Olivia gave us a big scare today. After being transferred into Mom’s arms for holding, she stopped breathing and her heart rate plummeted, signaling a “Code Blue”. It was a scary minute as doctors and nurses crashed down on her room responding to the order to resuscitate. After what felt like an eternity (but was only 2 minutes) Olivia bounced back. Both Whitney and I saw her life flash before our eyes.

So, what happened? The doctors refer to what happened as “clamping down,” which means both of her lungs suddenly collapsed and blocked the end of the tube. Apparently, it is not uncommon for kids on the respirator (but they usually bounce back faster). They suspect that when shifting positions, a large amount of fluid moved in her lungs causing this reaction.

The event happened around 4:30 PM and lasted approximately two minutes. Olivia is recovered and resting now. She is on increased pressure and O2 support. We are waiting for further updates.

Otherwise, she continued on her feeds today despite no stool. Attending and fellows have decided to give her another day before trying a suppository. In the meantime, she is progressing on 2 MLs of breastmilk per hour.