Neurological Testing and Feeding Today

Dad's Log:  Realtively speaking, today was a much less stressful day than we have had since Hailey was born.  Hailey was taken down stairs for a neurological evaluation (EEG)(see picture) to better understand what might be causing the seizure we observed on Sunday.  It is strange how my perspective on medical proceedures has changed.  A week ago I would have been terrified to see my newborn baby girl with a bunch of wire electrodes glued to her head.  But after everything that has happened, having her lay quietly on a bed in a dark room for an hour with some flashing lights and no complications was a piece of cake (not to minimize neurological disorders or the saddness or scariness of them).  The only other eventful occurence of the day was another attempt at bottle feeding.  The speach therapist checked Hailey's reflexes (rooting, etc.) and gave her a pacifier which Hailey sucked on very well.  The therapist gave her a bottle of milk next and Hailey sucked hartilly on it but she could't coordinate the breating or swallowing and choked again.  Some milk even came out her nose.  We will try bottle feeding again tomorrow and see if we can make any progress.  In the meantime, Haily continues to be fed via feeding tube.  After the milk-out-the-nose incident, some doctors came in and checked Hailey's pallet.  Sometimes baby's don't have a fully formed pallet often indicated by milk comming out of the nose.  They checked her and from their brief look, the pallet appears to be ok.  That is good since fixing it would have meant an additional surgery.  The only other event of the day was when they turned off the oxygen for a while and Hailey was breathing room air again.  That only lasted about an hour before her blood oxygen saturation dipped below the goal level and they put her pack on again.  She only needs a little bit of extra oxgen. 

Angie and I took a moment to get away this evening and we had dinner in SLC at Olive Garden.  We love seeing Hailey every chance we get but the break from the stress of the hospital and the all-consuming concern for a sick child was nice.