Mia: A Week

Francesca and I stood bedside last night as the clock ticked 9:58 pm and our little love turned one week old. She seemed unfazed by her milestone and chose rather to continue sleeping and enjoy a belly full of her mother's milk, still fed to her through a tube in her mouth.

It's been a whirlwind week for all involved, especially little Mia. She's gone through more poking, prodding, and testing in one week than I hope anyone would ever have to go through in their entire life. She's a strong little girl though, and continues to make little improvements every day.

The most important improvement is the change in her lactic acid production. When the doctors first tested her blood they immediately noticed an elevated level of lactic acid. She was producing way too much and they were baffled why. Their latest theory is that she is not producing a specific enzyme that counteracts the acid production. We all produce lactic acid, but without this enzyme, it can get out of control and this is the major obstacle Mia is facing. A normal level of lactic acid in the blood is around 2. When Mia was born she was producing over 10. The doctors assured us she wasn't in any pain, and probably felt more like she had just run a marathon. Very hard for a little girl only a few days old.

One way the body compensates for excess lactic acid is by getting more oxygen, and the only way to get more oxygen is to breathe harder. So Mia's little lungs were working over time, trying to compensate for the excess acid, and most likely the reason she needed to be on the respirator. Now a week later, she is breathing on her own. She has a little tube in her nose that gives her a shot of air as a reminder to breathe, but for the most part it's all her. Even more incredible is her acid level has continued to go down, from 7.8 last week, to 6.2 yesteday, to 5.2 today! We will continue to pray and love our little girl and thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. It really has made a difference.

Some pics from the last few days:


Grandma Donna gets a look at her first grandchild 2/14/07


Last day of the dreaded tube 2/14/07


First attempt at bottle feeding a bit of water (didn't work) 2/15/07


First time in Daddy's arms 2/15/07


Happiness 2/15/07


Aunt Mimi and Mia 2/15/07


Almost in Momma's arms 2/16/07


First contact 2/16/07


Shhhhhhh 2/16/07


Mother and child 2/16/07


Sleeping beauty 2/16/07


Into the blue (advanced photo therapy to cure the jaundice) 2/17/07


Just need a lava lamp and a Pink Floyd black light poster. Cooooool duuuuuude........2/17/07


It's so stupendous...


...living in this tube! 2/18/07