Day Five- December 10th

Today has been up and down with Rylan.

Good news:
Billirubin level went from 15 to 11 overnight.
Her oxygen was removed from her face. She is nose-hose free!
Bad News:
She is starting to get lazy with eating (a sign of billirubin in her system, ans being exhausted from the phototherapy). If she continues to not have an appetite, they will run a tube through her nose and into her stomach to feed her by tube. We'll feed her again at noon to determine that.
Her white blood cell count went from 11,000 yesterday to 21,000 today. She's either stressed or she has an infection.
Her breathing has been unstable since being removed from oxygen/pressure. She goes from breathing 20bpm, to 70bpm, back to 40bpm. They will continue to monitor her breathing, and put her back on oxygen if necessary. Her oxygen saturation level is good though, so that's a plus.
It's very exciting to see families all around us leaving/graduating from the NICU. We look forward to that day. It's not looking like we'll be leaving this weekend as we originally thought.

I'd write longer, but it's time to go feed her again. I'll try to send out an update tonight. The Ronald McDonald House is throwing a Christmas Holiday party for the guests, so that will be a nice break from the NICU scene.

Thanks for your continued prayers,
Casey