Hi Everyone! Sorry its been a little since the last update:

Over the weekend Maelyn’s doctor ordered a test called a pneumogram. It is something that York’s NICU only does once every few months so they don’t keep the equipment for it in house. On Tuesday the equipment for the test was driven to York from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Dr. Google says a pneumogram is a “recording of respiratory movements, often used to monitor breathing patterns, particularly in infants, to detect and assess apnea and other respiratory issues.”

What it measures: 

• Breathing effort: Sensors on the chest record the movement of the chest during breathing. 
• Heart rate: Electrodes on the chest also record heart rate. 
• Oxygen level: A sensor taped to a finger or toe (or hand/foot for infants) measures oxygen saturation in the blood. 
• Air flow: A sensor taped under the nose measures airflow during breathing

This test lasts 24 hours and it began on Tuesday (6/3) at 1:30pm. The doctors are hopeful for a report back from the doctors at CHOP by today (Thursday). Just asking for continued prayers for that because that is currently what is keeping Maelyn in the NICU, her breathing concerns and desaturations.

She has been so doing well the last couple of days! She was weaned off of the CPAP machine at the beginning of the week, changed to high flow oxygen, and was stable enough to have her feeding tube removed on Monday and return back to bottles! This was a huge praise! And boy, she didn’t forget how to drink from her bottles!

Maelyn’s doctor suggested the pnuemogram test to determine why her oxygen saturation keeps dropping when she has episodes of “periodic breathing”. Periodic breathing can be common in newborns but the doctors are just trying to figure out why Maelyn’s oxygen saturations drop low when these breathing episode occur.

I will provide an update when we have the results back from her study. Thank you so much for your continued prayers and unwavering support through this time for our family. We will forever be SO grateful for our village that has stepped in when we are trying to make it from one day to the next. ❤️