1/19/12
Today was a hard day for both Danika and her parents. It started with her doctor calling me at home this morning to tell me that there was blood in her stool. She said that there was a possibility that she could have NEC (necrotizing colitis). This causes a perforation in the bowels that could need surgery to fix it. They took an x-ray of her abdomen and found a "possible suspicion" of NEC. The doctor showed me the spot on the x-ray and they started her on antibiotics through an IV in her leg.

They took another x-ray 6 hours later to see if there were any changes. That x-ray looked normal! They didn't see what they saw on her previous x-ray. It's possible that she doesn't have NEC. Maybe it was the fact that they went up from 22 calories to 26 calories and her intestines couldn't handle it. Or it could have been the fortifier that they started putting in her milk. There are many things that could have caused the blood in the stool. They are going to keep her on antibiotics for 7 days and stop feeding her. She will get all her nutrients through her picc line.

The nurses say she doesn't know she's sick, because she's been acting completely normal.

Later on tonight they decided that her hematocrit red blood cell count is too low. So I consented to a blood transfusion. Daddy stayed at the hospital during the transfusion because I had to go to a bible study that actually turned out to be a surprise baby shower! My church peeps are awesome! :) Danny said that the blood transfusion went well. If she was going to get any symptoms from the blood transfusion, she would have gotten them in the first 5 min. They gave her a little more blood than she needed hoping that they wouldn't have to give her another blood transfusion later.