Tests....and More Tests

As you can imagine, Kayley is monitored pretty heavily. Along with the monitoring comes lots of tests. Just hours after arriving in our NICU room, Kayley's blood was drawn to measure her blood gases. This test measures ph, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and bicarbonate in her blood. These values help determine what settings the ventilator needs to be on and when the ventilator can be removed all together. The first test came back saying her carbon dioxide level was high. They adjusted the ventilator settings accordingly. Other than that, they were very happy.

Just after her her blood gas test, x-rays were taken of her chest. Her lung development is the most important at this point. That's why they gave Megan steriods while Kayley was still inside. Well, I guess they worked. They are very impressed with Kayley's lung development. They are very clear and nicely expanded. This also helps them decide if they should take Kayley off the ventilator.

After 12 hours, it was time for more tests. They drew more blood to measure all kinds of things...more things than I can remember. Among them was to measure her bilirubin levels to check if she has jaundice. That came back clear...this time. They suspect she will have it in the coming days. The other measure that was slightly off was her calcium level. The level was too low. To remedy this, the nurses had to insert another IV into Kayley's hand. They couldn't give it in her stomach IV because it doesn't mix well with what they were already giving to her. Anyway, I watched them put the IV in Kayley's hand. I'm pretty sure I was more hurt than Kayley. In the picture in the previous post, that's why you can see an IV in Kayley's left hand.

Since the 12 hour tests, Kayley gets the blood gas test 3 times a day..6 am, 2 pm, and 8 pm. She also has x-rays at least once a day in the morning. Both the x-rays and blood tests can be ordered at any time if they feel it is needed.

So that's all as far as tests go. Her brain ultrasound is scheduled for Thursday. We are very nervous for that one. It shows if there are bleeds in her ventricles. Those can be very dangerous if they are too large. We hope that everything comes back normal.