! :) As you can see he was definitely enjoying his time with his grand baby! :)
My parents were the ones that got all the information for us today, and they were told that just before they arrived, Ira got an X-ray on her bowels, because the doctors weren't real impressed with the amount of poop Ira was releasing. They were worried she wasn't pooping a whole lot because maybe there was a blockage or something in her bowel, and thankfully the X-ray showed there wasn't anything wrong. So the surgeon came in and actually stuck like a catheter like tube down her ileostomy to see if the bowel was narrowing, and if that was the cause of the small amount of poop. The surgeon said that there was no narrowing, so Ira must have slow moving bowels, which could have been the reason why her bowel perforated. Her bowel could have not been moving fast enough and getting the meconium out quick enough, and it got hard and became a blockage resulting in her bowel perforating. Throughout this whole process though, the doctor did say that they could see that Ira was getting the nutrients out of the breastmilk that she was needing, and her body was using it correctly, so that is great news! They say they have many babies who's bodies have a hard time using the breastmilk nutrients correctly, so we are very blessed that Ira is able to use the nutrients correctly and can grow.
Monday, June 27th
I finally got to see Ira today since last Wednesday, but it was Aunt Josie's turn to hold her niece for the very first time!!! Adorable!!!
Today, we got a little bit of unsettling news. They decided not to feed the stool back into her mucus fistula like previously planned, because her mucus fistula is to small for her stool, and because Ira isn't producing enough stool to reinsert it. Like I mentioned before her bowels above the ileostomy are taking out enough nutrients from her feeds that the doctors aren't worried, but they can't use the mucus fistula because the tubing is to small. So they are deciding between taking out the smaller mucus fistula and replacing it with a larger one, or going back in surgically and reattach the bowels back together. Other than that there wasn't any other big news, but there is certainly prayers requests needed. #1 for the doctors to decide what they want to do with her mucus fistula/reattachment surgery. #2 just continue praying for her breathing vent numbers. They aren't horrible, and they are low, but her blood gas count isn't exactly what they need to be and momma is just ready for that breathing vent tube to get out of her mouth/face. Just be praying for her to finally be done with her breathing vent.
We have been thinking of you often! My husband and Linden were (are) friends, though we haven't seen him in several years. Our first baby was born on June 8th as well, but she was 9 days past her due date! I have been trying to follow along with little Ira, but just today I found your blog and caught up with all the details. We're praying for Emmaline's "birthday twin" and I'm thankful for the chance to be more specific in our prayers! Hang in there, mama! Love, Tristen, Janel and Emmaline Hirt
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