Forgetting to Breathe

(10/10/08)
Hello!
I wanted to give you all an update on our little Kate's progress. Her temperature has been good for the past 2 days (she was cold) and her appetite is great, but she's been having some trouble coordinating eating and breathing. She has had a few episodes where she'll 'forget' to breathe and her heart rate will drop too low. Most of these have occurred during meals, but it has also happened twice while she was sleeping. Thankfully, she was able to correct each instance on her own without any medical intervention, but it's still very concerning. The most obvious explanation for this lack of coordination is simply her immaturity, so she should outgrow it soon.
In the meantime, they want to keep her here until she can have 48-72 hours without an event. So I'm going home this evening, but she's probably staying through the weekend. She's had a good day so far, so if all goes well tomorrow, hopefully she'll come home Sunday or Monday.
We feel very fortunate that Kate is otherwise very healthy and amazingly adorable (yes, I'm very biased). She's also quite a trooper and handled her IV placement much better than I handled my own. :-)
Paul and I appreciate all the calls, emails and visits and promise to keep you updated until our sweet little girl can come home.