September 1: Day +61

Helloooo...

First off, it was a good day! The A line is working famously, we changed Bella's Prisma circuit (much to her chagrin), and we even titrated the phenyl and norepi a tiny bit. No one wanted to mess with titrating during the circuit change. Remember, you can only accomplish 1 or 2 things a day around here depending on what they are. So, through the night, if Bella's pressures look good, they'll wean norepi, and if they look bad, they'll go up on phenyl. Fair enough.

The best news of the day was that Bella's blood pressure hung out about 10-20 points higher than yesterday, and even though we weaned a little of the norepi, we didn't have to crank up the phenyl at all. Bella needed albumin overnight (as usual), but was strong throughout the day. It was day 2 of 5 for the treatment dose of steroids, and I am hoping that they are finally getting to reduce the inflammation in her capillaries so they'll return to their normal size without having to get clamped shut by either the norepi or phenyl.

In other news, today marked a neat occasion in that I was featured in a music therapy online magazine for the music therapy I provided Bella during pregnancy and her first 12 days on the planet while she was in the NICU. I had recently completed my NICU music therapist certification, and Bella was my first NICU patient. Ironic? Coincidence? I say Providence. You can go HERE and listen to the podcast as well as clips of the music and stories we recorded for Bella to listen to in her isolette when we couldn't all be there with her.

The magazine is called Imagine. Here is the official press release sent out today:

PRESS RELEASE

September 1, 2010: The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) is proud to announce
the debut of the inaugural issue of imagine, the first annual online magazine dedicated to Early Childhood Music Therapy. Edited by Dr. Petra Kern, imagine strives to enhance the lives of young children and their families through music by sharing knowledge, strategies, ideas, and government related issues with colleagues around the world. The magazine may be accessed at the following link: www.imagine.musictherapy.biz

I really thank the editor, Dr. Petra Kern, for seeking me out for publication and working with me as I missed deadline after deadline as I prepared to move the family to Minnesota for the summer. I literally recorded the podcast in my hotel room in Glendive, Montana and sent it off the night before I arrived here in MN! I am grateful that I can share Bella's Beginnings and the role music therapy played in easing her transition into this world with so many more people that don't know Bella's story through this exciting new publication. In addition to being the editor of the magazine, Dr. Kern is also the President of the World Federation of Music Therapy, so you KNOW this publication is going to get read all over the globe! Dr. Kern and I completed our NICU MT training together in Orlando, FL in Jan of 2009, and quickly became friends. I am indebted to her for this opportunity to share Bella's story! Danke schön, Petra!

Lastly, tomorrow I am bringing to the hospital a beautiful, handmade guest book that our friend Sara made for Bella for her birthday party. I am going to invite every healthcare professional that has worked with Bella thus far to write what they have learned along the way. Bella is clearly here to teach us all, and I feel in my gut that she is still in the ICU simply because she is not done teaching yet.

What has Bella taught you? Will you please comment and share it with the community? I will add it to her guest book!

Good night. God bless you.