Day 13 2.4 pounds

                A tour of little Grace's corner

Since today didn't hold a lot of change for Gracie, I thought I'd give you a tour of what helps her stay alive and well. I don't know all the names of the machines but I'll tell you as much as I do. This is something, as a new parent, you never think of when you're expecting a baby. I hope this will show Grace in the future to what extent they went to to keep her alive and how each machine is so very important. It is an amazing thing to see how all the machines work together and, with all the experienced staff, make it happen. Getting to know what they do also helps when the bells and whistles start going off. I know when to jump and when to not worry. NICU's can be very intimidating. 

Gracies big bed equipped with humidity and heat.
The top lifts up and the sides drop down. This is the
highest care bed they have here. It is a Cadillac in the NICU.
She basically drive this beast. If she gets cool, the bed warms up.
The humidity is off now and her skin is toughening up.

This "t.v." shows her heart rate on the green line, oxygen levels on the blue line,
and respirations on the white line. There used to be a red line on the bottom and
that was her blood pressure. This machine alarms for desaturations, apnea, and Brady's so it is
often alarming from one baby or another. 

This is her Cadillac bed warmer. The top #'s are her body temp
and the bottom is the beds temp. The goal is to get her body
temp to stay while the bed temp lowers. She has come down in bed temp
quite a bit since she was born. Room temp is right around 27 degrees C.

This is the wall with all the oxygen lines, air lines and vacuums for suction.

Her name board with touch times.

This is the respirator machine. This is and has
 been her lifeline since birth. It provides
each breath through a tube down to
her trachea. If she fails to breath, it will breath
for her with warm, humid air.

This is part of the respirator which adds
the water and warmth.

This administers her total
nutrition (yellow koolaid, lol)
through her IV.

This machine gives her meds. Right now it has the Endocine
for her heart.

The machine behind her "yellow koolaid"
is what administers her lipids (fat). 

Gracie in her "Cadillac"

Gracie with all her tubes, gidgets and gadgets. 

The cutest little scrapbook page turned into her name plate on the wall. Her hand and footprints were taken her first days
of life. I think they did such a great job!

She even has her own college fridge to
pack her breastmilk in!! No soda pop
or pizza yet but lots of nutritious milk!
Betcha not many babies have their own
fridge!

This is the cart or dresser which holds
all her paperwork,
 tiny diapers, dressings, blankets,
wipe cloths, lotion, etc.

Well, this is the end of her tour and
she is all covered so she can sleep...
this tour wiped her out. She'll say "hello"
another time. 'Night, 'night little Gracie!