We are learning a lot of medical terms during this process. Most of them are abbreviated, and sometimes it's hard to keep up with all of them. Some of this is a repeat from previous posts, but I thought it would be helpful to have all in one place. Here's a helpful glossary of terms/conditions that Sayla Grace has experienced thus far. And one (NEC) that we hope she doesn't experience...

Micro Preemie - Babies born before 29 weeks and/or weighing less than 3 pounds. She managed to hit both of those marks, being born at 27 weeks, weighing 1lb 11oz. Her diaper is the smallest they make (Preemie XS) and is the size of my Blackberry Curve, and doesn't fit her (I've washed lots of peed on blankets!). She can't wear clothes until she graduates to the "incubator" type bed, and even then will be in preemie clothes. They actually make "micro preemie" clothes, but I'm hopeful we won't need any of those by the time she makes it to the next bed.

A&B Episodes - Apnea (stops breathing) and Brady (heart rate slows) episodes where either of these events happens. Sometimes it can just be one, sometimes it can be both. They are super common in babies her size, but super scary to watch. It's basically like watching your baby's heart stop (or watching her stop breathing) and then waiting on a nurse to come over and slap her on the tush to make it all go again. And all you are allowed to do is stand there and watch...and trust in God with all your heart that it will start again. Agonizing, but it's part of the process. Thankfully as her lungs and brain mature, these episodes are getting fewer, and less severe.

CPAP - Continuous Positive Airway Pressure...basically a machine hooked up to her little nose that breathes for her when she forgets. Right now, it's giving her 20 breaths per minute, with 21% oxygen. That 21% is the same percentage that you and I breathe as "room air," so we are thankful that she is not requiring extra oxygen. Too much extra oxygen runs the risk of brain development issues, as well as eye issues. Soon they will try to wean her 20 breaths a minute down to 0, and switch her over to the...

NC - Nasal Cannula...the little tube that runs under her nose with 2 little prongs in her nostrils. Think your grandmother's oxygen...same thing...just tiny. She's experienced this once, for a full day and night...but then got tired and had to go back on the CPAP. Prayerfully soon she'll be back on it. When she's on this, we get to see more of her precious face!

OG Tube - Orogastric Tube...This is a feeding tube that goes down her mouth (or nose if she didn't have a breathing apparatus there) and into her stomach. They attach the tube of a syringe to it, and pour in my breast milk. Then they simply push it through, and it goes straight into her tummy. She was up to 6cc's every 3 hours. Before each feeding, they pull back on the empty tube, to see if anything comes up (aka Residual). Most times there is none, meaning she's digesting her food. But if there is any, they typically hold the next feeding to give her time to digest what's left. Today she had too much residual (and needs to poop!), so they decided to put in a...

TP Tube - Transpyloric Tube...This is a longer tube, much like the OG tube. Except this one goes straight into her small intestines, bypassing the stomach. They put this in today because of her poopy issues, giving her a break from having to digest food in her tummy. It takes a lot of energy for her to digest food, so this break will allow her to use her energy to process the food further down in her intestines and colon. And hopefully produce some poo! With the TP tube, she gets 1cc an hour over a 3 hour period. Then they wait an hour, and check the OG tube for residual. They want to be sure none of the milk has gone back up into her tummy from the small intestines. If there is none, they will resume, and give her 1cc an hour over a 3 hour period again. And the cycle continues. They will probably keep the TP tube in for a week or so just to give her a break. When they put it in, they did a tummy xray to be sure it was in the right place. And the xray confirmed that she is just "backed up" and doesn't currently have any signs of...

NEC - Necrotizing Entercolitis...The inner lining of the intestines contains millions of bacteria. Usually, these bacteria are harmless and are part of the digestive process. In NEC, though, the bacteria begin to attack the intestinal wall. If the disease is not treated promptly, the intestinal wall will weaken and may die. Eventually, a hole can form through the bowel wall (a perforation), spilling its contents into the abdominal cavity. Bowel perforation is a medical emergency that requires immediate surgery. But they will continue to watch for this to be sure it doesn't develop.

In other news...she did poop tonight (Thursday night) around 7p. They were about to give her a second Glycerin Chip, and right as they were about to give it to her, she pooped! It was a good poop, but she still needs to go more. Her tummy was still a bit rounded while we were there. Your prayers are working, so keep praying for poop!!

I did get to change her diaper tonight, and I was actually praying it would be poopy, but sadly it wasn't. Put I do love changing her diaper...I know I won't say that for long, so I'm enjoying it while I can!

PS - I think I have all of those terms and "definitions" correct, but I've only been to what Owen calls "Google Med School" so please don't hold me to it!!