OOPS!

I realized after talking to many people that I was not very clear on my last post. The surgery for Olivia’s G-tube is this Thursday (July 31), not last Thursday. Sorry for the confusion! The surgery will be at 7:30 AM at UW Hospital.

Olivia saw the cardiologist today and had a follow-up echocardiogram. The good news is that the PDA is now closed! The small hole they were watching was also closed now! Yay!! So, unless the nephrologist wants Olivia to have another echo due to her high blood pressure, we won’t have to go back to the cardiology clinic.

After the cardiologist, which was at St. Mary’s, we went up to the NICU for a visit. We got to see some of the nurses and doctors that we grew to know and love in Olivia’s four months there. It was great to seem them and nice that they got to see Olivia again getting bigger and doing well.

I promise to post an update soon after surgery, with how Olivia is doing and how the surgery went.

July 23, 2008

Good Afternoon! I thought I would take a minute to update everyone on Olivia’s progress since she came home on June 25. Olivia now weighs over 11 lbs. According to the doctor appt yesterday she shrunk though. They said she is only 19 ½ inches long, but she was 20 inches at discharge. Oh well!

Olivia saw the eye doctor a couple of weeks ago. They said her eyes look good. Her retinas are mature now. They even had a way of checking her vision, which showed she has really good vision. YAY!!

Her blood pressures have continued to decrease so we’ve been able to cut one of her medications out completely and reduce the other to half the amount. YAY for that too!! We check her blood pressure daily, sometimes more than once, and her levels are remaining good. Olivia has a follow-up renal ultrasound and appointment with the nephrologists on August 8.

On Tuesday I have to take Olivia to St. Mary’s for a follow-up echocardiogram. They will be checking for signs of high blood pressure. They are also still monitoring her PDA. An echo a couple of months ago showed it was closed, but a more recent one suggested that it is still present but still very small.

We were also supposed to see the pulmonologist next week on Friday, but that appointment will be canceled. Olivia will still see the pulmonologist, but inpatient. Olivia goes in on Thursday morning for her surgery. She is going to have the G-tube put in. The surgery is scheduled for 7:30 and should only take about an hour. The procedure itself only takes about 20 minutes, but she’ll be in the OR for about an hour. Remember to keep Olivia in your thoughts and prayers!

Joe and I are really enjoying having Olivia at home with us. As much as we loved all the nurses and doctors, it’s been really nice not having to go to the hospital everyday! Hopefully this hospital stay will be much shorter than the last!

Olivia's Story

On February 7, 2008 Olivia was born twelve weeks early. We had received 16 inches of snow in less than twelve hours, the plows had been called off the roads for the night, and my water broke. I was taken by ambulance to the Fort Atkinson Memorial Hospital where Olivia was delivered by emergency c-section. She weighed only 2 lbs. 4 oz., and was just 13 1/2 inches long. Olivia was transfered almost immediately to the NICU at St. Mary's Hospital in Madison. Olivia was on the ventilator for just over three weeks. She was extubated on March 1, 2008, and breathing with just the help of a CPAP. In early April, the neonatologists called Dr. Rice and Dr. Pauli for genetics consult, and on April 8, 2008 Olivia was diagnosed with Achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism. This explained many of the difficulties that Olivia was having. Olivia remained at St. Mary's Hospital until June 6, 2008 when she was transfered to American Family Children's Hospital, where she was seen by the pulmonary team daily. Olivia finally came home from the hospital on June 25, 2008.

Olivia looking up at Mommy!


Extubated and on the CPAP



On to the High Flow Nasal Canula